Jibrin Isah Echocho, formerly a member of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) and now a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has not given up on his political ambition. Not governorship this time around but Senate. He seeks to represent Kogi East in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, our Political Correspondent, YUSUF MOHAMMED reports.
Given his antecedents, many would feel that he has made a wise decision. Echocho as he is popularly called is very prominent in Igala land.
Alhaji Jibrin Isah before joining politics was a director of the defunct Afribank. He is very famous in Kogi due to his philanthropic gestures. Echocho is described by many people as being generous to a fault.
Now that he wants to focus on representing the good people of Igala land at the Senate, would he be third time lucky?
On January 9, 2011, Echocho, emerged as the flag bearer of the PDP for the governorship election that year. However, two weeks to the gubernatorial election, a Federal High Court in Abuja elongated the tenure of five governors including that of Ibrahim Idris, the former governor of Kogi state.
There was to be no hand over on May 29 as a result of that judgment. Unfortunately for Echocho, the highly anticipated election did not hold. It was heart breaking for him after the elaborate rallies. President Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Nigeria, even attended the grand finale where he handed him the party’s flag and raised his hand.
Later that year, there was another primary election, which produced Idris Wada instead of Echocho. Idris dumped Echocho and chose the brother of his daughter’s husband, Captain Idris Wada. Wada came out of the blues and became the party’s candidate without a single poster. It was alleged that Echocho’s sin was that he was perceived to be too close to Prince Abubakar Audu who was perceived to be the number one political enemy of Ibrahim Idris, while he was alive He was also accused of being over-confident and no longer needed the support of Idris due to his fame. Some say the fame “got to his head.” Months before the main election, he had already drawn up a list of his commissioners. Idris got to know and was not happy.
In 2015, while most of his men decamped from the PDP to the APC, he remained in the PDP hoping to defeat former Governor, Wada at the party’s primaries. Party stakeholders saw that Idris was no match for the governorship candidate of the APC. This time around they wanted to replace Wada with Echocho.
The plans of Goodluck Jonathan, former National Chairman of the PDP, Ahmadu Ali and Idris failed as Wada who was in control of the party structure had his way. He ignored the voice of reason and imposed himself on the party. The rest is history. He lost the governorship election to late Prince Audu.
The former banker was one of those backing Faleke to be governor instead of Yahaya Bello when Audu, the leading candidate in the governorship election died.
After the storm, Bello emerged as governor of Kogi State. One thing Isah has learnt was that the governors control the party’s structure in their respective states. He is well aware that Governor Bello is powerful enough to make him the APC Senatorial candidate of Kogi East. That explains his recent hobnobbing with the Governor.
Political analysts are of the view that the former banker turned politician, will clinch the ticket as a result of his support for the Governor,
However, his open support for the Bello administration may be his albatross this time around. Bello is unpopular in the Igala part of Kogi State. Many people see Jibrin Isah’s alliance with Bello as ‘unholy’ and are ‘disappointed’ in him.
A social commentator, Jacob Unekwu Agada, from Kogi Stae is of the view that Isah’s relationship with Bello is seen as a ‘betrayal.’ In an open letter he wrote to Isah late last year he said “Any form of alliance with the present government does not only question your integrity as a man of the people, it also questions the sincerity of your acclaimed love for the people.
“Any relationship you build with the present government that has brought all forms of hardship upon our state is a complete betrayal of the people and sabotaging of the continuous struggles and advocacy for good governance,” Agada wrote.
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Another impediment to Isah’s senatorial bid is the fact that the APC is not as popular as it was in 2015 in Kogi State, The Next Edition learnt.
Speaking with The Next Edition, in a telephone chat, a political analyst, Enejo Shuiabu, based in Lokoja the state capital, said “His alliance with Yahaya Bello, the sworn enemy of the people is enough to make him lose the senatorial election. Unless he retraces his steps I don’t think the people will ignore the fact that Isah has pitched his tent with Governor Bello.”
Idrisu Bello, another analyst thinks otherwise, “Who would rival Echocho? Is it Senator Atai Aidoko of the PDP?” he asked. “Echocho has never emerged as candidate of a major party. He usually fails at the primaries. All he needs to win is to be candidate. If he is given the ticket of the APC, he will be unstoppable.”
The APC senatorial candidate of Kogi East in 2015, Alhaji Abdul Abubakar, benefited from the goodwill President Muhammadu Buhari enjoyed in the state. While they were voting Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC, they also voted for Abubakar who was the APC senatorial candidate of Kogi East.
Unfortunately for Abubakar, on December 2, the election that produced him as Senator from Kogi East was nullified. Abubakar was also disqualified from contesting the bye-election as he was not properly nominated as candidate of the APC. It was established by the court that he did not emerge through primaries. He bought his ticket from the late Audu.
The situation is different today for Echocho. Many feel that while Abubakar benefited from the popularity of the APC, Echocho may suffer from the unpopularity of the APC in Kogi State. According to the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 3, 2019.
With uncertainty over Buhari’s re-election and the dented image of the APC in Kogi State, it may be a tall order for Echocho to emerge victorious in 2019.