Rabiu Omaku
- May experience tough time during council poll
If the unfolding in the All Progressives Congress in Nasarawa state is anything to by,Then the state Governor,Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has lost grip of movers and shakers of the party,The fate of the ruling party ahead of the unscheduled council poll and 2019 General elections is in limbo as active members are no longer seen or had,The happenings may not be unconnected to absence of welfarism by the chief executive.
The Governor lost grip of his political acolyte,This makes him different from his predecessor Aliyu Akwe Doma,who after vacating office for barely five years is still controling majority of his commissioners,SSG’s including civil servants,This also implies to the first executive Governor,Abdullahi Adamu who remain an icon and stand tall in the political arena of Nasarawa state.
The APC Nasarawa state wing is descending to the abyss as power brokers in the ruling party are missing during public gathering ,The action of APC followers may not be unconnected to the way and manner the chief executive pilot the affairs of the party as his personal property,Said a heavyweight of the ruling party who pleaded anonymity.
A party chieftain in the state expressed concerned over the way and manner the state Governor handed the affairs of the party ,The ongoing case between the state Governor and the 6 resident lawyers over the nonpayment of N92.3m by Al-Makura continued to generates heat among the executive of the party,A chieftain of the ruling party denied any contractual agreement between the party and the lawyers,But a gem in the party confirmed that the state Governor signed and sealed an agreement with the lawyers but not the party.
It was gathered that Al-Makura sealed the deal between himself on behalf of the party and the resident lawyers to the tune of N100m,Some executive of the party said no handing over note was given to the new executives ,It was further gathered that the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice,Innocent Lagi and former Adviser to Al-Makura on Special Duties,Bar.Abdullahi Muhammed and the present APC Legal Adviser,Muhammed Ilegwu gave N9.7m to the lawyers at Government House while the contractual agreement was signed at Government House not party office,Some members described the ruling party as a one man show.
As Local Government in the state are about voting new crop of elected officials,The ruling party may again taste the biter piles of politics in electing council chairmen and councilors alike,The internal rumpus in the APC has resulted in defeat of the ruling party in Kokona,Keana and Keffi in the last council election while the election of Doma was manipulated by the officials of the State Independent Electoral Commission in favor of APC.
The internal wranglings and the inability of the APC to mobilised it’s followers in Keana Local Government resulted into the landslide victory of the PDP,The internal lacuna was also extended to Keffi were the former Governor and then commissioner for Works,Housing and Transport,Two serving members of state House of Assembly suffers humiliation in the hands of the opposition party,The inability of the APC to addressed it crisis in Akwanga also created internal cacophony that exist during and after the Local Government poll.
The in-house hiccups in Nasarawa Local Government is yet to settle,Nasarawa Eggon was not left out of the inter party imbroglio,This also gave the opposition a upper hand in council election,The outcome of the party primaries if replicated in subsequent council election will ignites another round of crisis,Is no longer news that just few councils conduct free and fair primaries.
The selection of the erstwhile chairman Interim committee of the party,Arch.Stanley Buba by the Governor spur the wranglings between the former Deputy Governor,Damishi Luka Barau and Governor Al-Makura,The defection of Damishi Luka is a serious crack to the ruling party as of then,An internal crisis that culminated to impeachment saga of the state Governor.
Senator Solomon Ewuga-Is the father of Eggon politics,A grass root mobilizer that work tirelessly for the emergence of Governor Umaru Al-Makura in 2011 Governorship election,The exit of Ewuga from the ruling party after clinching the seat of Nasarawa north senatorial district has created a serious vaccum yet to be filled as Ewuga divided the party apart,Solomon Ewuga has the control of his kingsmen been the second majority tribe in the state,Is a deciding factor to Eggon nation if not the emergence of Ombotse and 2015 general election that tears the tribe apart.
Dr.Haruna Kigbu-former member representing Lafia/Obi is a household name in Lafia/Obi politics,He earns his political providence due to his immense contributions to humanity,His exit is a serious setback to the APC,majority of his supporters decamped to the the People’s Democratic Party,Kigbu has touched the lives of the people of Nasarawa south extend to Nasarawa north,His free medical services has help to no small measure in assisting people with ailment ranging from Glacoma etc.
Hon.David Ombugadu-representing Akwanga,Wamba,Nasarawa Eggon’s exit is a big blow on the landslide victory of the APC,The legal battle between him and his opponent,Bar Idris Yahuza and the support accorded to Yahuza by the party foist him to flee the party to PDP,He has done well to his constituency in all facets of human endeavor according to available records,The lack of willpower by the ruling party to settled the rift between Ombugadu and Yahuza foist the youngest member popularly called (Transformer) to jumped ship to the PDP.
Arch.Stanley Buba-Is the Interim committee chairman of the party who was hand-picked by the Governor without consulting either the party or power brokers,The headship of APC ,Stanley Buba has left crisis which cannot be contained by the present crop of the party,Some of the legacies of the former chairman include leaving behind empty treasury and without handing over note for the current party executive.
Other impediments of Stanley are planting the seeds of discord amongst party supporters during the conduct of party primaries,It was also realized that the millions of naira generated from the sales of nomination forms was nowhere to be found,The nomination of the controversial Stanley foist the former Deputy Governor and his arch- rival,Damishi Luka Barau to decamped and contest for Governorship under the platform of the PDP.
Dr.Hassan Lawal-The erstwhile minister of works ,A stakeholder in Nasarawa politics held from Keffi,The heartbeat of Nasarawa west,Is a staunch supporter of the PDP before he jump the ship to the APC,Is no longer at ease for the man that paid the ultimate price for the landslide victory of APC,Dr.Hassan Lawal is always absent during political meetings and events .His absence is a clear testimony that the party was enveloped in crisis.
General Ahmed Aboki-A former minister of communication and military Governor of Kwara state is a household name in APC in the state,His absence in public functions and party meetings is an indication that the is trouble waters,The crisis that erupted between the two heavyweight may not be unconnected to the non-nomination of General Aboki as a minister from the state in the present cabinet of president Buhari but a carryover of internal squabbles during the chairmanship primaries of the party,The outcome of the primaries translated to the defeat of the APC in chairmanship election in Keffi Local Government and amongst other issues.
Angama Webe- Join the People’s Democratic Party few days after the Governor sacked his cabinet members from office,Angama Webe was a former commissioner ministry for Rural and Community Development.
Tanko Wambai-A think-tank of the APC Government is nowhere to be found during party gathering ,Is an agenda setter who direct the way left the party in darkness over his actions,Wambai is absent during political events,The appointment of Amb.Suleiman Azzores,The former Ambassador to Thailand as the current Secretary to the State Government ,A man who held from the same Local Government with Tanko Wambai added salt to the unhealed wound.
Victoria Titi Monde -Is the pioneer commissioner of Information,She no longer appeared during APC political event ,The Governor lost grip of the former provost College of Education,Akwanga who also control fragment of her kinsmen and electorates in Nasarawa Eggon.
Bar.Innocent Lagi-Is a former Justice commissioner and Attorney General to Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura,The Governorship candidate of Labour Party in 2015 Governorship election confided to Journalist that even at the time of his appointment as a cabinet member is still a card carrying member of the L.P,They parted ways with the Abuja based legal luminary,Bar.Lagi it could be recalled jump the fence of the state House of Assembly to serve the Governor from been impeach by the fourth Assembly.
Jibrin Ahmed (Jerry)-Is a chairmanship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Nasarawa Local Government in the last council election,Jerry a staff of National Human Right Commission (NHRC) is missing in Nasarawa APC ,This may not be unconnected to the Governor’s inability to re-appointment him as a special Adviser.
Maryam Ama Buba-a one time commissioner of National Planning quiet the party to All Progressive Grand Alliance an Eggon political party following the defection of the erstwhile minister of Information Labaran Maku as the Governorship contender of APGA.
Adamu Muazu-A think tank of the APC is no longer active,The Adogi born politician and a senatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party representing Nasarawa south and a third time member House of Assembly distance himself from all party activities in the state.
Bar.Sani Yakubun Hauwa-Is the immediate past commissioner for Justice,Local Government,Education,Science and Technology,He is no longer in good term with the party leadership reason been that he was defeated in the party primaries of Lafia/Obi federal constituency,Reliable source revealed that the Kaduna based Lawyer has since return to his based.
Emmanuel Bako-Is an astute politician who jumped ship from PDP to APC during Local Government electioneering campaign two years back with a motive to secure the ticket of federal House of representatives representing Karu/Kokona/Keffi seen then is missing from the radar.Bako is a grass root mobilizer and a democrat in all ramification.
Murtala Adogi-Is an Adviser to Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura before 2015 General election,Adogi is conspicuously absent in public gathering ever since the inception of the new dispensation.
Dr.Emmanuel Akabe-The immediate commissioner for health is no longer accessible,Akabe like other personalities that served as cabinet members are not longer loyal to the party that brought them to limelight,Akabe was accused of working tirelessly for the success of the opposition party,The PDP.
Hajiya Zainab Ahmed-Is the immediate past Secretary to the State Government,The Nasarawa Local Government tecnocrat ,a retired civil servant and an academician was no longer seen or had following the appointment of the new SSG who held from the same senatorial district with the Governor,It could be recalled that Hajiya Zainab was last seen at the seat of power during the swearing in of new permanent secretaries,The former SSG dodging from Governor’s public gathering may not be unconnected to the humiliation she passed through as no specific seat was allocated to her at the event as she keep on rigmaroling from one seat to another.
El-YakuQ-Is the pioneer chairman of the Congress for Progressives Change which metamorphosed to APC also parted ways with the party over leadership tussle,YaQub still remain relevant due to the contributions he made to the party at it embroy stage.
The ruling party in the state lacks solid fotress to stand as a political party,The party is insolvent as the sixteen party executives monthly pay is nothing to write-home about.
