Why gang-up against Mbah extends from PGF crisis

By Dr Ifeanyichukwu Jaja

After three years of effective governance that has seen to the delivery of impactful projects and programmes, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has become the target of intense political mischief and conspiracies.

It is very possible that the global praise and wide national endorsement of Mbah’s efforts as Enugu State governor have combined to throw up some concerns among opposition politicians and envious peers within the fold of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF). The selection of the Enugu State chief executive as a replacement for the former chairman, Senator Hope Uzodimma, was not a happenstance or circumstantially enforced elevation.

Rather, the identification of Governor Mbah’s leadership qualities, devotion to service and team-building skills, convinced his colleagues to tag him as the man for the job. As a former business owner, who nurtured a start-up to international stardom in the downstream petroleum sector, Mbah’s prudence, transparency and integrity make him highly recommended for positions of authority and trust.

Yet, on the political side, Mbah’s straightforward positions on issues could be said to be the main motivation for his colleagues in the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) to insist that he steps into the driving seat. Coming at this crucial period, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is seeking a second term mandate to complete the laudable reforms he initiated, only persons of impeccable character could be considered as arrowhead of the President’s campaigns.

It is unlikely that the President does not know that among the governors on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, there are some who are walking with their two legs spread out towards the left and right sides of the road. They call it smart politics, but the right word for it is sabotage, or simply put, anti-party disposition.

So, while Nigerians are made to think that the crisis in the PGF border solely on management of funds, something deeper is also involved. There are among the governors some that are working to ensure that President Tinubu does not exercise independent judgment on the kind of presidential ticket that APC would parade in 2027.

If, for instance, the President nurses the idea of varying the Presidential ticket in response to the global outrage against same faith ticket, should it be the governors of his party that will question his sense of judgment? But, remember that it was a similar gang-up against late President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 that nearly cost the APC its cohesion.

Although the APC governors back then did the right thing by ensuring the zoning of the presidential ticket to the South, the affront against the President was not a display of good example and loyalty. Yes, it is said that two wrongs don’t make a right. Unlike former President Buhari, President Tinubu-himself a former state governor-has been carrying the governors along both in policy formulation and political planning.

The fact that President Tinubu ensured that governors receive fat federal allocations to execute their projects is enough to build a consensus among them. The silent division within the PGF, which pitches the pro-Tinubu governors against their pro-Shettima colleagues is not healthy at all.

It could be recalled also that it was that kind of grandstanding by some state governors that actually put former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at cross purposes. A situation whereby a President and his deputy are made to look as strangers on a ticket, not only creates mutual suspicion, but also instils distrust in the team.

But, instead of learning from the lessons of history, some APC governors, propelled by vaulting ambition to be President of Senate, want to cause unnecessary hot air around President Tinubu’s preparations for a fresh mandate.

While the attempt to endorse Governor Mbah as new PGF chairman could be said to reflect the mood among those who mean well for President Tinubu, the sinister plot of those that are not fully sold to the President’s second term could be seen in the ongoing plots to raise opposition to Mbah’s second term.

His personal friendship to President Tinubu notwithstanding, the Enugu State governor has always insisted on loyalty as an absolute quality. It was an admixture of friendship and loyalty that defines Mbah’s steady visibility in the affairs of APC ever since he joined the ruling party.

That our governor is now coming under attack from those who are obviously hurt by his openness and insistence on truth rather than doublespeak, is both surprising and irritating. The idea of a political party is the union of like-minds united by the determination to execute programmes as outlined in the ideology and manifesto of the party.

Consequently, as the leader of the party, President Tinubu deserves as the support and loyalty he can get to ensure that the party continues win and reign in the hearts of Nigerians. If state governors exercise authority in their various states, the ongoing attempts to check mate the President amounts to a recipe for chaos.

Unfortunately, the plots by some desperate APC leaders to engineer strong opposition against Governor Mbah in his home state comes as a dangerous low in the misunderstanding within the PGF. Surprisingly, the gang-up against Mbah is being spearheaded by politicians that profess public support for President Tinubu’s second term.

This plot came to a head during a recent high-level meeting in Abuja, where a former governorship aspirant on the platform of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) was advised to step down for a former permanent secretary. Information from the meeting showed that while the former governorship aspirant was enjoined to settle for the senatorial ticket of the party, their backers maintained that it was only through a combined senatorial and gubernatorial onslaught against Mbah could the plot succeed.

As the anti-Mbah’s second term machination was going on in NDC, another strategic distraction was being cooked in another platform, which is being controlled by a powerful Minister. The minister, who swore to teach the Enugu State governor, said that he was reluctant to support a particularly governorship aspirant, who was disgraced out of office some time ago. However, sources said that the Minister agreed on the condition that his support would be limited to ensuring that the particular aspirant gets the party’s governorship ticket, directing that funding should come from his governor-friend.

Perhaps, sensing the plots to range opposition against Mbah, various communities and Local Government councils across the state, have continued to assure the governor that his second term was a foregone conclusion.

For instance, a few days ago, when the President Generals under the auspices of Council of Enugu Town Unions, comprising 583 autonomous communities, endorsed his second term bid, Governor Mbah said he was not distracted, and therefore, not slowing down.

Reflecting on the profusion of praises for his many impactful projects, Governor Mbah disclosed that the people have seen nothing yet, assuring that he is determined to do more in his determination to cement Enugu State as an economic giant.

“This is beyond politics. What you are telling us this afternoon is that you cannot politicise the future of our children. The implication of this endorsement is that you have imposed further obligations on us.

“You have told us to go and finish this job. You must have observed that what we have done is simply to build the fundamentals, to lay the foundations, and to get ready. But, even with just building these fundamentals and the foundations, you can see that the profile of Enugu is rising daily.

“Enugu has become a model of good governance. That is essentially what you have come here this afternoon to endorse,” the governor stated.

Those are not the words of a state chief executive that is either afraid or intimidated. It represents the strong voice of a leader committed to service and propelled by loyalty to the people, who are the true owners of the mandate. All in all, that Enugu State is in good hands cannot be doubted.

•Dr Jaja writes from Awgu, Enugu State