A simmering political conflict between Sen. Ahmad Lawan and Sen. Ibrahim Bomai is gradually heating up as 2027 Governorship election approaches. The two serving senators battle behind the scenes over who will get the APC’s governorship ticket in Yobe State.
The fight – manifested recently when Ahmad Lawan went to Potiskum to inspect a road project which he claimed was facilitated by him. This prompted some alleged supporters of Ibrahim Bomai to launch an attack on his convoy after accusing him of hijacking the project just to reap where he did not sow.
To those of us who are student of politics, we saw it coming. The compound fractures we are seeing in the Yobe APC today would have been simple fractures, if Governor Mai Mala Buni had taken a firm and decisive actions against ambitious politicians in the State.
Whatever anyone says of Buni, he is the only democrat in Yobe that is allowing everyone to play his politics according to his wish without the usual political harassment by the State’s machinery.
Reproach does not and cannot diminish the sweetness of honey; no matter what anyone says, Buni is a true democrat. But his silence is being mistaking for weakness.
I have said it before; “when it comes to political strategy, Buni is in a class of one. He is the bell cow of Yobe politics, a tenacious politician with a manic work ethic.
However, this time around, his style of politics may be harmful to APC if he insist on gentleman approach to 2027 politicking in Yobe. The ambitious politicians may end up destroying the party to achieve their political target.
Historically, Governors in Yobe have ‘absolute’ power to anoint their preferred successors usually in consultation with some few power brokers in the State.
Both Lawan and Bomai are banging on the need to bring the governorship ticket to their zones even when they are not the consensus candidates of their senatorial districts.
APC in Yobe is believed to be the most acceptable party in the State having won governorship elections since 1999. But this is the first time the party seems to be grapping with the challenges of dealing with too much powerful contenders for the office of governor even when the incumbent has Two more years to go.
Ahmed Lawan has been in the National Assembly since 1999 and therefore, he has the belief that whoever must rise in politics of Yobe North must be through him. This made the coalition against him stronger.
Ibrahim Bomai is a Two-term Senator who thrives on the politics of ethnicity, to some people he is not suitable for governorship seat while some are rallying behind his ambition.
The battle for who succeeds Gov. Buni has silently taken a new dimension, the fight to ruin it all has begun. If nothing is done to stem the tide, Yobe will be One of the States in Nigeria to visit by political tourists.
Husaini Mohammed Isa Wtites from Abuja.
