It was on NTA Okene News yesterday that Okene residents declaredsupport for Senator Natasha. No normal Kogi Central Constituent member will see the support declaration as a surprise. Natasha is a household name. Then, who wants to recall her?
Who wants to recall a performing Senator? Who wants to recall his senator who was declared the Senator of the Year? Who wants to recall his senator that is been choked because it was perceived that she influenced the establishment of 5 mini-gas plants in her constituency? Who wants to recall a senator whose performance in one year superseded the achievements of all the senators from Kogi Central from 2003 to 2023, that is, 20 years?
While I was deep in that thought, I remember that it took the grace of the court to retrieve her mandate that was stolen by the people on the Recall Project. I remember watching the person who mastermind the stolen mandate accepting defeat. Several people questioned the public acceptance while not on the ballot. We thought he had given up. But the event of the last few days shows that he was still bitter about the defeat and still looking for revenge.
He saw the crisis between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Senate President as an opportunity to strike again. Natasha seems to have become a thorn in the flesh of oppressors. She seems to have become a fishbone in the throat of Senator Akpabio that he can’t swallow, and he will listen to whoever claims to have the magic wand to get her off his throat even here is a scammer. So the guy man approached the desperate man with a proposal that he could get her off his way by recalling her. A desperate man can easily fall for a scammer. He was excited with the proposal and a deal was struck. It was said to be a 4 billion naira recall deal.
It was an amazing deal for him, and he returned home loaded with cash. Yes! KC APC was ready to recall a PDP senator. They want to recall a senator they never voted for. A senator they earlier stole her mandate. So, he called the APC chairmen within the constituency for a meeting. They all gathered immediately. They must be loyal, after all; he fixed them there while he was in charge. The party executives were directed to gather constituents for the recall signatures.
But there was a challenge. How will they tell an average AniEbira to come out to sign to recall Natasha? That name is a brand and a household name. Her street credibility won’t let that work. She is considered a senator with a difference, one of a kind. Aside from Senator A. T. Ahmed, no other senator has enjoyed the sort of acceptance that Natasha is enjoying in KC. So, Senator Natasha Recall announcement will not fly. They must figure out something else. The only way is to trick the un-informed women out for their signatures.
Then, there was a suggestion that it should be announced that there is an empowerment scheme that requires their voter’s card details. That was considered a brilliant idea. The announcement was made and the women were out the next day signing a recall register as an empowerment. They were given ₦2,000 each to hold the body. A few people fell for the deception before the information got to them that they were being tricked. There is never any empowerment. They don’t do empowerment, they strangulate the people.
But who recalls his elected senator for having issues with another elected senator from another state if not a coward? No mentally stable person will do that. A normal person will challenge the 6 months suspension for his senator for protesting a sudden seat change without notice. Your senator said she was sexually harassed by another senator from another state. A normal person will be angry and push for the investigation of the allegations levelled by his senator against the senator in question. But you pitched a tent with the accused senator and want to recall your senator. Of course, not all of us are normal.
The mastermind was alleged to be working with an INEC staff. However, in a publication in a national daily, the state INEC Resident Commissioner denied being aware of any recall process. Meanwhile, there is a retraining court injunction. The recall project seems to be dead on arrival and we saw it coming. Has he just scammed 2 people? His client who needed that recall and bankrolling the project, and the poor women tricked for their signatures for an empowerment scheme.
Supposing the recall was successful, at whose loss? It will be the loss of the constituents and constituency. Kogi Central, in recent times, has not had a politician who is so passionate about Ebira land. It is our loss if we lose her.
We never knew that a KC senator could influence federal appointments for someone not related to the senator till Natasha became the senator. We never knew KC senators had the resources at their disposal to do such massive empowerment till Natasha became our senator.
We never knew AAAMCO, which was abandoned for a very long time, could be rehabilitated till Natasha became a senator. Ihima got its police station rebuilt. A school is being built for the Fulani community in KC. A fire station is coming to Kogi Central, thanks to Natasha. 5 LNG mini plants are being built in Ajaokuta, taking advantage of the Warri-Ajaokuta pipeline. It is a long list.
The people of KC are so pleased with Senator Natasha and the support is beyond party lines. Prominent clergymen have lent their voices to condemn the madness called the Natasha recall project with harsh words.
The proverb “Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad’, is, however, often used to comment on a foolish action seen as self-destructive in its effect. I just hope this is not the madness that is playing out.
Ebiraland has enjoyed relative peace for a while now. I just hope that the mastermind of this 4 billion naira madness called Recall Natasha project does not pitch us against each other with his greed and the defeat of his ego that he has refused to let go. Ebira means character and the people are known to be stubborn and unbending but sound and upright. We must not allow politics to let us lose our heads to buy caps.
*Ireyi Zubair writes from Zaria*
