By Isiaka Oyibo

With the dust raised by the decamping of the former Governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu from All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP)to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) the prospects of him achieving his long standing gubernatorial third term is now turning into a debatable issue.

Living to his larger than life political image, Prince Audu had on his declaration for the ACN affirmed that the ANPP in the state was merging into the ACN.

The Chairman of ANPP in Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Farouk who was present at the occasion of the formal cross over indeed delivered a goodwill message and gave his stamp of approval to the merger. However, no national officer of ANPP was in attendance, a situation which kept many people wondering if the action taken by Prince Audu, was unilateral.

Some members of the ANPP who heard him say that the ANPP was dead in Kogi State with his pulling out were indeed shocked but those who had known Audu’s leading influence in the party would not have been too surprised.

While political observers were pondering the merger, a statement emanated from the ANPP secretariat disowning the merger claims by Prince Audu.

The statement asserted that the former Kogi State governor who defected to the ACN was on his own and that contrary to his claims, the ANPP in Kogi is still alive and intact.

There is, however, no disputing the fact that ANPP in Kogi State was ‘owned’ by Prince Audu.

Prince Audu also gave reasons why he decided to quit the ANPP which he said he co-founded. His words, “The ANPP which I am a founding member is having epileptic problems; taking a step forward and nine steps backward. The electoral fortunes have been depleting from one election to another; from nine states in 1999 to three now. The ship of for our former party is capsizing.

I feel that the party is not good for our people. That is why we decided to join the ACN, the party that will take care of the future of our children and the coming generation. We want the future of our children and grandchildren to be secured. Before we came here today ANPP was existing, but as from now onward, it is no more existing.” With this declaration Prince Audu closed the chapter of ANPP in Kogi State.

The merger of ANPP and ACN should not have been of any significant headache to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had Audu not been involved.

Even though he was thrice defeated at the polls by the outgoing Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, his entry into the contest on the three occasions brought serious discomfiture to the ruling PDP. His weapon it seems are the die die-hard supporters who are ready to swim and sink with him.

One question stakeholders are asking is why Audu should decamp from a political party that has three members in the State House of Assembly to a party that has only one. Apart from being a very colorful politician, if Prince Audu gets the ACN ticket to contest the governorship race in the State this year, he might also receive very strong financial and moral support from the governors of the six ACN –controlled States and the leadership of the party who are determined to see the ACN break into states outside the South-west.

But sweet and smooth as these postulations may be, the ACN may not have it easy to dislodge PDP from the State. For now the ACN is hoping to have a breakthrough in Benue, Kwara and Kogi states outside South-west.

The truth is that the PDP is deeply rooted in Kogi State, in spite of the various challenges of anti-party activities that greeted its preparation for election in the last elections.

It has political structures that other parties seem to lack. Its strong showing in this year’s general elections is also a pointer to its grassroots appeal and strength.

It has 21 out of 25 members of Kogi State House of Assembly, three senators and seven members of House of Representatives. Though there may be intra-party squabbles here and there, when the chips are down it is going to be an uphill task for the ACN. The PDP often puts aside internal differences when faced with a common and a formidable opponent.

Even though they lost grounds in some constituencies due to anti-party activities by some aggrieved party members most PDP candidates still scaled through to victory.