Yakubu Busari
The Dawaki Federal Ward Chairman, Hon. Diray Sanen Cyril has expressed shock with the development credited to the state Publicity Secretary on the current position of the party endorsement of the Plateau Central candidate for the seat of ministerial slot replacement from Plateau state.
In a statement made available to this Medium in Jos, expresses disappointment with the attitude of Namang toward the choice.
We receive with shock and amusement the purported disclaimer duly signed by the Plateau State APC Publicity Secretary; Mr. Sylvanus Namang on a purported leaked document for the endorsement of Hon. Bitrus Barji Kasuwa to replace Labour and Employment Minister.
Ordinarily, the said disclaimer by the State Party should not worry us to put up this piece, but for the benefit of the gullible public and the weighty Party membership issues raised, we are compelled to address the press to put certain misconceptions and politics of exclusion in clear perspective.
First and foremost, since the writers of the alleged leaked document confessed that their efforts to confirm from Hon. Bitrus Kasuwa Barji about the veracity of his purported endorsement by the State Party were fruitless, the Party should have considered such as fake news and refrain from making statements capable of questioning their neutrality.
Suffice it to mention here that, if the statement credited to the State Party Leadership is true to the effect that she does not know Hon. Bitrus Barji Kasuwa who bought forms and contested the Party primaries twice for the position of the house of Representatives to represent Kanam, Kanke, and Pankshin Federal constituency, then such hasty conclusions leave much to be desired.
We expect a non-partisan leadership to have made attempts to find out his membership status from his ward if they cannot pick his unit Party register which is in their possession at the moment to confirm for themselves.
We are aware that the media space these days is awash with speculations of diverse interests about the replacement of His Excellency Rt. Hon. Barr. Simon Bako Lalong as Minister but we advise that the supremacy of the party at the State level should not be exercised to satisfy few interests by throwing caution to the winds and making uncomplimentary remarks about other party members.
After all, even if some State Party Excos who were not in APC at its formative age claim not to know Hon. Bitrus Kasuwa Barji for certain vested interest, does it also mean that the State Party EXCO members from Kanam, Kanke, and Pankshin do not also know him?
The right thing to do is for the party to take stock of all those interested in the Ministerial position and fashion out a systematic approach to harmonize all interests without necessarily casting aspirations on Legitimate Party members.
Doing this will improve and strengthen the cohesiveness of the party to squarely face the challenges ahead of us.
Most importantly, we strongly believe that the replacement of Labour Minister should be an opportunity for Plateau Central zone to present someone like Hon. Bitrus Barji Kasuwa who is a youth with unparalleled vision, capacity, competence, and above all a party loyalist of repute for the position.
Finally, it must be borne in mind that, recent developments show that past Governors from the southern and Northern Plateau have nominated candidates from their zones for Ministerial slots and were appointed.
This to us is a precedent that Plateau Central zone should not be treated in isolation but should enjoy such privilege as well Hon. Barji has all it takes to be nominated for the replacement of Labour Minister for the growth of Nigeria and advancement of APC as a party.
