The nation was suddenly awakened by the recent Supreme Cout judgment which sacked five governors and brought an abrupt change in governance in the affected states. Yekini Jimoh examines the scenario in Kogi State.

The nine-year administration of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris as the governor of Kogi State was finally brought to an end by the Supreme Court judgment on the issue of tenure elongation. The judgment, which shocked the nation, took place last Friday.

The Supreme Court judgment brought about mixed reactions in Kogi, as well as other states, which include Adamawa, Bayelsa, Sokoto and Cross River.  While some people saw the decision as retrogressive, many others believed that the judgment was long overdue. Nevertheless, the mood of many people in Kogi was that of jubilation and excitement. Many people, who took to the streets all over the state, were seen rejoicing and dancing over the judgment.

The situation was different in the state before the judgment on Friday, as there was mounting apprehension on what would be the likely judgment. Feelers gathered from political watchers had revealed that the decision of the Supreme Court, one way or the other, would set the state on a different path, hoping that the situation would not bring about political turbulence in the state.  

The ex-governor of Kogi, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, had been described by many as a man with nine lives. In fact, many people believed that the former governor is one of the luckiest governors the nation has ever produced, considering several political turbulence he surprisingly overcame during his long tenure in office. Alhaji Idris had escaped re-election battles, including the much-touted certificate scandal which almost caused him his seat. In recent times, he, including three daughters, narrowly escaped death a plane crash, not to mention his alleged conflicts with Prince Abubakar Audu, a prominent elder statesman and former governor of the state.
With this background, many opinion experts had thought that the ex-governor would somehow escape the hammer of the Supreme Court, given his ‘escape’ antecedents. However, the governor was not lucky this time round, as he was ordered to vacate his office by the Supreme Court, alongside four of his colleagues.

Prior to the judgment, Idris had left Lokoja, the state capital, for Abuja, last Wednesday, ahead of the judgment. He was reported to have almost got killed, when his vehicle, while coming from Abuja, got involved in a ghastly accident. Sources close to the former governor disclosed to Nigerian Tribune that efforts by the former governor, in appealing to President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the judgment, proved abortive, as Mr President was said to have told him to go back to Lokoja and wait for the Supreme Court judgment.

According to reports, the governor, who arrived Lokoja in a depressed mood, was said to have called on Captain Idris Wada that the judgment might not favour him and so, he (Wada) should get ready for the handing over, once the court pronounced the judgment.

On Friday, when the Supreme Court finally asked the five governors to vacate their seats, Kogi was not an exception. When the news finally got round, the question on the people’s lips was, who would Alhaji Idris hand over to since the judgment said the tenure elongation was illegal meaning whatever took place since then till date was unlawful and not acceptable by law.

Ex-Governor Idris  was expected to leave office 29 May, 2011, but still occupied the office, following the judgments by an Abuja High Court and a Federal Court of Appeal, till last Friday when the apex court reversed the initial judgments which had favoured the governors. What surprises most people in the state was that after the judgment, Alhaji Idris still held to power, as he maintained control over the affairs of the state. According to reports, after the decision of the Supreme Court, he had a meeting with the state’s Police Commissioner, Director of State Security Service and the head of military formation in Kogi in his office.

The Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasir Ajanah, was said to be with Idris at the Government House, where series of meetings was held which lasted for hours. The details of the meeting, as revealed to Nigerian Tribune, were that the judgment was interpreted to Alhaji Idris by the Chief Judge. With the intervention of the security agents, he advised that the Speaker of the state legislature, Honourable Abdullahi Bello, should take over but this was allegedly not accepted by Idris, who was said to have remained adamant that Wada should take over.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that Idris had allegedly budgeted billions of naira for Wada as take-off grant. Not only that; speculations were rife that Idris feared that handing over to the Speaker would exposed his actions while in office. It was further gathered that several contracts allegedly awarded by Idris to his sons, daughters and close associates were not executed.

The Kogi State Chief Judge and the security agents were said to have abandoned Idris in the office, after he refused to take to their advice and he was said to have gone ahead to plan the swearing-in of the governor-elect, Wada. On this note, members of the state House of Assembly were said to have raised the alarm that the right person, for the position based on the judgment, is the Speaker.

According to the lawmakers, Honourable Bello was expected to be swore-in as acting governor of the state, as they argued that Captain Wada, the governor-elect on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), must equally abide by the judgment of the Supreme Court.

It took the intervention of PDP stakeholders, after several hours, to bring the situation under control. In the meantime, the state Chief Judge, Justice Ajanah, who was expected to swear-in the acting governor, was absent from the venue. After several hours of waiting for the CJ, the President, Customary Court of Appeal,  Honourable Shaibu Atadoga, was  later invited to swear-in Captain Wada and his deputy-elect, Architect Yomi Awoniyi, as the governor of the state.

However, barely 15 minutes after swearing in Wada, a directive came from Abuja that the Speaker of the House should take over as the acting governor. This development led to the withdrawal of all security personnel attached to Wada as the governor of the state, as the Police and the State Security Services (SSS) quickly reinforced the security of the Speaker. All roads leading to the state High Court was taken over by the security agencies.

The swearing-in of the Speaker as acting governor took place at the office of Justice Ajanah and was witnessed by all the security agencies in the state, the Police, the SSS, members of the Kogi State House of Assembly, stakeholders of the PDP and the general public. The Chief Judge, in his speech, said the Speaker was sworn-in as the acting governor, based on the constitution, adding that the Speaker remained the acting governor of the state.

Meanwhile, supporters of the former candidate of the ruling party, Alhaji Jibril Isa (Echocho), that of Captain Wada Idris, who won the 3 December, 2011 gubernatorial poll and those from the central axis of the state, where the speaker of the state House of Assembly hails from, were all in a joyous mood, saying that the opportunity had come for their ‘own’ to take charge of affairs in the state.

Honourable Bello’s chief strategist, Honourable Dino Melaye, described the development  as “a good riddance to bad rubbish,” in view of what he said had happened for the past eight years. In a telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune, the lawmaker said that the people of the state were happy with the judgment and advised the former governor, Alhaji Idris, to prepare to face prosecution for his alleged crimes against the people of the state.

In his reaction, the state chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Mr Aliu Abubakar, said the judgment was shrouded in confusion, adding that the verdict of the Supreme Court was an abberation, as it had put the state in a tight corner. He opined that, with the judgment, the state is already confused and politically unstable. He, however, admitted that the deed had been done and that the apex court had spoken and, as such, there was nothing anyone can do about it.

Also speaking, the state chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Hady Ametuo, commended the Supreme Court judgment. According to him, Alhaji Idris, Captain Wada and the President of the Customary Court of Appeal should be arrested for treason. He said Idris broke the law and, as such, he must be punished with all those that partook in the action.

With the removal of the ex-governor, the political position of the state remained uncertain, as mixed reactions and counter-reactions have continued to trail the decision of the Supreme Court.  There are rumours of another gubernatorial election in the state, as, according to some pundits, going by the judgment, the election of Captain Wada could eventually be declared null and void.