2027: Epic Battle looms in the Taraba APC ahead of party Guber Primaries

2027: Epic Battle looms in the Taraba APC ahead of party Guber Primaries

By Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo 

When Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) late last year, most people thought he was going to have an automatic and sole ticket of the party. However, as activities begin to gear up in the run up to the party primaries, it is becoming increasingly clear that a political battle of an epic proportions awaits him as party members already have about four options to pick from. 

The tussle for who clinges the governorship ticket of the APC is to be taken down to the 168 political wards across the 16 local government areas of the state since the party appears to have settled for direct primary elections.

Understadably, Governor Agbu Kefas, Alhaji Jaaji Sambo, a former Minister of Transport, Chief David Sabo Kente, a Business mogul and former Commissioner on the Board of the North East Development Commission and Alhaji Salleh Maman also a former Minister of Power have already purchased nomination forms preparatory for the primary elections.  

Interestingly, the State Chairman of the party Alhaji Abubakar Bawa has promised that the floor is opened for any interested persons to aspire for any positions and mobilize grassroots support for themselves since the people will decide who flies the party’s flag through a direct primaries.  

Speaking in Jalingo, Alhaji Bawa dismissed speculations that any aspirant would be granted an automatic ticket or given preferential treatment. 

“There is no preferred candidate. All aspirants who pass the screening process will participate in a direct primary election. The decision will rest with party members at the grassroots” he said. 

It is however reliably gathered that only members of the party who have conducted the APC electronic registration that are described as genuine card carrying members will participate in the coming primary elections.

Consequently, an x-ray of the strength and weaknesses of each of the candidates based on a number of factors that usually play key roles in the political calculations of the State is inevitable. 

DR. AGBU KEFAS 

Governor Agbu Kefas is the incumbent governor and enjoys the power of incumbency and State resources that are all at his disposal. He is also instrumental to bringing onboard the present leadership of the party in the State shortly after his defection to the party early this year. This development is what some aggrieved party members alleged, the governor singlehandedly handpicked. 

He is presently serving his first term and typically should be favoured by many advantages in the competition that would allow him to secure a second tenure. 

More so, he is from the Southern zone of the State that has already ruled for Eleven consecutive years, with former governor Darius Ishaku spending Eight years and Governor Agbu Kefas already in his Third year.

People will ordinarily prefer that he should complete his second term so that the seat could return to either the Northern or Central Senatorial zones. 

However, it is also increasingly clear that his very low performance, as indicated so far, leaves so much to be desired and the people may not want to take a chance of retaining him in office for another tenure. 

Probably, that is the reason why many Tarabans refer to the Governor as “Father Promise and Fail”.

“Since inception of office in 2023, it has been one promise after another without any tangible development” in the words of Hon. Godwin Villannah, a former Secretary of the party in the State who made  the assertion at a recent press conference. 

“This government prides itself with the free education policy and reduction in tuition fees. While this is commendable, it’s implementation has left so much to be desired. Most of the primary and secondary schools in the State are now grossly overcrowded without corresponding infrastructure.

“Students are learning while sitting on bare floors. The failure to provide regular running cost to school heads has made it more difficult for some schools to even afford basic needs like chalk, report cards or even registers. The promised infrastructural upgrade in schools and provision of learning kits are still hanging in the realm of promises without hope of fulfillment in sight. 

“It is also very disappointing that the first road the governor has ever commissioned in three years is the Ibi/Nwonyo 5km road which is an eyesore. The promised Wukari Flyover, township roads and International Stadium are all mere dreams without any feasible way forward. Not a single step has been taken by the administration towards starting the advertized projects. This is similar to so many other pronouncements that he has made across the State. 

“The several foreign trips have yielded no results as the much talked about foreign investments is a myriad. Even after spending billions of naira to a wasteful venture of hosting a “Taraba Investment Summit (TARAFEST) last year, there are no indications of any response to the venture. Perhaps the governor was just using State funds for his own personal investments around the world.

“Youth and women empowerment that the governor spoke about so much have not taken any shape after three years in office. The question now is, when will the governor stop campaigning and start implementing his promises and providing good governance. It is simply a litany of failure that the people of the State can no longer put up with” he said.

Another issue that may affect the governor’s chances of victory is his inability to address the issue of the Three 3000 legitimate workers who have been allegedly replaced by cronies of the people in his government and are now tagged as Ghost workers. For many people, it shows obvious insensitivity to the plight of the people. 

Recently, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha joined other voices to disclose that the State Governor has mortgaged the State by incurring debt of over a Trillion Naira with nothing to show for it.

This is already sending shockwaves and deep fears among the people for the future of the State. These factors and the fact that most critical stakeholders who worked for his election in 2023 feel abandoned, betrayed and taken for granted will make his reelection a tough nut to crack. 

What may be Kefas greatest undoing is his resolve to retire old politicians in the State from active politics. The Governor announced shortly on assumption of office that old politicians have no place in his government, hence all his appointees are completely youths who have no political values in their respective localities. 

ALHAJI JAAJI SAMBO 

Alhaji Jaaji Sambo, a former Minister of transportation under the late President Muhammadu Buhari, hails from Jalingo Local Government Area in the Northern Zone of the State that most people consider should be the one to have produced the State Governor even in 2023 based on the rotational arrangement that has prevailed in the State since the return to Democracy in 1999. This gives Sambo strong selling point based on the zoning formula.

However, most political observers are of the opinion that the odds are stacked too high against him. Most people feel he is not so much on ground except for the two or three township roads he lobbyed for Jalingo the state capital while he served as Minister and simply abandoned the State since he was relieved of his appointment. 

Besides, Jaaji is considered the least popular of all the aspirants as the only time his name was on the streets in the State was while he served as Minister. His complete lack of touch with the State is one factor that could count against him. Besides, Sambo can not boast of visible political structure outside Jalingo, his home local government. However, whether he is able to persuade party members to trust him with the flag of the party between now and Primaries is left to be seen. 

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Besides, religion and ethnicity have almost always played key roles in determining who emerges the governor of the State and invariably, in favour of the Christians. As a Muslim and Hausa/Fulani in the State, his chances of breaking the Rubicon in this regards are slim. 

CHIEF DAVID SABO KENTE 

Another popular member of the APC who has obtained the forms and is warming up to aspire to fly the flag of the party in the forthcoming general elections in the State is Chief David Sabo Kente, a popular philanthropist and business mogul. 

Kente, a Two time aspirant and one time Candidate for the governorship in the State is widely known and accepted across the State because of his philanthropy through the DSK Foundation that has touched several lives. 

In 2023, Chief Kente played a key role leading to the election of Governor Kefas, even though Governor Kefas was then in the PDP. He hails from Wukari local government area in the Southern Senatorial Zone of the State same as the incumbent governor. 

Late last month, a cross section of politicians across the State, drawn from various political parties, had an extensive meeting in Wukari, his hometown with him to persuade him to join the race but he politely turned down the offer. He has said on several occasions that, left to him, he will rather support the incumbent governor to win if he delivers. He had explained that the only condition that may push him to join the race is if it’s the resolve of the majority of the people of the state. 

It is however not surprising that he has finally accepted to join the race after some stakeholders bought and presented the forms to him, insisting that he was a prefered candidate to rescue the State from misgovernance of the present administration of Governor Agbu Kefas. 

To his advantage, Kente is considered the most popular and experienced candidate amongst all the four who are in the race so far. What may be an additional advantage to Chief David Sabo Kente is that he has built structures across the 16 local government areas of the State and may not labour too much to win the state for APC if he secures the ticket. 

For Kente, religious politics may not come to play because he enjoys the acceptance of both Christians and Muslims because his philanthropic  gesture that shows no discrimination. 

What perhaps may be the biggest advantage for Chief Kente is, he hails from Southern zone, same as the incumbent and so for many people from the zone, it will be to their advantage if he wins the governorship to complete Kefas eight years from the zone. 

Chief Kente is also a grassroot politician with structures across the Sixteen Local Government Areas of the State and has carved a niche for himself in the APC, haven singlehandedly sponsored the party for years during its dark days in the State. 

As one from the Christiandom in the State, Kente stands a good chance of taking advantage of the poor performance of the present governor and convince the people to sway their votes to his advantage since he has proven he could impact so many lives even outside government. Again, Kente says he was coming to complete the remaining four years of Governor Kefas after which he promised to relinquish power to other zones of the state. 

However, in a system where trust is a rarity, it may be difficult for people from the Northern and Central Zones to trust Kente to relinquish power after a single tenure. Consequently, they may consider it safer for the incumbent governor Agbu Kefas to just complete his Right years rather than risk a new person coming in with the prospects of running Two new terms. 

ALHAJI SALLEH MAMAN 

The embattled former Minister of Power Alhaji Salleh Maman is also another contender for the ticket of the APC in Taraba State. Maman hails from Lau local government area in the Northern Senatorial zone of the state. 

Been from the Northern zone of the State, the argument about zoning system could easily tilt to his advantage though the South’s remaining Four years is under contention because of Kefas failure. 

Sadly, that could be his only advantage. He performed remarkably poor while serving as a minister and the current legal battle against him by the EFCC cast a dark and gloomy shadow over his ambition. 

His inability to take decisive actions towards the commencement of serious work on the Mambila Hydroelectric dam and the subsequent allegations of mismanagement of resources that were meant for the project has made him a “no go area” in any serious political discourse in the State. 

Being an Engineer by profession and from Taraba State that host the site of the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Dam, late President Muhammadu Buhari saw Mamman as the right choice for a minister that could successfully commence the final implementation of the project that had remained on the drawing board since 1972. However Mamman allegedly squandered the opportunity. This single factor has made the people of Taraba from all drives not to forgive the former Minister, at least not in the near future, let alone supporting his gubernatorial ambition. 

Meanwhile, as the battle for who grabs the ticket of the party may be decided in few days to come, stakeholders hold that APC may risk loosing the election to an obscure political party if a right candidate is denied the ticket in the name of consensus. 

Over the years, one undisputable fact that has been established in politics is that there are to definite absolutes. Things can change very quickly. As the preparations for the governorship election in 2027 gathers momentum in the State, it is clear that the struggle for the ticket of the APC will be a battle that will be fought fiercely among political gladiators, each with his advantage over the other players.