Written by Hassan Ibrahim, Jos Friday, 04 January 2013

With the rising fortunes of APGA in Plateau State, our correspondent looks at how the party which was not among the frontline political parties in Plateau is all of a sudden becoming the main opposition party in the state.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has prior to last year’s general election never been a factor to reckon with in all elections Plateau State.

The leading parties in Plateau since the dawn of democracy in 1999 have remained the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) the Alliance for Democracy, (AD) and later Democratic People’s Party (DPP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Labour Party (LP).
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The PDP has since 1999, been winning the governorship and majority seats in both National and State House of Assembly elections.

The position of the main opposition has however altered from time to time depending on the disposition of the ruling party with the ANPP trading places with the AC at one time then later the Labour party as the main opposition in the state.

But since the 2011 general elections when APGA fielded Bala Bako as its candidate for the Plateau North senatorial election and he came second after PDP’s Gyang Dantong, the party has succeeded in maintaining a visible presence that seems hard to ignore.

The party was again to prove the feat it achieved at the general election was not a mere coincidence when it came third in the by election for the same seat when Senator Dantong died and there was a by election to fill the vacancy created by his death.

Prior to the senatorial by elections, when aspirants lose out in PDP primary elections, their next port of call would either be the Labour Party of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) or ANPP.

But with the promise shown by APGA at the 2011 election, politicians in the state have come to realize that the party has a base they could use.

The primaries for the senatorial by election was to reflect that change of attitude when most of the parties except the LP and DPP substituted their candidates creating further divisions among their folds.

Danladi Atu who was of the LP jumped boat when the party maintained that the party’s ticket be retained by Lumumba Adeh who flew the party’s flag for the seat at the previous election and pitched tent with the ANPP, and Chris Giwa who had contested the 2011 elections as the ACN guber candidate moved to APGA when he was schemed for Yusuf Pam, while Bala Bako who had contested same position in the APGA in the previous election moved to the People’s Redemption Party (PRP).

Giwa in less than three weeks held the party together and was able to go into the election at the end of which he came third after Gyang Pwajok of the PDP and John Dungs of the DPP beating otherwise notables like Adeh, and Atu of the LP and ANPP.

Since the cancellation of the results of the senatorial by election by the courts due to the non inclusion of the CPC logo, other parties, have appeared indifferent and non committal due probably to exhaustion and lack of resources to engage in another round of elections but the APGA has continued as if it was the very opportunity it has been waiting for.

Giwa, who is now referred to as the leader of the party in the state even said the party has successfully replaced LP as the main opposition party in the state and that with time it will also shove the PDP aside to become the ruling party in the state.

Many have noted that the kind of excitement that goes with the cancellation of election results and the announcement of chance for a fresh election has been absent with latest court verdict. The excitement has been minimal and many of the candidates have not exhibited any sparkle to show they are willing to have a go at the election.

Our correspondent learnt that apart from having not recovered from the huge electoral expenses, most of the parties are not organized having been fractured by the crises that attended the primaries for the by election where party chieftains had wanted to impose their candidates to fly their party’s flag and after failing have turned their backs on the party.

Most of the candidates have also used huge resources to pursue their campaigns in the preceding elections and are already afraid of using such against the seeming inexhaustible resources available to the PDP and its candidate.
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But while the other parties have been brooding and exhibiting peculiar timidity since the coast seemed cleared for another by election, the APGA in Plateau appears set for the contests and from all indications, may have taken the sail out of their ship of the other parties.

Chris Giwa has not only consolidated on his last outing by trying to nurture the support base of the party, he has also done extensive work to build and reorganize the party to make it strong to participate in all coming elections.

At the inauguration of the caretaker committee, Giwa said his confidence stems from the fact the people of the state have shown they are prepared to have an alternative to the PDP which the other parties are no willing to provide.

He said if the concept of a ruling party can be viewed from the minds of the electorates, it is obvious that the PDP as far as Plateau state is concerned has lost that position saying the minds of the people is now totally turned towards APGA as the people have seen sincerity devoid of any tincture and in its natural form with the kind of leadership style in the APGA. He said very soon, the people would have their chance to transfer what is on their minds to the reality on ground and the PDP would pushed to become the main opposition party in the state.

Last week the party set up a caretaker committee with Sunday Amuga as the chairman, Alhaji Musa Gyambar as deputy chairman, Valentine Jacob as youth leader, Yaknan Miri as secretary and Gambi Nbilamut as publicity seceretay to conduct ward, local government and state congresses so as to put in place a structure for the party that would endure.

Apart from the PDP and the LP which have similar structures at the grassroots level, APGA appears the only one exploring the angle of having a strong rural base as most of the other parties have only concentrated at the state level.

Giwa when contacted agreed that the party is working towards selling itself to the electorate in the entire nooks and crannies of the state saying, this is in order to give the people an alternative to the PDP since the other opposition parties have failed to do so.

He said the party will use the local government election to prove its acceptability among the populace and that the senatorial by election that has been ordered by INEC would also be a chance for the APGA to prove that it has come to stay as the main party in Plateau state.

Our correspondents confirmed that stalwarts of the other parties like Chief Jok Alamba, Gambo Nbilamut of the ACN and a host of others have decamped to the APGA, making many to wonder if indeed APGA is now the main opposition party in Plateau State

Dream on.