LP tray torn apart by polemics, intrigues

The 2023 political battle raging in Plateau State is a sporadic melee on many fronts. Governor Simon Bako Lalong's insistence on giving his crony, Nentawe Yilwatda, the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial ticket has left a mass of discouraged party loyalists no choice but to seek a political vent elsewhere.

Perhaps considering the possibility of the governor imposing his favorite APC candidate as the gubernatorial torchbearer, Ambassador Yohana Margif, who says his aspiration to become governor was backed by divine revelations, moved to the Labor Party (LP). At the time of its entry, the LP was still a dormant political platform like other fringe parties in the league of 18 recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

However, this almost comatose characterization was set to change after June 24, 2022, when the former Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) vice-presidential candidate in the 2019 poll joined to voice his 2023 presidential ambitions .

So you could say that Peter Obi's entry into the LP and the momentum his presidential run generated has become an albatross for Ambassador Margie. Indeed, after being moved to the APC, Dr. Patrick Dakum, who, like Ambassador Margif, was among former Governor Joshua Dariye's henchmen during his tenure, joined LP. The pair are currently jostling to bring to the court's attention a statement as to who qualifies as the genuine flag bearer for the Labor Party governorship in Plateau State.

While Ambassador Margif's supporters argue that Dariye was behind the attempt to put Dr Dakum on the ballot as LP's gubernatorial candidate, the former said that in as a victim of political malice, he wanted some respite.

Curiously, Dariye, who alleged that his incarceration was politically motivated, was not visited by either the APC state section or the PDP, platforms on which he went to the Senate and has ruled Plateau State.

The former governor had, while appearing on a Channels Television show, claimed that some of the money he was sent to prison for was spent on campaigning for the election of the second tenure of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Recall that in 2007, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted Dariye for embezzlement of Plateau State funds valued at N1.126 billion.

But, insisting that this was a calculated attempt to cloud his political influence, Senator Dariye explained that 800 million naira of that sum had been credited to the state account of the Plateau, adding that 100 million naira went to the Southwest PDP, while another 100 million naira went to former President Obasanjo. organization of the campaign.

Giving a further breakdown, the ex-governor revealed that 1 million went to the eco-fund, while 66 million naira went to the PDP Plateau State, although he described the outstanding balance of around 4 million naira as a commission on turnover.

Although the Abuja Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to 10 years, which the Supreme Court also upheld, last April President Muhammadu Buhari, in exercising his prerogative of clemency, has announced his pardon due to age.

The LP feudsHowever, while the APC and the PDP have kept a certain silence and a certain distance on the fate of the former governor, the parties to the dispute over the post of governor of the LP associate him with the decision to revise the result of the gubernatorial primary, which rejected Ambassador Margif.

Margif supporters say the events that led to what they describe as an illegal substitution of the gubernatorial candidate began with a joint visit by Senator Dariye and Dr. Dakum to explore the possibilities of a voluntary withdrawal since according to them "Margif does not have the huge war chest to pursue the gubernatorial ballot."

In an interview with The Guardian, Ambassador Margif said he joined the LP, while the party's presidential candidate Obi was still in the PDP, noting that at the time he emerged as The party's gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Dakum was also still in APC.

It should be recalled that although Dr. Patrick Dakum announced his withdrawal from the Plateau State APC Governor's Primary when it became apparent that Governor Lalong's favorite contender was sure of getting the ticket, he was credited with 70 votes in the straw ballot.

Dakum was among 10 gubernatorial candidates who walked out of the primary, following complaints that the venue was inundated with government appointees and unaccredited delegates.

However, by participating in an alleged repeat LP primary after Ambassador Margif allegedly withdrew, Dakum reportedly emerged as the party's gubernatorial candidate.

But, alleging foul play, Margif maintains that he neither withdrew his nomination nor wrote to the LP president announcing it. He alleged that the letters allegedly written by him were outright forgeries, explaining that the two letters sent...