In his own remarks, another public affairs analyst, Dr Umar Jibrin, maintained that Goje’s initial plan was to decamp to the PDP if he was denied APC ticket: “he even bought and submitted the PDP nomination forms and their ballot papers carried his name.
There are allegations that former governor of Gombe State and the current senator representing Gombe Central at the National Assembly, Senator Muhammadu Danjuma Goje, is plotting with Atiku Abubakar against his party’s presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The suspicions were confirmed when Senator Goje was conspicuously absent at the APC Presidential Campaign rally in Gombe State on Monday 13th February 2023. The rally, which was graced by a mammoth crowd, had in attendance the Gombe State Governor, the APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu and his running mate Kashim Shettima, national chairman Abdullahi Adamu, the president of the senate Ahmad Lawan, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, Governors of Yobe, Borno, Jigawa and Plateau, and many other dignitaries.
Senator Goje was reported to be at loggerheads with incumbent Governor Inuwa Yahaya. During the APC primaries last year, the two were reconciled by party leaders with Goje promising to work under the leadership of Inuwa Yahaya in Gombe State. No sooner than Goje was given his senatorial ticket that he started reneging on the agreement, instructing his associates to work against the governor.
Senator Goje was absent in all local APC campaign outings that Inuwa Yahaya led in Gombe State. He was also absent at the inauguration of the state’s APC Campaign Council and flag off of campaign rallies performed by the national chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu. However, his latest absence at the Tinubu rally in Gombe has ruffled some feathers within the APC national hierarchy after reports emerged that Goje is working with Atiku in order to truncate APC’s victory at both national and state levels.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an APC chieftain in Gombe attributed Goje’s antics to the politics of betrayal by the former governor. “I was among the people that begged Governor Inuwa to forgive Senator Goje and give him the senatorial ticket. Goje himself swore that he would never work against the governor. But you can now see the moment he got his ticket he returned to his old tricks,” lamented the party chieftain.
A Gombe-based political analysts Kabiru Kashere however observed that the rift between Governor Inuwa and Senator Goje is inevitable considering their different political styles. “If you look at Goje, his style is always that of political aggression. Remember he founded the kalare thugs in Gombe. Governor Inuwa on the other hand is a statesman who maintains a matured approach to politics. Besides, it is on record that Goje had fallen out with all governors that came after him, highlighting his overbearing nature and inability to follow the leadership of others”
In his own remarks, another public affairs analyst, Dr Umar Jibrin, maintained that Goje’s initial plan was to decamp to the PDP if he was denied APC ticket: “he even bought and submitted the PDP nomination forms and their ballot papers carried his name. His plan was to work with Atiku and PDP candidates at all levels. But when he realized that the PDP Guber candidate is grossly unpopular, he started flirting with the NNPP Guber candidate. Now all his loyalists are rooting for the NNPP at state level and Atiku at national level.”
Speaking on the recent development, an APC national official expressed that the party is aware of Goje’s antics in Gombe. “the leadership (both Asiwaju and chairman Adamu are all aware). They are the people that stood as sureties for Goje to prevail on Governor Inuwa to forgive him and give him senatorial ticket. Now he has let them down. You know Buhari already had a bitter experience of Goje when he campaigned under the CPC in 2007 and 2011,” expressed the official who does not want his name to be mentioned.
It remains to be seen whether Goje, contesting under the APC, could succeed in undermining his presidential and governorship candidates. Frank Kalu, a senior researcher with the New Century Analytics claimed that their polling data see Governor Inuwa still winning second term, outperforming his two major rivals. On the presidential poll, he foresees a very tight race between Atiku and Tinubu.
All efforts to speak to the spokespersons of both Governor Yahaya and Senator Goje were unsuccessful at the time of writing this report. Text messages sent to their mobile numbers were unreplied.