When six ministers resigned their appointments from the federal cabinet some weeks ago for the purpose of going to their various states to contest the governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), many ordinary political observers believed they must have done their homework.
In other words, not many people thought that they just jumped into the political train in their states, without having properly tested the depth of the waters.
The ministers who dropped the certainty of their jobs to the uncertainty of becoming their state governors were Labaran Maku (information), Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu (Health), Chief Emeka Wogu (LAbour and Productivity), Chief Nnyeson Wike (State, Education), Dr. Samuel Ortom (State, Trade, Industry and Investment)
Senator Musiliu Obanikoro (State, Defence).
While Maku, the galuruous minister moved to Nasarawa state immediately after throwing in the towel to square it up with other PDP contestants for the governorship position, Professor Chukwu moved to his Ebonyi state for the same purpose, even as Semator Obanikoro moved to Lagos. Chief Wike went to his Rivers state while Wogu moved to Abia state and Ortom moved to Benue.
When they moved, they bobbled with hope and confidence, especially, with wrong notion that Presidency would throw its weight behind them.
But, the results of the primaries of the party that have since been released completely changed the game plan and threw five out of six of them badly into political orphanage. As a matter of fact, while Wike worked extra hard to convince the delegates to vote for him despite the obvious fact that he had the full backing of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, others, especially Maku and Chukwu, looked up to Abuja to sail through. Indeed, the five former ministers virtually fizzled into oblivion as if they went to sleep for the governorship position to be delivered to them on waking up, at the time Wike was energetically crisscrossing Rivers state.
When the chips were donw last week, the five former ministers woke up to discover that the rug has been removed from their feet. They discovered that they have been thrown into confusion where they could not fathom their fates.
[myad]
