BY RAYYANU BALA
Let me first begin by referring readers of this column to the issue
which I discussed in my last piece on this page which centered on the
chances of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura’s purported Senatorial
ambition. I titled the article “Nasarawa South: Al-makura as
front-runner” Anybody who read the article with an objective mind will
of-course agree with me that nobody from the Nasarawa South is capable
of giving Governor Al-makura a serious fight if he finally throws his
hat into the ring. Both at the APC primaries and at the general
elections there is no one that can give Al-makura a run for his money.
This was an objective analysis and no discerning mind can object to it
as the analysis was based precisely on the scenarios that might likely
unfold. I know there are some that may not be comfortable with the
write up hence they may tag it as a biased assessment; while on the
other hand some may see the analysis as an obvious fact. However,
whichever perception one attaches to that analysis, I can only say, I
stand by my evaluation, hence I have strong conviction that the
picture of what may likely occur in 2019 with regards to the Nasarawa
South Senate seat is what I projected.
Readers may also recall that in my analysis, I did say that going by
the body language of Governor Al-makura as well as the tacit support
which promoters of ‘Ta’al for Senate 2019’ are getting from known and
unknown quarters, Governor Al-makura will certainly contest the Senate
seat come 2019.
Barely one week after the publication of that analysis, a confirmation
that Governor Al-makura will contest for the Senate seat, came from no
other person than Governor Al-makura himself when he received in
audience, local government and ward officials of All Progressives
Congress (APC) drawn from all the five Local Government Councils that
make up Nasarawa South. During the visit of local government and ward
party officials to Government House in Lafia last Tuesday, Governor
Al-makura in response to their request for him to come out and contest
for the Senate, publicly accepted to vie for the Senate seat in 2019.
Though Governor Al-makura’s acceptance to contest for the Senate Seat
was in principle, the bottom line is that he will certainly contest.
Let no one habour any illusion that he (Al-makura) will not contest
the election in 2019 as sources within Government circle confided in
me that any time soon, Governor Al-makura will make his public
declaration with regards to this Senate bid.
All the narration above in specific terms, are not what informed this
piece. Indeed, the primary objective which prompted this write-up has
to do with the quiet and subdued expressions of discontent over the
visit to Government House by local government and ward party officials
solely to ask Governor Al-makura to contest for Nasarawa South Senate
Seat which according to sources has not gone down well with some
people especially within the APC fold. These voices of discontent on
the visit alleged that this action has implicitly meant party
officials have taken sides with Governor Al-makura which is not
supposed to be so.
The way I see it, this visit of APC officials cannot out-rightly be
described as taking sides with Al-makura since the call for him to
come out to vie for the seat does not in any way foreclose anybody
from aspiring. And the visit and by extension the call for Al-makura
to vie for the seat by the party officials does not also make
Al-makura sole candidate. Governor Al-makura as a leader of the party
in Nasarawa state is entitled to right of first refusal, thus the call
by ward party officials on him to vie for the Senate seat cannot be
anything far from the right thing, given the fact that he is the
number one party leader in the state. And unless he declines to
contest, Al-makura more than any other person in Nasarawa South stands
as the first person whom the party can go to, to convince him to
contest.
Whether we accept it or not Governor Al-makura is an asset to APC in
Nasarawa state and the party must do all that it can to ensure that he
(Al-makura) moves the party to an enviable height in Nasarawa state in
2019 and beyond. The support and co operation of Governor Al-makura to
APC in the state has become something the APC as a party can only
ignore it at its own peril.
Therefore those making the noise that it was inappropriate for ward
party officials to call for Governor Al-makura to contest for the
Senate have missed the point; even in a more democratic and civilized
clime, people are encouraged to adopt right of first refusal. Even in
the United States of America where our democratic system is tailored
along theirs, right of first refusal is inviolable; you hardly see
repudiation of such doctrine.
Those murmuring about the inappropriateness of local government and
ward party ward leaders calling on Governor Al-makura to contest for
Senate in Nasarawa South should mellow down for what the APC needs in
2019 is victory and as I see it, it is only Governor Umaru Tanko
Al-makura that can ensure such victory in not only Nasarawa South but
in the entire state.
Already a foundation for the victory of APC in forthcoming general
elections in the state has been laid. The high performance index of
APC administration in all the sectors of the economy of the state is
glaringly clear. Even the most cynical mind will attest to
achievements which the APC led administration recorded since it came
on board in 2011. The infrastructural developments which the architect
of modern Nasarawa state Umaru Tanko Al-makura provides spreading
across the three senatorial districts are classic examples of what the
APC government has been able to achieve which even by the nastiest
summation are far better and far above what the PDP achieved in its 12
years of misadventure in the state.
It is therefore to our collective gain that Governor Al-makura contest
this Senate seat even if for nothing else, at least for the progress
and survival our promising but young Nasarawa state. We have seen what
he has done to us in the state and only God knows what he will do for
us when he finds himself at the National Assembly. The number of
federal projects to be sited in Nasarawa state can only be imagined
than described. We need to support Governor Al-makura for us to get
these actualized.