Beyond The Euphoria: How Amwe Coasted Home To Victory
BY BOMBA DAUDA
Her victory at the re-run election mean different thing to diverse minds. To her enthusiast hoard of supporters, the victory is a spin-off of a mainstream consensus and a direct consequent of an enduring alliance between her and the district of electorates. Hon. Comfort Amwe’s second successive victory (first, at the 2019 polls and recently, at the just concluded re-run election) is a testimony, not only of her popularity but, the combined effect of her integrity, political capital, pedigree and stanch trust. To her political opponents and detractors, this victory, is yet a sizzling migraine and a conundrum – too.
Amwe’s victory in all senses of it is well-deserved. It was never on a platter, she earned it against all odds. She fought every inch of her way with courage and bravery given the huddles and booby traps she had had to overcome in a constituency that its recent political history is notable for its heap of disjointed outcomes. Dramatically, some members of her political party, the PDP, were visibly part of her political adversaries. Amwe had to strategize and re-strategize to counter the ruinous effect of variety of Judases, moles and decoys within her caucus who worked assiduously against her victory. Her battles, before and during the election were both within and beyond her party lineage.
Sanga is a loose end; its politics is currently defined by its nadir. The zone is on a new trajectory, primarily, because it is divided in two main ideological fronts: PDP and APC. The constituency’s cuddle with the PDP has sagged a bit with APC inroad but, Amwe’s victory has added impetus to PDP’s drive in reclaiming its lost territories.
A minute PDP stakeholders who glorified the party and praised it en-route the 2019 polls have new focus now, they are singing a new tune discordantly with the one they sang then during the smooth sailing days of their beloved PDP. The decamping of key political figures in the PDP weeks before the re-run in Sanga constituency to the ruling APC brought fresh hope to the candidacy of Haliru Gambo Dangana. Such move, in politics, would have automatically deflated the confidence of Amwe, however, it didn’t! It appeared to be a mirage.
Amwe victories at the polls, over the years thrived on her lasting legacies when she served as chairperson, Sanga local government council. As chairperson, she managed human affairs well and endeared herself to the hearts of many ordinary people, which guaranteed her a broad base support. Her political sagacity is built on the wild support she swayed, overtime, across electorates.
Amwe’s widespread support at the grass-root made her unperturbed by the gale of defections that hit her constituency and the APC political super weights in there. Her performance was heroic, the valid reason being that, she contended with 3 main political powers at the re-run: the Deputy Governor of Kaduna state, Hajiya Sabuwa Balarabe, Administrative Staff of President Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano, the Chairman of Sanga local government, Mr. Charlse Danladi and the former commissioner for health, Kaduna state, Mrs. Charity Shekari all of the ruling APC.
Amwe’s confidence would have thought to be weakened by the wave of her party’s decampees. The decampees: Boniface Garba (former House Reps Member, 91/92), Barr. M.Y Suleiman (Former Council Chairman), Emmanuel Dan Zaria (Former Council Chairman), Peter Awuz (Development Area Chairman), Suleiman Ibrahim (Member House of Assembly), (Former PDP Zonal Women Leader), Rifkatu Moses (Former Councillor/Women Leader), Hon. Timothy Bamboi (Immediate Past Aide to Nicholas Garba Sarkin Noma). Expectedly, Amwe’s massive grassroot support helped her defied all logics and bulldozed her way against contrary winds and became victorious.
As one politician, who was excited by Amwe’s victory put it: “All the decampees political power is hypothetical, they are all expired politicians who should have being retired before now.” Others doubted if the decamping of some politicians from PDP to APC actually broadened the prospect of Haliru. Evidently, none of the decampees won his polling unit for Haliru. The outcome of the re-run indicates that Amwe’s grass-root support is not stroke of luck; this view is evident on the fact that she won all the 14 polling units that INEC conducted the re-run election and defeated her opponent with a staggering 127 votes to claim victory.
