The 2023 general elections are over and with Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state inaugurated for another four years, what remains ahead is good governance.
Since his second term inauguration on May 29, 2023, the political terrain in Nasarawa state has recorded a few lows owing to the leadership crisis at the state house of assembly following the rebellion by Hon Daniel Ogah Ogazi, who briefly masqueraded as factional speaker of the assembly.
This is to be expected, particularly in a democracy where the minority will certainly have its say but the majority will have its way. Rt. Hon Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi as clearly pointed out by Sule remains the authentic speaker of the 7th Nasarawa State House of Assembly.
The rumpus being orchestrated by a group that only existed in the imagination of its creators, known as Concerned Nasarawa APC Stakeholders Forum, is certainly a dark spot on the previously unblemished political landscape of the state.
This none existent, amorphous cacophony of political hatchet men, appear to be crying more than the bereaved, especially that even the parent body, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has openly denounced the group as an impostor.
The activities of this obnoxious appendage, mostly perpetrated in far away Abuja, is becoming a blight on the political psyche of every well meaning citizen of Nasarawa State, especially with the group’s penchant to cause unnecessary negative publicity for the state through their uncultured propensity to draw the person of Governor Sule into their mess.
Having realised that their mission at the state assembly was dead on arrival, this faceless group masquerading as stakeholders of the APC, are resorting to mercenary tactics, attacking and withdrawing in their failed bid to distract the administration of Sule from delivering on its promises to the people of the state.
They continue to sustain falsehood by stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the present reality at the state house of assembly, which is that, Rt. Hon Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi now can boast of 14 members of the legislature backing him, while efforts are ongoing to woo the remaining members to join the speaker thereby bringing to an end the prolonged impasse.
In their weird contemplation, this unpatriotic elements goaded by sheer lust for power, imagine that they could rail road everyone into doing their selfish bidding by addressing one press conference after the other, where they seek to disparage the person of Governor Sule.
The most recent call by this group on President Bola Tinubu to supposedly call Sule to order before the governor “throws our dear state into a state of anarchy” is but the height of incredulity.
Having access to the media doesn’t confer legitimacy on a group that has been rightly described as an impostor by the APC. Any more shenanigans from the so-called Concerned Nasarawa APC Stakeholders will be seen and taken for what it really is, the tantrums of a prodigal son who ran away from his parents but who will be forced to retrace his steps.
Certainly, this is not the time to try to distract Sule and his administration. In the past four years of his first tenure, Governor Sule has laid a solid rock foundation for the sustainable development of Nasarawa state.
Through deliberate and committed policies and programmes, the administration has put in place systems and procedures aimed at opening up the economy of the state by leveraging on its competitive advantages especially in agriculture, solid minerals, proximity to Abuja and of course, crude oil.
The administration is doing everything possible to diversify the economy of the state, thereby widening further the revenue base of Nasarawa state towards weaning the state from over reliance on the monthly federation allocation.
The recent discovery of lithium, an expensive mineral resources in the global market, in Nasarawa and Akwanga local government areas, is but a further boost for the administration as Sule seeks avenues for the exploitation of the abundant mineral deposits in the state.
With politics now over, citizens of the state must rally round the governor to support him towards realising his vision for the state.
Nasarawa state is indeed blessed with both human and natural resources and could therefore ill afford not to effectively utilise these for the benefit of all and sundry. This is a state that can boast of having two former governors who are institutions to reckon with.
All hands must be on deck to support and encourage a workaholic governor whose desire is to see that he leaves Nasarawa state better than he met it.
It has therefore become necessary to call the faceless Concerned Nasarawa APC Stakeholders Forum to order and urge the group to desist from its nefarious activities against Nasarawa state and its people.
The group should be made to understand that when they disparage Governor Sule, they are inadvertently attacking the people of the state. If indeed they care for the development of the state, they should avail themselves for an amicable resolution of the leadership impasse at the assembly and not to fan the embers of disunity and rebellion against the party and what the APC stands for.
Abare writes from Lafia, Nasarawa state.
