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Tag: Suswam

  • How I will rejoin Northern Governors’ Forum – Suswam

    How I will rejoin Northern Governors’ Forum – Suswam

    The Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, on Wednesday gave conditions to be met before he would reconsider going back to the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF).

    In the wake of the crisis that engulfed the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in May, Suswam had renounced his membership of the NSGF as he believed that the NSGF leadership sold out in the NGF election which saw Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi retaining his chairmanship seat with 19 votes against Plateau Governor Jonah Jang’s 16 votes.

    But speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Suswam said that he would only return to the NSGF if it would begin to abide by decisions collectively reached by members.

    He said: “I won’t say that I vowed, I would better say that I have issues with the way that things are going. I believe that as a northerner and as one of the present leaders, we should as leaders be able to have confidence and have integrity enough for us to take a decision and follow it through. Once that is absent, I have an issue with that.

    “And if I establish that we can now jointly and collectively take a decision on behalf of the north and also on behalf of this country and stand by that decision, then I would have no problem. But for now, I have an issue and that issue to me is germane and as far as I am not satisfied that the issue had been addressed, I maintain my position,” he added.

    Suswan, who was at the Villa to brief President Goodluck Jonathan on the measures being taken to stop the fatal crisis between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in Benue and Nasarawa States said that community committees have been set up in 14 local governments areas in the two states.

     

  • Suswam inaugurates state-owned filling station

    Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam yesterday inaugurated the state-owned filling station under the Investment and Property Company (BIPC).

    Called the BIPC Oil and Gas Filling Station, the filling station is located in the GRA, opposite the Commissioners’ Quarters, on the Makurdi-Otupo Federal Highway in Makurdi, the state capital.

    Suswan urged the management of the filling station to sell petroleum products to customers 24 hours.

    The BIPC is a government-owned public liability company (PLC) with a mandate to invest in several areas of the economy and generate income.

    Since the inception of the company, which is under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the filling station is its first direct investment that would not rely on government grant.

     

  • Suswam lobbies Zone A for Benue senate seat

    Suswam lobbies Zone A for Benue senate seat

    Uja Emmanuel in Makurdi reports Governor Gabriel Suswam’s latest efforts to secure Benue Zone A senate seat in 2015

    A frontline group for Gabriel Torwua Suswam’s senatorial ambition, Zone A Solidarity Movement For Suswam 2015, was recently embarrassed by Kwande Stakeholders in Adikpo, when they paid a visit to solicit Kwande’s support for Suswam’s aspirations.

    Chief among those who berated the aspirations of the group included elder Hughdooor Namambativ and Chief John Akperashi. Chief Nambativ noted that Kwande felt insulted by the Katsina-Ala declaration where elders went public without due consultation with Kwande which is favoured by the zoning arrangement.

    Namambativ warned the group to be careful with people who were going about as if Suswam would win the senate seat on a platter of gold. He revealed that elders, who should take the decision, are resolute on the the fact that Kwande is favoured to provide the candidate going by the zoning formula.

    Chief Akperashi who spoke next was even more blunt. He said it was an affront on Kwande for the group to stroll in casually as if they didn’t know what was at stake.

    Although the group had planned to inaugurate ward excos of the group in Kwande during the week, Chief Akperashi told them to suspend the arrangement, saying it was a slap on Kwande and a breach of decorum. That if Sankera is serious about their quest for senate, they would have to do it the right way.

    He said such arrangements could only hold in other local governments.

    The matter peaked when youths stopped the commissioner of information, Hon Justin Amase, from talking at the event. Hon Adzuar Ikyur, PDP Chairman, Hon Afaor, Benue State Assembly, Kwande East and Bem Tseen, Chairman Kwande, pleaded in vain to allow the commissioner speak. It was not until Chief Akperashi pleaded that they allowed him to talk.

    He said he would report their complaints to Suswam, since he was working with him.

    Meanwhile, the Chairman of PDP in Kwande Local Government, Hon. Adzua Ikyur, has attributed the ugly outting to the governor’s appointees from Kwande. Hon Ikyur revealed that although it was clear that Suswam was persuading his appointees to step down, unfortunately they have failed to do same. He revealed the poor outing was traced to the fact that there was poverty in the land, which has made the people angry. He called on Suswam to come clean on the issue on senate whether he was contesting so that Kwande will outline their conditions.

    Ikyur said “Kwande will not deny Suswam the senate because it will not be wise for a governor to stay out of office, but Suswam must come himself and speak to Kwande.”

    Earlier, Hon Bem Tseen and Mr Asen Sambe, Chairman of Kwande and Permenent Secretary, Bureau of Local Government respectively, noted that Kwande will not reject Suswam Zone A senate. Sambe said Suswam has done a lot for him and that it was just wise that he should identify with him even though he was not a politician.

    In their opening speech, Hon. Vitalis Ayormar, chairman of the forum and Terfa Abur, Vice Chairman ,revealed they had moved to all the six local governments in Zone A with the message that Suswam did well as House of Representatives and he has done a lot as Governor, so he should be rewarded with senate. Ayommar said they knew that the senate favoured Kwande by Zoning so they came with all humilty to plead for Kwande to hear them.

    Others who spoke at the event included Azege Biam Azeze and Mrs Doo Dzoho. The meeting was well attended

  • Suswam, Gemade fight for Northeast senatorial ticket

    Suswam, Gemade fight for Northeast senatorial ticket

    Correspondent UJA EMMANUEL reports that the contest for the Benue Northeast senatorial ticket would be a big battle in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between Governor Gabriel Suswam and Chief Barnabas Gemade.

     

    The Benue Northeast senatorial contest in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be a battle royale in 2015. Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam is set to join the growing league of governors aspiring to go to the Senate. He would thus be toeing the footsteps of Senator George Akume, his predecessor in office.

    When he joins the race, he would slug it out with the former National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Barnabas Gemade, who is presently occupying the seat. Less than two years into the tenure of Senator Gemade, a group of politicians under the umbrella of “Zone A PDP Elders,” has endorsed Suswam for the seat. The group is led by old politicians believed to be playing bread and butter politics. The group has even inaugurated a committee to work for the success of Suswam in the battle to clinch the ticket.

    But Gemade has fired back, describing the leader of the group, Hon. Atoza Ihidan, a Second Republic lawmaker, as mischievous. He said Ihidan and his co-travelers are distracting Suswam and himself from their busy schedules because they both have jobs at hand and it was too early for the campaign.

    But, if recent events in Benue politics, and in the PDP are anything to go by, then, Governor Suswam’s chance against Senator Gemade in the quest to go into the National Assembly like his predecessor, Senator George Akume, is slim.

    Apart from the fact that he has allegedly made more enemies for himself with his style of administration, criticisms are mounting against the governor on alleged corruption, capital flight from the state and general impoverishment of the indigenes. Besides, with the recent proposal by Chief Tony Anenih that all the PDP candidates be given automatic tickets, if the plan sails through, then, he may face a uphill task in his ambition to go to the Senate.

    Another hurdle for Suswam is the claim by the Kwande/Ushongo people in the Benue Northeast that the seat belongs to them. They argued that since, Sankera, where Suswam hails from, and Jechira, Gemade’ birthplace, has had their turns, Kwande should produce the next senator. Suswam’s ambition is further threatened by his Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Solomom Wombo, who is eyeing the Ukum, Logo and Kastsina -Ala Federal Constituency seat, presently occupied by Emmanuel Udende.

    Wombo, like Suswam, hails from the Sankera political bloc, which has three local governments. The seat has rotated from Katsina-Ala to Ukum local government, where the tenure of the present occupant , Udende, will terminated in 2015. The fear is that since Suswam’s Special Adviser is interested in the seat, the present occupant, who has also indicated his interest to seek re-election, may be forced into the opposition. This would be the beginning of opposition for Suswam, in his own enclave, with three local governments, a development the governor would want to avoid.

    Gemade, on his part, presents a formidable force to stop Suswam’s ambition. The former national chairman of the PDP has recently embarked on massive constituency projects in his senatorial zone. The projects ranging from hospitals, roads, water provision, to the renovation and construction of school blocks spread across the seven local government areas which make up the Zone A. This gesture has endeared him to the electorate.

    Also, Gemade is believed to have more connection in the Presidency than Suswam. A PDP chieftain who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity, said his connection accounted for the re-appointment of his brother, Terver Gemade, who was suspended as the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

    Gemade, a founding member of the PDP , member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and a former national chairman of the party, enjoys massive support of top PDP members.

    Governor Suswam’s greatest undoing as the governor of Benue State, according to sources, was the way and manner he abandoned his friends after he assumed power. He allegedly shunned those who would have added value to his administration and embrace those who have nothing to offer in the running of the government.

    In the build up to the 2011 elections his closest aides lost their polling stations and wards to the opposition, yet he still retained most of them in the cabinet. Even in the constitution of his cabinet, apart from the Finance Commissioner, Oklobia Omadachi, a Harvard Business School graduate, Lands and Survey John Tondo, Works and Transport John Ngbede, analysts believe that most of them have nothing meaningful to offer. Political observers say for Suswam to defeat Gemade and clinch the ticket would be like the proverbial camel passing through the eye of a needle. But politics, they say, is no mathematics. Anything can happen, especially, in the PDP.

     

     

  • Suntai will soon return, says Suswam

    Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam said his Taraba State counterpart, Suntai Danbaba, who was involved in a plane crash last year, will soon return home.

    Addressing reporters in Makurdi after his return from an overseas working trip, the governor said Suntai was recuperating speedily and doing everything himself.

    Suswam said Suntai would have returned home but the doctors wanted to ensure that he is fit to resume his official duty because of the pressure of running the Governors oOffice.

    “When I visited him in the hospital, he invited me to join him and eat. He was doing everything himself. But some people here in Nigeria are playing politics with his health,” Suswam said.

    He noted that while Suntia was in Germany he had visited and now that he was transferred to USA his condition has greatly improve and advised people to stop playing politics with his health and pray for his quick recover.

     

  • Group to Suswam, Jang: stop destabilising Taraba

    A socio-political group, Taraba Justice Forum (TJF), has alerted the public to the alleged destabilising roles of Plateau and Benue State Governors Jonah Jang and Gabriel Suswam in the political drama in Taraba State.

    The group urged well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the governors to stop overheating the Taraba State political space.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Bala Yaya, the group described as morally shameful and politically unhelpful “the picture show” recently embarked upon by Suswam and by Jang five months ago.

    It alleged that the two leaders were promoting divisions and undermining the constitution by meddling in Taraba politics.

    The statement reads: “We all remember that Governor Jang months ago came back with pictures published in several newspapers. Now it is the turn of Governor Suswam with pictures also syndicated in major newspapers. We are waiting for the video clip of Governor Suswam’s visit to be aired on NTA. We hope this time around the audio will be available unlike the last time when the audio not available on NTA was fully aired on AIT.

    “We wonder why it is difficult for the ailing governor to directly address the people of the state on public television. We are at a loss as to why these governors cannot take NTA, Channels and AIT to the USA to interview the governor on his sick bed. In fact, Governor Suswam could have helped his friend by taking these broadcast stations along instead of joining in the shameful pictorial politics that has only serve to expose the lies and deceit of those behind them.”

     

  • Suswam: my withdrawal from NSGF not a mistake

    Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam yesterday said his decision to stop attending the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum (NSGF) was not a mistake.

    The governor was reacting to a report credited to his Kano State counterpart, Musa Kwankwaso, that he (Suswam) and Bauchi State Governor Isa Yugusa made “the biggest political mistakes of their lives” by stopping to attend the regional governors’ forum.

    In a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Dr Cletus Akwaya, the governor said he was shocked to read the report credited to Kwankwaso.

    The statement said: “The statements credited to Governor Kwankwaso are misleading as they are intended to undermine the integrity of Governor Suswam by portraying him as a leader who is against the interest of his people and political interests of the North. This is certainly untrue and a total misinterpretation of the decision of Governor Suswam on the subject matter under discourse.

    “Suswam wishes to state, in very clear terms, that on the contrary, he is a leader that takes decisions carefully and weighs the implications on his people. His decision to withdraw from meetings of the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum was also well thought out and taken in the overall interest of the people of Benue State, who he represents, as well as the people of the old Northern Region, of which Benue people are a proud part.

    “Suswam wishes to state that he stands by his decision to withdraw his attendance from the NSGF meetings because of the mistrust created by betrayal by some members of the forum and would continue to maintain that stance for as long as the unacceptable situation prevails.

     

  • Suswam pulls out of Northern Governors’ Forum

    Suswam pulls out of Northern Governors’ Forum

    Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State is still bitter over the disputed election of the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), describing some members of the forum as betrayers.

    He has consequently pulled out of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF), following in the footsteps of his Bauchi State counterpart, Mallam Isa Yuguda.

    Governor Suswam spoke to reporters in Makurdi on Thursday while reviewing the NGF crisis sparked by the election of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State for a second term.

    Suswam, like Yuguda, is a supporter of Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State who is also laying claim to the NGF chair.

    Jang and his supporters say he is the rightful chairman, having emerged as the consensus candidate of northern governors.

    Suswam said at his interactive session with reporters: “I’m no longer interested in the Northern States Governors’ Forum and will not attend any of their meetings. I align myself with the position of Mallam Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State to pull out of the Northern States Governors’ Forum.

    “How can I sit together with betrayers who will say one thing and do another? We all agreed that Governor Jonah Jang should be the next Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, and some governors went and did a different thing. What is the essence of sitting on the table with people you cannot trust?”

    He dismissed the election that produced Amaechi for a second term, saying: “If I stand in an election and I print ballot papers and boxes, you can imagine what the outcome of the election would be.

    “We have never had an election in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. There was desperation and we became suspicious.

    “As far as we are concerned, Governor Jang is the chairman of Governors’ Forum and there is nothing anyone can do about it, and anyone parading himself otherwise is deceiving himself.”

    He defended the emergence of the PDP Governors’ Forum headed by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State because, as he put it, “politics is all about circus of conspiracy to achieve an objective. If opposition parties are meeting to conspire against the PDP with 21 governors, there is need for us to have a forum so we meet and review our strengths and weaknesses.”

    He said he has “recorded significant achievements” as governor and added: “We have two more years and there still a lot to do ahead.”

    He also spoke on the N500 million allocated to the state by the federal government to take care of victims of last year’s flooding, saying: “The money is intact. Don’t forget that the money is for relief materials and not to be shared to anyone. But we had a lot of relief materials from Benue sons and daughters, including some NGOs. We also found that if we shared the money, some people would go home with N1000 or N800.

    “So, my administration decided to share the money on local government basis to enable them carry out specific projects in the flood affected areas, and this will go a long way to have greater impact on the communities.”

  • Suswam denies plot to remove NSGF chairman

    Suswam denies plot to remove NSGF chairman

    Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State yesterday dismissed as false a media report that there was a plan to remove Niger State governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, as Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF).

    The report had suggested that Suswam was responsible for the absence of many governors from last Thursday’s meeting of the forum in Kaduna preparatory to the dissolution of the NSGF executive committee at the next meeting.

    He said: “the NSGF has its established rules and procedures for conducting its affairs, including the choice and removal of its leadership” and that “It does not even make sense for anybody to plot to remove any leader whose tenure has expired or is expiring.”

    The Governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Dr. Cletus Akwaya, in a statement said: “Over the years, Governor Suswam has remained not only a loyal, committed and dedicated member of the Northern States Governors Forum, but has also been serving as its vice-Chairman. There is, therefore, no basis for Suswam to plot or gang up with anybody to destabilise an organisation to which he has committed himself and the state government for so long.”

     

  • Fake EFCC officials attempted to defraud Suswam of $3m, says witness

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed how four suspects attempted to dupe Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswan of US$3 million (about N500 million).

    The suspects are: Mark Gbaa (alias Nasiru Nasamu); Ezekiel Ajik Azi; Bulus Ashom Agwom and Nuhu Bawa Atangs.

    The commission said the suspects conspired to impersonate its officials in an attempt to blackmail Suswam to part with $3million.

    A statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the revelation came during the ongoing trial of the supects by Justice E. N. Kpojime of the Benue State High Court, Makurdi.

    The statement said the police orderly to the governor, Julius Donmo, and a senior officer with the Directorate of State Security Service (SSS), Aliu Dikko, explained how they were contacted by the suspects in their plot to deceive Suswam to cough out $3million.

    The statement said: “At the resumed hearing of the case on June 3, 2013, Julius Donmo, a member of the Police Mobile Force and orderly to Governor Suswan and Aliu Dikko, a senior DSS officer, were led in evidence by counsel to EFCC, Joseph Uzor. They gave detailed account of how the accused attempted to deceive Suswan into believing that they were operatives of the EFCC investigating a non-existent fraud perpetrated by his Commissioner for Finance.

    “Donmo narrated how he was contacted by the first accused, Mike Gbaa, claiming to be a high-level officer from the EFCC and wishing to see the governor to help stop investigation of fraud against his government.

    “He revealed how, after series of calls and text messages, Agwom and Atangs were arrested when they wanted to collect the agreed $3million by SSS operatives.

    “The first accused was later arrested through his phone. In his testimony, Dikko identified the accused as the suspects arrested and brought to him by his operatives for an alleged crime of personation and fraud.

    “He said they were subsequently interrogated and made statements under caution.

    “As the statements were to be tendered, the defence counsel, J. B. Damboi, opposed the admissibility of the documents on the grounds that they were allegedly obtained under duress…”