The re-election prospects of Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello appear to have received a major boost following the withdrawal of a court case instituted by a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by former state chairman Hadi Ametuo.

The development came shortly after the APC National Working Committee adopted the indirect primary method for selecting the party’s candidate for the November 2019 governorship election in Kogi State.

The decision was viewed as favourable to Bello, who enjoyed the backing of the recognised state party structure led by APC Chairman Abdullahi Bello.

Before the reconciliation, the Kogi APC had been divided between the Abdullahi Bello-led group, which supported the governor, and the faction associated with Ametuo. The latter had enjoyed the support of several prominent party figures, including Senator Alex Kadiri, while some members later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party.

The internal dispute had led to litigation and raised questions about which party leadership and delegate list would be recognised if the APC proceeded with an indirect governorship primary.

Under the APC constitution, candidates can be selected through direct, indirect or consensus primaries.

Following the emergence of Adams Oshiomhole as national chairman, the party’s National Executive Committee had generally favoured direct primaries while allowing states to adopt indirect primaries where peculiar circumstances, logistical challenges or other considerations made direct voting impractical.

For indirect primaries to be adopted, the state executive committee was required to consult aspirants and other major stakeholders before forwarding its recommendation to the National Working Committee for approval.

The debate over the appropriate method intensified following controversies surrounding APC primaries in several states during the 2019 general elections.

Critics of direct primaries pointed to the absence of a reliable and universally accepted party membership register as one of the major difficulties associated with the system.

INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu had similarly warned political parties that direct primaries required a credible membership register, arguing that conducting such an exercise without one would be comparable to holding an election without a voters’ register.

The controversy became particularly significant in Kogi, where dozens of APC members indicated interest in the governorship ticket.

About 20 aspirants petitioned the party’s NWC against the use of indirect primaries, arguing that the method would effectively hand Bello the governorship ticket.

They also cited the litigation involving the rival APC factions, arguing that the unresolved court case created uncertainty about which delegates would be entitled to participate in an indirect primary.

The aggrieved aspirants were concerned that the governorship primary, scheduled for August 29, could eventually be invalidated if the court delivered a judgment affecting the recognised state party leadership after the exercise.

However, another group of 37 governorship aspirants backed the indirect primary system and warned the national leadership against changing the method after preparations had already begun.

Their spokesman, Amade Gowon Edime, argued that organising a direct primary involving hundreds of thousands of purported APC members across Kogi would present considerable logistical difficulties.

The political calculation changed significantly when Ametuo, who had originally instituted the court action against the Abdullahi Bello-led state executive, announced that he had withdrawn the case.

Ametuo said the decision followed reconciliation efforts initiated by Governor Bello.

According to him, previous efforts to reconcile the rival groups had failed, but Bello later opened discussions with him and his supporters in June.

Ametuo said that after meeting the governor and consulting members of his political group, he concluded that continuing the litigation would damage a party he had helped to build.

He maintained that because he personally instituted the suit and swore the supporting affidavit, other individuals could not legitimately claim that the case remained alive after he had withdrawn it.

Ametuo also criticised aspirants relying on the previous court action to oppose indirect primaries, insisting that the legal dispute had effectively been brought to an end.

Bello welcomed the reconciliation and warned against attempts by other individuals to continue litigation in Ametuo’s name.

The governor said Ametuo and his supporters had been aggrieved because they felt excluded from the affairs of the party, adding that reconciliation was necessary if the APC hoped to approach the governorship election as a united organisation.

He urged other dissatisfied members to close ranks and work with his administration to secure victory for the APC.

Although the NWC promised to consider the petition submitted by aspirants opposed to indirect primaries, Ametuo’s withdrawal of the court case removed one of the strongest arguments against the process and significantly strengthened Bello’s position ahead of the party primary.