BY ABUBAKAR H. MUHAMMAD, FEBRUARY 03, 2022 | 03:53 PM
People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Yobe State has been dealt a huge blow by the exit of Sen. Mohammed Hassan, popularly known as Dambu.
Dambu defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress, where he was received on Wednesday by Mai Mala Buni, governor of the state in Abuja.
The former senator ‘pledged his loyalty and support to the party leadership in the state and to work for its success at all levels.’
While Dambu’s defection will increase the fortunes of the APC, especially at Zone B senatorial district of the state, the opposition party is left to suffer and bear the brunt.
Why PDP will suffer Dambu’s defection
To begin with, it is important to note that PDP has never formed a government in Yobe State, at least not the governorship seat.
Like Borno, its mother state, Yobe has been led by parties other than the PDP.
It was ruled by two parties since 1999: the now defunct All Nigerian People’s Party, ANPP, and now APC, which transformed from a merger with the former.
The PDP also has only very little to show in election records in the state.
At the national level, the party has produced only three senators and two members of the Nigerian House of Representatives.
Among the three senators, two were from Yobe South, one of the three zones of the state and where Sen. Dambu comes from.
He was a senator from 2015 to 2019, where he was replaced by Ibrahim Mohammed Bomai of the APC in 2019.
Losing Dambu to APC for Yobe South now threatens to send the party into further political irrelevance in the state, particularly in the zone, having been the only to ever produce two PDP senators and a member of the green chambers.
Sen. Dambu in APC, a threat to Sen. Bomai
Sen. Bomai, relatively less popular than Dambu in the zone, was a gubernatorial aspirant in the last election, before he stepped down for Governor Buni, in return of which, he got the ticket for the senatorial contest for the party as a compensation.
During the 2019 election, Dambu was the most popular PDP candidate in Yobe and had posed a big threat to the ruling party.
As a result this popularity, some election observers alleged that the only explanation for his defeat was rigging.
His defection, at the eve of the 2023 elections, is also a further threat to Mr. Bomoi, given that, the former seems to carry more political weight for the party in the state and nationally.
It is even left to be seen if his defection will be compensated a la Bomoi.
As for PDP, it also remains to be seen, in the fullness of time, which new faces may emerge out there to take the place of Dambu.
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