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PDP chieftains: APC can’t displace Dickson

The Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears unperturbed by the defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Prominent PDP chieftains, who describe the defectors as opportunist politicians seeking federal appointments, maintain that the ruling party will retain power in the oil-rich state.

PDP, militants attack defectors

The PDP immediately launched verbal attacks on the defectors. The party described its stalwarts that joined the APC as a huge disappointment. The party said it was embarrassing to the party and the Ijaw nation that persons who benefitted from PDP and rode at its back to amass wealth would engage in a dance of shame in the name of defection.

The party, in a statement signed by its acting Chairman, Mr. Serena Dokubo said, the defectors were driven by greed and personal aggrandizement. Dokubo described the defectors as yesterday’s men and women who no longer have electoral value, adding that the PDP would not miss them.

He said: “Defectors are also those politicians who sponsored candidates against the PDP in the last state house of assembly election and worked with the opposition to betray both Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP at the last presidential election.

“These crop of politicians could not be regarded as dependable nor should they be celebrated by the APC as political assets, stressing that they were never at anytime with us.

“Suffice it to say that no member of the PDP in the state or any of the party’s organ was part of this charade called a mega rally. The PDP in Bayelsa State is intact. All the structures and organs of the party at all levels are fully intact. Our great party is not perturbed in anyway.

“The so-called defectors were never with us because they are the same people who betrayed PDP at the presidential election and also sponsored candidates against our party in the state house of assembly election. These are spent forces and we are not moved by APC’s charade.

“The former PDP chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd), who was one of the defectors has since being suspended by our party on acts bothering on corruption and anti-party. Is that the kind of character the APC is celebrating and welcoming into its fold? It’s a sham, indeed”, he said.

The acting chairman berated the defectors saying they were more of liabilities to the APC than assets. He stressed that Bayelsans know their antecedents and won’t be taken seriously now or in the future for any possible effect on the December 5 governorship election.

“It is so unfortunate that the APC in Bayelsa has attracted into its fold a congregation of persons with well known track record of violence and political brigandage.

“As a party, we are worried that, if not well managed, they could truncate the prevailing peaceful and secure atmosphere which the PDP-led government under the able leadership of the Countryman Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, has helped to put in place in the state. In no time, the real reason for this hoax of a defection will become truly revealing”.

While assuring Bayelsans of the PDP-led government’s continued resolve to guarantee their safety and security, he called on the APC national leadership to take urgent steps to manage the motley crowd of defectors who he said were scampering to be governorship candidates. He stressed that the prevailing peace in the state could be sacrificed on the alter of politics.

“On our part as the ruling party in the state, we await the outcome of their primaries so that we can engage them in a robust electioneering campaign that is issue-based and one that is hinged on the strength of performance and track record of service to our people”, he said.

Also, militants under the auspices of Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB), described the defectors as traitors of the Ijaw nation. A statement signed by MBB’s President, Mr. Ebi Aderi, described the defectors as “a bunch of greedy people who only look out for their selfish interests”.

Aderi said it was unbelievable that persons who benefitted from the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson, would publicly pledge loyalty to the APC.

Aderi said the defectors lacked respect. He said the governorship aspirants in the APC Col. Sam Inokoba, Timi Alaibe, Timipre Sylva, Weinipre Seibatugu, were tested and failed politicians.

“How can a party parade only governorship candidates without followership? If all of us are leaders, then the ship cannot sail into safer shores as two captains like Sylva and Alaibe are bound to clash and sink the APC boat in few weeks to come.

“We, the mangrove boys, must commend Dickson for a hold step taken to accommodate APC at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex Yenagoa which Sylva during his time refused to do for Buhari and his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) when they came to campaign then.

“This goes to show the leadership qualities of Dickson, which has doused possible rivalry among cult groups they used as rented crowd with t-shirts and fez caps. Dickson has also created enabling ground for peace to thrive in the state compared to the volatile nature Operation Famou Tangbei left it”, he said.

Aderi faulted the claims of Sylva that political assassinations were rife in Dickson’s government saying the present governor had restored peace in the state and made it possible for people to go to bed without molestation.

He said under Sylva, the former security adviser drove all the opposition political parties out of the state and allowed cultism and gangsterism to thrive in the state.

“Bayelsa youths and right-thinking elders need to celebrate Dickson’s second term to further entrench peaceful and virile state of the Ijaw Nation.

“We are asking Dickson not to be deterred by the APC rally as we are calling on him to declare his second term ambition as he will witness the mother of all rally with support and grassroot mobilisation of our teeming youths and parents”, he said.

Without mincing words, everybody is watching to see how APC will consolidate on its gains of the mega rally. Time will tell whether the coming together of heavyweights, most of whom are nursing governorship ambitions will foster unity in the party or lead to the implosion of the APC as predicted by the PDP.

Observers conclude that only by sacrificing their personal ambitions for the collective interest of the party similar to what happened at the level after the presidential primaries of APC will the party survive in the state.

August 24, 2015
‘APC can’t displace PDP in Kogi’

Kogi State Governor Idris Wada spoke with reporters in Lagos on the cash crunch, the state’s debt profile, his second term bid and the preparations for the governorship election. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE was there.

In the face of dwindling resources across the country, what course is your administration carting for Kogi State, in terms of sustainability and survival?

Kogi State is totally a civil service state. But, we have a lot of solid minerals that can be explore to provide economic opportunities for our people. The Federal Government by the provisions of the constitution takes control of the mineral resources. The state government has limited role to play in terms of what it does in exploring the mineral resources. That is why the states are seeking the necessary permission and licences, from the Federal Government to exploit the mineral resources within the state. Again, the security situation in the country has made it quite difficult to attract the type of investors, who have financial capacity, to exploit solid mineral resources in the state. That is why we have focused on agriculture, which is a straight forward fact in terms of development and economic opportunities. We have created the enabling environment which promotes agricultural development in our state. The people have invested in farming than it used to be. We are working with the Federal Government, World Bank and Agriculture Development Bank to establish the farms in the state. We have acquired hectare of lands running into 30,000. We are now a rice growing state in Nigeria. We have got a lot of young people to invest in farming. We have equally made effort to improve on our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). We have increase it from about N150 million a month, to about N550 million. Remember that Kogi is a civil service state. We have invested in the Obajana Cement and there are smaller industries that are coming up as well. This we have done through our industrial promotion drive efforts. All these will eventually bring income to the state and would be able to pay its workers and meet up other social responsibilities. There are other economic benefit will accrue to the state in due course given our efforts. We are promoting small and medium scale industries, creating conducive environment for enterprises in the state. We have reformed our land allocation and administration policy in the state. This is meant to promote the establishment of agriculture and encourage investors in the state. The reforms will take care of land allocation and the bureaucracy associated with it. All of these have made it easier for people to come and establish in the state and to promote industrial growth. In the last three and half years, we have been able to promote the establishment of cement factory, hoping that in the months ahead, it will be put on sale for public consumption. The foundation of the cement factory was laid about two and half years ago. These are some of the things we have done for the economic transformation of the state. The tourism centres in our state are being refurbished and renovated. The historical artefacts are being rehabilitated to promote tourism and generate income for the state. It will increase the IGR of our state in the coming years; and strongly know these will become regular source of income for the state in the years ahead.

In the past incumbent governors are given automatic ticket, but you are contesting with others for the position. It was also said the leadership People Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi demanded N1 billion from you to get its support for your ambition. What is your reaction?

On the issue of automatic ticket has not place in the PDP. From my experience, the only person who has in a way got it in the PDP was the immediate past President of the country, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. It was automatic in the sense that he was the sole candidate during the primary. There was primary and he was the only presidential candidate. The others withdrew before the day of the primaries. That to an extent was the only semblance of automatic ticket. Normally, in the contest for leadership of the state, people show interest. Those who show interest see the incumbent as a challenge? And because you are incumbent, your second run for office is not as free. You are restrained until you are in office again. So, you don’t have the same space like those outside. You don’t have the same opportunities, as those who are outside, in terms of issuing statements. You are restrained, you have a lot of restriction because of the position you are occupying. That is why you see lots of people coming out to contest. But, all must go through a primary, even when nobody shows interest, you must go through primaries. It is a yes vote or no vote, that determines whether you get the ticket or not. I don’t know of any position in the PDP constitution that gives automatic ticket to anyone. It is the party leadership that pronounce it. When that is done is done, I will announce my interest whether to contest or not. We are not at that point yet, you will hear from me when we get there.

On the issue of the PDP and the National Working Committee demanding money from me, that is a matter to ponder about. Whoever is insinuating that the sum of N1 billion was demanded from me is evil, it is a lie. It is part of this evil machination by people who don’t want progress. In Kogi State, we don’t have N1 billion to give to anybody, I can assure you. Having paid our workers up to date and embarking on infrastructure development, I can tell you that we don’t have N1 million to give to anybody. And nobody has ever asked me for N1 billion or the NWC. What will I get from the chairman to invest N1 billion just to earn a ticket? So, let us be realistic, when some of these things are said, we should questions about the logic in them. So, it is just a figment of the people imagination. There is no basis or foundation for that kind of statement.

How are you preparing for the election?

With regard to the Presidential election, won by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, it was basically because of Buharimania. It is a movement which many people boarded the train. That is why we are where we are today. It is not because the PDP is not doing well in the state. The PDP is on ground, it is a solid party and has added value to the lives of the people. We have structure in every local government, we have structure in every ward and we are confident we will win by the grace of God, in the next election. And if I will correct other wrong impression, the PDP won major of the seats in the Kogi State House of Assembly election. That is a reflection of the fact that once you remove the Buharimania out of the equation, PDP is solidly on ground, we will win the next election. As regards to performance, of course, you will not expect my opponents to praise me. They will always find something wrong. What we do as a sitting governor, our opponents will always see something bad in them.

Your administration has been accused of not performing…

You measure performance in context to the fund available to you. For instance, we are trying to build a flyover in Lokoja, which they cost it at about N4.6 million. In a state like ours, getting N4.6 million is a major challenge. In some states, this is nothing. Our average income per month is about N3.2 billion per month. Our salary base is about N3 billion per month. So we have challenges. But, if you look at the money that has come into the state during my tenure, you will agree that we have performed in term of development of the state. We have done well with the fund available to us. The projects are there for you to verify. These are comments from our opponents, and you will remember the contest of my coming on board, that people who lost out despite our effort at reconciliation, have continued to hammer us. Some went to court, with two of them ending up at the Supreme Court level. Some of them are still in the court despite the fact that we are approaching another election. In such an environment, they only look at what you have done wrong, but the reality on ground, is that we have performed. We have tried to follow due process; we have done well within the resource made available.

In this period of cash crunch, how are you reducing the cost of governance. Could you also shed light on the debt profile of your state?

In the effort to reduce the cost of governance, we have reduced many areas of waste as you can see. We are focused on ensuring, that government business is done transparently well and in a competitive way. We are ensuring that government get value on whatever money we spend on projects. We are ensuring the completion of projects being executed and prompt delivery. On labour matters, we are very sensitive to the nature of our state; it is a civil service state. We ensure that the issue of down-sizing does not arise, trying to accommodate as many workers as we can within the resources available. We are blocking leakages and ensuring prudent management of resources available. For any project that we embark on, we properly cost them and award them to competent and reliable contractors to execute for us. We are also trying as much as possible to improve our IGR. Our financial system is now computerised, reducing the use of papers work. These are efforts to reduce waste. The money to be accrued from this will go a long way, to for the benefit of the state. On the debt profile, we have very low debt profile. We have overdraft of N1 billion, we have about N1.5 billion in term of money that is taken as counterpart funding for primary education. We have a bond that we subscribed to in the capital market amounting to N20 billion, which we have drawn N8 billion so far. We are using the bond money for the tourist projects, most of the projects are in the degree of 40 percent completion. We still have close to N12 billion to draw. We are in the process of doing that. That is our debt so far.

Some governors appealed to the Federal Government for bailout, but some said it is loan. What is the real position?

There are different elements on the bailout. Many states have fallen behind in the payment of salaries due to their workers. This became a national issue; the governors met and approached Mr. President on the matter. Governors did not use the word bailout, we went for financial restructuring. The governors were not disposed to that word bailout. But, two elements that I would recall are that, there were some monies that came from the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) money. That money was part of the dividend and part of the tax. It is the money that comes into the federation account, and is shared among states on the basis of revenue allocation formula. Some people took that for bailout. In the presentation to Mr. President, we asked for short term loans for states that will be extended to five or seven years’ repayment. So that states will be able to accommodate the payment of salaries and structure our finances. More so, the tenure of bond in Nigeria is seven years; the Federal Government bond is within 20 and 25 years. We requested that those who have taken this bond, the Federal Government should reduce the amount the states pay every month for the bond. The issue of direct bailout was not agreed to, it was money to pay workers and restructure our finance.

August 20, 2015
Akinyelure: PDP can’t displace APC in Southwest’

Southwest All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders have resolved to work hard to make the zone the stronghold of the mega opposition party by winning next year’s elections in the six states. BISI OLADELE encountered them at the maiden zonal meeting of the party in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

The Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Southwest, Chief Pius Akinyelure, has a challenge. Elections will hold in the six states-Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti-next year. The region is perceived as the stronghold of the APC. Can the party triumph at the polls?

Exuding confidence, the zonal leader said that victory is possible. But, he emphasised that the chapter should put its house in order, learn from past mistakes and work hard.

Akinyelure presided over the maiden meeting of APC chieftains from the zone at Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The chieftains were basking in the euphoria of the APC’s success in the Osun State governorsjhip election. The convivial atmosphere buried the pain over the loss of Ekiti State to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) .

However, despite their belief in the ability of the party to win the governorship polls in Oyo, Lagos and Ogun, and partliamentary polls in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun, they acknowledged that a lot of work should be done, especially in the areas of giving more opportunities to youths, internal democracy, mobilisation, selection of competent candidates and mandate protection.

Chieftains who spoke on the challenges ahead included Lagos Central leader Prince Tajudeen Olusi, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Oyo State APC Chairman Chief Akin Oke, Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Dr. Tunji Abayomi. Their views are presented below:

Boroffice

We lost Ekiti at the governorship election, yet we have not lost Ekiti State as a whole. We are still very much strong in the state. We have learnt our lesson in the Ekiti election and by the time Osun State election was conducted, those lessons sprang forth and you could see that all the efforts of the PDP to rig the election, to steal the mandate, failed. Now with the defection of Governor Mimiko to PDP, I think it is a good development for us because for a long time there have been many people in the Labour Party that will love to decamp to APC at the higher level but because of the constitutional provision, it was a constraint.

Now, the defecting has opened a door for them to decamp to whatever party they like and people’s choice so far is the APC and I want to assure you that but for this meeting we will be holding another rally at the local government level receiving people both from Labour party and the PDP because there are some people in labour party who are progressives and cannot feel at home in the PDP and there are some people in the PDP who believe that Mimiko is an Ebola virus that is going to kill the PDP and these people are leaving the PDP to join the APC. In fact, I can see God’s hand in his defection. Putting all these together, I think the chances of the APC in the southwest come 2015 is altogether strong.

“We are being energised by these development in Ondo State. We now have a structure in place: the local government executives are in place, the ward excos are in place, the unit excos are also in place. So, their functions are now being activated to harvest. All these plans will build a formidable party that will claim the state. Conduct an opinion poll today in Ondo State of the chances of both parties winning an election in 2015, the response will be 70 per cent in favour of the APC.

There are no stumbling blocks to be identified. I think, in the Southwest, what we have to do is to make sure that we put our heart together. I cannot envisage any stumbling block. We must not be complacent as we did in Ekiti. We must be ready to meet force with force and also to ensure that our people are ready, not only to vote but to watch and guide their votes form the polling boot to the collation centre. I think that is the only thing that can be a stumbling block. And of course, we have curbed the issue of intimidation by police and army. And I hope that by 2015, the amendment to the electoral law which makes it illegal for the Federal Government to deploy the army and the police, and SSS will have been ratified. That again will brighten the chances of free election.

Abayomi

Let’s take it state by state. In Lagos, I believe we are predictably okay. In Ogun, we are relatively okay. In Oyo, we are relatively okay? In Osun, we are dependably okay. In Ekiti, we need to do some additional work. In Ondo State, we need to do a lot of work. If we add everything together, I think we should be okay.

Obviously, the INEC declared us as the winner. Anybody can go to the tribunal?, and I think really we should have gone to the tribunal against Omisore, especially on Ife results. The election that was conducted in Ife raises a lot of doubt as to the number of vote committed to Omisore. So, I believe we should initiate a counter petition especially, but apart from that I think everybody followed the election in Osun. I believe that Omisore just wants to be relevant having been embarrassed by the result. You need to understand that before the election, Chief Omisore had boasted, and his party too, that there was simply no way that they will not win in Osun State. Not only that, you will recall that the chairman of the PDP governors had also boasted, so also the vice president. So, the embarrassment was a little large and it needed to be curtailed a little bit by way of petition.

What happened was that the Labour Party was an irritant in Ondo Sate. It is a party that has no head, no arm and no neck – you know what I mean. It is a party that is surrounded by only one person. You will recall that when Mimiko was going to start his campaign, he said, “When we decided to use Labour party to realise our ambition.” So, the Labour Party (LP) is really a party not to be in a position to be competitive politically in this country. The only significant person in the party in this country is Mimiko. In the future, the coast is clearer, it is now a battle between the titans and that is the APC which houses the progressives and the PDP which houses the retrogressives in terms of achievement. The nation in the last 14 years has enjoyed civil rule. But the only thing the government has guaranteed us is the chance to die. They have not guaranteed us anything. We do not have water, electricity. It took me four hours to go from Lagos, a major commercial city of Nigeria, to Ibadan, the most populous city. And then, we cannot have any public hospital, none of us has a public primary school where we can put our children without a disturbed conscience. We are not expecting much from the PDP. Only the people of PDP expect much from thePDP and not the people of Nigeria.

Oke

As far as we are concerned, I think in the last three years that we have been in the realm of affairs in the Southwest, outside Lagos state, we have done enough to warrant a return in the six states.

In all human endeavours there are bound to be difficulties and challenges. The reality in Ekiti is beyond human comprehension beacuse what happened in Ekiti is difficult to explain for now and I will leave that to the tribunal. With what happened in Osun, I believe Oyo is okay and Lagos is alright. In Ogun, we have some of our members complaining and there are little quarrels but that has been resolved if that is what you are referring to as stumbling blocks.

In Ekiti, the scenario will be a different thing come 2015. In Osun, no doubt we are going to win. In Oyo, I can assure you we are coming back by the grace of God. In Ogun, by the grace of God, the difference between our leader and the governor – I know our leaders are doing everything possible to settle the differences. I think Governor Amosun has done more than enough for the people of Ogun to return him back come 2015. In Lagos, we have no doubt because it is the bedrock of progressives in Nigeria – we are going to win.

Olusi

The chances of our party of retaining Southwest states is very bright. One has to remember that APC is determined to move Southwest forward and to pursue a change for the entire federation of Nigeria. However, history has taught us that when you are pursuing a change from a position to another, particularly a position that will be unpalatable to those who are looting the treasury of our country, then you are going to be confronted with stiff opposition and therefore we are ready for that. Today, we are the predominant party in Southwest part of our country and definitely we are going to maintain that position. We are now ruling a number of states like Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Lagos, Edo and our governors are performing well and they have the support of the masses, so, we have no fear that we are going to win the whole of Southwest.

I am not satisfied with the Ekiti State election and I have made my view known in the national dailies recently. If you look at the Osun State guber election, you will see the performances of the electoral officers, that shows how INEC must be an unbaised umpire.

For the APC to retain power in Lagos in 2015, we need to be aggressive in our campaign, we have made a number of achievement in Southwest. See what is happening in Ogun State, see what we have achieved in Lagos State and see what is going on Oyo State. We need to talk and persuade the people, and we need the people to make some sacrifices for the betterment of the people.

Solomon

The issue of internal democracy is a principle we have to imbibe with the party and our leaders have always been singing it into our ears. They have also exhibited that in the elections in Anambra, Osun and Ekiti. So, they also know the situation on ground now, and they know that party members are willing to participate with their candidates. We will not do anything to the contrary.

As regards to some other challenges, there will be natural challenges, challenges of candidate, challenges of a now mega party but I don’t see the challenges as insurmountable, because we have at the elms of affairs veteran politicians who have seen it all and we will tap from their wealth of experience in tackling those challenges.

The chances of our party is very bright in 2015 and in the three remaining states in Southwest we shall return.

We have so many aspirants to contest for the Lagos State governorship seat in 2015, its good for the party and we shall continue to encourage them, but we should ensure that we create a platform and choose the aspirant with the highest support from party members to emerge as the party’s candidate. Its not about the party choosing alone but its about the electorate knowing about the competence of the candidate and we shall not take the chances of the electorate for granted. The party has not zoned the governorship ticket to anywhere.

September 25, 2014
Can Suswam displace Gemade in Benue Northeast?

Governor Gabriel Suswam and Senator Barnabas Gemade are the leading Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)senatorial aspirants in Benue Northeast Zone. Their ambitions have polarised the district. Who gets the ticket? Correspondent UJA EMMANUEL examines the struggles of the gladiators for the ticket.

Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam and Senator Barnabas Gemade are foremost Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in the Northcentral state. For seven and half year, Suswam, a lawyer, has been in the saddle as the governor. Before he became the governor, he was a member of the House of Representatives for eight years.

Gemade is also a household name in Benue. The former minister was the second National Chairman of the PDP. He and the governor hail from the Northeast District, which he represents in the Senate. The elder statesman was elected as a senator in 2011. He is interested in a second term. Since the governor is also interested in the same ticket, there is conflict between the two leaders arisen. The clash of ambition is now a source of worry to the PDP family in the zone.

A year ago, the former National Chairman unfolded his ambition for another term in the Senate. Many people supported his decision, saying that the party elder deserved the seat. However, Suswam’s supporters kicked against the move, saying that the old man should vacate the seat for a new blood.

However, certain developments in the state may have affected the 2015 calculations of the governor. The Tiv-Fulani crisis, has changed the perception of many people about Suswam. Many lives have been lost and property and crops destroyed.

Critics have alleged that, owing to the poor handling of the crisis by the government, the Tiv, who are predominantly peasant farmers, have been severely affected by the tragedy. They also alleged that the governor was aloof to the plight of the victims, until his convoy was shot by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Guma Local Government Area. But, his intervention, according to critics, came too late as the victims had been displaced from their homes. In fact, the invaders had occupied their settlement and set many houses ablaze.

APD chieftain Hon. Thomas Anajav, who is Gemade’s legislative aide, recalled that, in that moment of anxiety when Benue farmers were killed, government was helpless. He said Gemade rose to the occasion as a leader, adding that his intervention prevented more damage.

Another politician, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “Senator Gemade approached the Presidency for troop deployment to Benue State. The Presidency asked Governor Gabriel Suswam to come with Gemade as the Chief Security Officer(CSO), but Suswam, for political reason, abandoned Gemade in the Presidency and refused to appear, after giving an assurance that he was coming. This annoyed many people”.

Anajav said that, although the President initially refused to accede to the senator’s request, unless the governor was in attendance at the meeting in Aso Villa, Gemade did not give up. He later sponsored a motion in the Senate, which led to the setting up of a Joint Fact-finding Committee to Benue. The committee was led by Senator Mamman Magoro.

Anajav pointed out that Gemade’s intervention in the Tiv/Fulani crisis has endeared him to the people of Benue Northeast, adding that they have resolved to return him to the Senate.

“The Senate is for mature mind. As a founding father of the PDP, member of the BOT and former Chairman of the party, Gemade’s experience cannot be ignored”, he added.

Also, crisis is brewing between the governor and teachers over welfare. Sources said that primary school teachers have vowed to used their numerical strength to abort his senatorial ambition next year. The teacher are protesting over the irregular payment of salaries.

Suswam’s kinsmen in Tombo Ward, Logo local Government Area, also have an axe to grid with him over the handling of the Fulani’s attack on Ayilamo, the administrative headquarters of Tombo. Ayilamo is five minutes drive from Anyiin, birthplace of the governor. The people alleged that he abandoned them, although he protected his home town by ensuring that a troop the Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU) of the Police paraded the town. Thus, when the invaders overran Ayilamo and adjoining settlements, including Tse Dzungwe, Anyibe,Tse Ibwar, Gbeleve, Adzege, Mbazaar, Tse Getim, Ikyungwa, and Uzer, the governor’s home town, Anyiin, was at peace.

Before the invasion, there was tension between indigenes and settlers in the area. Therefore, the people of Tombo perceived the exclusive protection of Ayiin within the framework of the imaginary plan by Mbagesa (Suswam kinsmen) to exterminate Tombow ward because the people there perceived as settlers.

When Gemade hosted dignitaries for the burial of his mother, the governor was absent. This infuriated many party chieftains in the zone. Few days to the ceremony, Suswam announced on the radio that he was embarking on his annual leave. Before then, he had always gone on without announcement. Critics read different meanings to the unusual announcement. Some said that he did it to discourage some governors and other prominent Nigerians from attending the event.

However, President Jonathan was represented by his Vice-President Namadi Sambo. Some ministers, former governors and PDP leaders, including Chief Tony Anenih, the BOT Charman, and secretary, Prof. Jerry Gana, also witnessed the occasion.

The ceremony was like a carnival. A source said that it was at the ceremony that the decision to endorse Gemade as the candidate was taken.

“The party leaders, who appreciate Gemade’s contributions, vowed not to disgrace the former national chairman, when the time comes. For Suswan to defeat Gemade is like the camel passing through the eye of the needle”, added the source.

Since 1999, Suswam has not lost any election. Thus, he has earned the appellation of a civilian General in Benue. Will 2015 be different?

Between 1999 and 2003, he represented Logo-Ukum-Katsina Ala Constituency in the House of Representatives. Even, when his victory was disputed and he was dragged before the tribunal, he survived the barrier.

In 2007, when he contested the PDP governorship primaries, he failed to get the two-third majority of the delegates from 23 councils. But, another aspirant stepped down for him to enable him get the ticket.

He won the governorship election in 2007. He was dragged to the election tribunal by the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate, Professor Daniel Saror. The case was later withdrawn.

In 2011, Suswam defeated the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Professor Steven Ugba, during the governorship election. But, the victory is still being contested in the court.

The governor wants to be relevant beyond 2015. To remain relevant, he has his eyes on the Senate. The contest between him and Gemade cannot be a walk over. His supporters relish calling him the civilian General who always overcome difficulties. But, Gemade is also described as the rising star of the Tiv in his old age.

Will the civilian General dim the star? Who wins the contest? Time will tell.

April 28, 2014
Floods displace Suswam’s kinsmen

At least 120 houses were destroyed and their inhabitants displaced at the weekend following three days of rain in Chenbe community, Ukember-Agya Ward of Gaambetiev in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.

Governor Gabriel Suswam is from the community.

The rain caused heavy floods, which displaced over 3,000 families and destroyed rice and yam farms.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Chief Joseph Anawa, whose house was submerged, said drinking water in the community was contaminated.

Ananwa expressed fear that there might be an outbreak of epidemic in the area because of the contamination of drinking water.

He urged the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide succour to the victims of the floods.

A member representing Logo in the House of Assembly, Chief Gowdin Akaan, has visited the area and donated a truck-load of water and assorted foodstuffs to the victims.

The lawmaker assured the people that he would take up the matter with various relief agencies.

Akaan appealed to affluent individuals to assist the residents in their time of need.

September 30, 2013