A former Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Smart Adeyemi, shocked not a few leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party when he announced his decision to quit the party on April 8, 2016. Adeyemi has been a notable member of the PDP since he joined politics in 2006 and emerged Senator of the Federal Republic in 2007. He has been an influential member of the party and in the Senate; he was in the thick of things as one of the key pillars behind former Senate President David Mark’s eight year reign.
At a brief ceremony in his Abuja home on April 8, Senator Adeyemi told a crowd of his allies and supporters he was fed up with happenings in the PDP. Flanked by serving Senator Abu Ibrahim and former Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, both of the All Progressives Congress, Adeyemi told his audience how the PDP had contributed to the degradation of his immediate constituency in Kogi West, adding that if those who died 40 years ago were to resurrect, they would easily trace their farms and homes.
While insisting that all politics is local and insisting that his decision to defect was borne out of the desire to help his immediate constituency, Senator Adeyemi declared: “Kogi West has nothing to show towards improving the standard of living of our people by successive Kogi PDP governors. This neglect and poor performance of the PDP resulted into anti-party reactions, culminating in the victory of the APC in Kogi State governorship election last year.
“The situation in Kogi West, apart from the State capital, Lokoja, is very saddening to the extent that if those who died in the last 40 years have the opportunity to resurrect, they will easily locate their houses and farms because nothing has actually changed,” Adeyemi said.
He stated: “Therefore, in the light of the sincerity and commitment of, President Muhammadu Buhari, his strength of character and support of eminent personality such as Baba Olusegun Obasanjo, the leader of men, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and the support of the leadership of the ruling party towards the reconstruction of the socio-economic fabric of our nation, we have decided to defect to the All Progressives Congress.”
He, however, told the audience that he utilized his period in the Senate to uplift Kogi West to the best of his ability by providing over 500 hospital beds, 24 ambulances, distributed over 400 cars and built more than 200 boreholes as well as roads and market stalls among others.
Tongues started wagging immediately he announced his defection. Not a few blamed him for dumping the platform that gave him space to excel at the Senate. But Adeyemi’s history of running parallel divides with the structures at the PDP has also been well documented. Perhaps, due to his outspoken nature, the Senator is on record to have had running battles with leaders of the PDP more than any other.
Besides his first term short at the Senate which went smoothly, his second and third term bids ended in fierce intra-party battles. During his bid for a second term in the Senate, the Senator contended with the holders of the party’s structures in the state then led by then Governor Ibrahim Idis. He was forced to repeat his primaries thrice, having had the primaries voided at the state High courts twice. The third term bid further caused a huge divide in the party with leaders of the party ganging up against him during the primaries and the election proper. He won the primaries but the battle was taking to the general elections, a situation that saw PDP members working against their own candidate to pave the way for the candidate of the APC, Senator Dino Melaye.
With such a history to his political association in the PDP, it might not take Senator Adeyemi a long time to decide on the need for defection once the party lost its hold of the centre, which had provided him some form of shield in the face of internal battles he has had to wage within the party’s fold in his home state. But not many thought it would be that early. Many even believed that the party at the national level would not allow him go if it is keen on rebuilding.
But Senator Adeyemi appeared to have made up his mind and the process was made easier for him by the turn out of the governorship election in Kogi in December 2015.
Before that election, Senator Adeyemi had visited the National Headquarters of the PDP and warned the leaders of the implication of fielding Governor Idris Wada as its candidate. He was said to have threatened to work against Wada if he was fielded. Adeyemi’s grouse were said to be two fold; Wada’s non-performance as governor and allegations that the Governor teamed up with the APC elements to defeat him at the general elections and the election Tribunal.
With the PDP sticking to Wada, Adeyemi’s supporters in Kogi West announced their intention to work with the Audu Abubaka/James Faleke ticket. They did and that ticket won the governorship election handsomely in Kogi West Senatorial District.
After the elections, pressure started mounting on the Senator to formally join his supporters who had become marooned in the APC. He fenced off the pressure for months and eventually made the announcement in April. On April 23, he visited his Iyara Ward in Ijumu Local Government area of Kogi state to formally register as a member of the APC and familiarise with the new party.
The Senator, who got the membership Card number 14542741, said he needs to be in the APC so that he can directly talk to the people in government without a sense of animosity.
“I need to be in the APC so that we can jointly with Hon Faleke and my brothers work for the betterment of our people. When I talk to the people in government about the deprivation of our area as a member of the APC, they will not see me s an enemy,” Senator Adeyemi said.
The Senator said he was sure that the new government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to reconstruct Nigeria’s socio-economic fabrics adding that Nigerians need to give the administration a chance to ensure economic recovery.
According to him, the current economic crisis is a global issue. He stated that it would be expensive and unbearable for the nation to fail at this time.
He stated: “This government must be trusted to deliver the goods. President Buhari himself has acknowledged that the economy is in bad shape. People need to endure for a while and let us join hands towards building a greater economy through diversification and empowerment for the younger generation.
“I believe that Kogi state cannot afford to be in a minority party at the state or national level moreso as the government at the centre has expressed its mission and vision as well as sincerity towards fostering a strong political will that will better the lots of Nigerians. Looking at the political dynamics around our geopolitical zone, the states are all controlled by the APC. It is just right that we support the party to achieve progress for our people.”
The Deputy Governorship candidate to the late Alhaji Abubakar Audu, Hon. James Faleke, who attended the ceremony, said Senator Adeyemi is a valuable asset to the APC, adding that the party was able to win the senatorial district in the last governorship election due to the support of Senator Adeyemi.
Adele said: “For the first time, we (the APC) were able to win in Kogi West. That is credit to Senator Smart who asked his supporters to work with us. He is a great asset to us in the state.
“I am very happy he is joining us. He is my senior politically and I have a lot of respect for him. He doesn’t need to be in politics to survive but he has the love of his people at heart.
“The job of making the society better is not the task of one man. Anyone who wants to work for his people will not say people should not join him and that is why I am very pleased with his coming.”
The Zonal Chairman of the APC in Kogi West, Chief Lawrence Asagun, who represented the State Chairman, Alhaji Adi Amatu, said with the defection of Senator Adeyemi to the APC, the party can easily secure victory in the zone.
Asagun said: “He used to be one person that gave us sleepless nights while he was in the PDP. He really gave us tough times in winning elections here, with his coming, we will no longer have sleepless nights in winning elections in this zone since all of us are on one page.”
Notwithstanding the open arm reception he has received in the APC so far, only a few would say that the bed of roses will perpetually exist. There are those who believe that his membership of the ruling party would threaten their hold on that party. But Adeyemi as a politician has to be prepared for the battle ahead even as he told his constituents; he was not in the APC to seek elective offices.
. Adebowale writes from Lagos.
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