The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Taraba

  • PDP’s Ishaku in early lead in 10 Taraba councils  

    The Peoples Democratic (PDP) was in early lead in the governorship and State Assembly elections in ten of the sixteen local government councils of Taraba state on Saturday.

    The PDP which fielded Darius Dickson Ishaku was leading in Wukari, Donga, Karimlamido, Kurmi, Bali, Takum, Ussa, Zing, Yorro and Jalingo -the state capital.

    Bali local government area had voted for the President Elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the presidential election. but the people however voted for the PDP in Saturday’s guber polls.

    Ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai left the Government House in Jalingo early morning to his village Suntai to vote for his PDP candidate (Ishaku).

    A heavy crowd swarmed him, some shielding tears of love and joy. They queued behind him to vote for PDP.

    Suntai voted in his Maman 012 polling unit of Suntai Ward.

    The governor did his accreditation and voting in his official car.

    The PDP was also leading in the House of Assembly elections.

    The PDP candidates in Wukari I and II constituencies were already declared winners as at press time.

    Mean while the elections in Kashimbilla and Malushe areas of Takum were postponed for Sunday.

  • Why Ishaku’s popularity is growing in Taraba

    Why Ishaku’s popularity is growing in Taraba

    Senior Correspondent FANEN IHYONGO examines the chances of the Taraba State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Hon. Darius Ishaku in Saturday’s election.

    When he clinched the Peoples Democratic Party’s ticket in Taraba State, Darius Ishaku’s opponents said he was reclusive. The criticism motivated him to work harder. He consulted widely and met with opinion leaders. Then, he embarked on house-to-house campaign that began to sell his candidacy. His campaigns were issues-based, and he quickly marketed a people-oriented manifesto. He listened to the masses and told them the things he had done and was still doing for the state. Soon, his popularity began to rise. He became the talk of the town.

    At the time he rounded up his campaign tour in Takum-his country home, the names of his opponents in the other political parties had gone extinct. He graciously overturned the ‘unpopularity deficit’ to become the most popular candidate gunning for the state’s most plum job. Ishaku got a “pleasant surprise” when he campaigned in Gassol, a council believed to be a stronghold of the opposition. His first name Darius was changed to Dahiru (Arabic: meaning something pure). And that has been bad news for his opponents who have become fever stoked and their names gone extinct.

     

    Multiple endorsements

    Of all those contesting the governorship, Ishaku has gotten the highest endorsements from individuals, groups and unions. His supporters include traditional rulers, the two religious bodies, many unions and groups such as NULGE, NURTW, NUT, NUJ, students, the physically challenged, market women, artisans, okada riders, butchers etc.  The students union body described him as a “first class material and most qualified candidate,” in terms of credentials and achievements in the public and private sectors.

     

    Party strength

    Taraba has always been a tough state for the opposition. The ruling PDP has shown its supremacy by winning the governorship and three senatorial seats since the return to democratic government in 1999. In 2011, the PDP won 13 of the 16 local government areas to give Suntai a landslide victory.

    In last Saturday’s presidential and parliamentary elections, the PDP won the presidential election, even though President Goodluck Jonathan lost to the All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. PDP also swept the three senatorial seats and four House of Representatives seats, leaving only two for APC and SDP. The winning of the northern zone senatorial seat by the Acting Governor Abubakar Sani Danladi is also an advantage to Ishaku.

     

    Government influence

    Ishaku is no doubt the government candidate. And that has given him an edge over his opponents. It means he enjoys the apparatuses of government including security and resources. Ishaku is also the choice of Governor Danbaba Suntai, coming from Southern zone where the governor planned to relinquish power to, on grounds that it is the fairest thing to do to foster a sense of belonging.

     

    Roots, credentials, experience

    The PDP candidate, born in July 1954 to Mr Istifanus Ishaku and Mrs Naomi Ishaku at Lupwe, now Ussa local government council, schooled at St. Bartholomew’s Primary School Zaria, St. Paul’s College Zaria and the famous Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s of Science in Architecture with super distinctions.

    He has worked as a teacher, architect, town planner and minister where he served without blemish. He is such an unassuming and humble gentle man with the spirit of camaraderie and above all the fear of God. He has planned to use his wealth of experience to redesign and reconstruct a beautiful Taraba for the masses. He will “rescue” state from any form of ruin, in healthcare, security, economy, agriculture, education and tourism.

    His achievements include the Mambilla hydroelectric power project in Sardauna which he re-designed to provide 3,050 megawatts. The dam, when completed will employ thousands of youths who are in desperate search of elusive jobs. His works on the Kashimbilla dam has also been plausible as the dam is a multipurpose developmental project for flood control, water supply, power, irrigation, fishery and tourism. His other achievements include: provision of boreholes and electrification of Taraba towns and rural communities. Distribution of hundreds of transformer and the facilitation of employment of over 150 graduates as well as facilitation for the promotion of many deserving senior officers from Taraba to higher positions, which he knows less than 10 of them.

  • Taraba Acting Governor, Bwacha win senate seat

    Taraba Acting Governor, Bwacha win senate seat

    Taraba Acting Governor Abubakar Sani Danladi has won the Northern Zone senatorial election.

    Danladi who had been impeached by the House of Assembly but was recently reinstated polled 106, 163 votes to beat Sani Kona of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who garnered 99,446 votes.

    Philip Kundila of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came a distant third with only 17, 963 votes.

    Senator Emmanuel Bwacha representing Southern Taraba district was also returned.

    Bwacha who contested in the PDP swept the five local government areas of southern Taraba: Takum, Donga, Ussa, Wukari, Ibi and Yangtu Special Development Area to cruise to victory.

    Former Adviser on Bureau for Local Governments Bashir Marafa won the Central Zone senatorial election.

    He defeated Senator Abubakar Tutare of the SDP and other candidates to carry the day.

  • Coly blames ref for Rangers loss to Taraba

    Coly blames ref for Rangers loss to Taraba

    Enugu Rangers’s Senegalese defender Pierre Coly has pointed an accusing finger to the referee, following the Flying Antelopes 3 – 2 loss to Taraba FC in both teams opening fixture in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

    Coly scored in the first half to bring the scoreline to 1 – 1, only for the referee to award a controversial penalty few minutes after the interval.

    “The Nigerian referees are not doing well, especially during away matches. We were not supposed to lose that match.

    “The referee gave them a penalty which they did not deserve, but their third goal was legitimate.

    “I decided to remain in Rangers because of the supporters. Fans come to watch our games,so I am motivated to play well.

    “Everything here at Rangers is peaceful, nobody is disturbing me, ” Pierre Coly said to allnigeriasoccer.com.

    Asked about his targets for the season, Coly replied : “Our target is to qualify for the CAF Champions League by winning the League.

    “We also want to win the Federation Cup,we must win a trophy this season.”

    The experienced centre – half is spending his third season at Enugu Rangers.

  • ‘Ishaku is most qualified for Taraba’

    Taraba students under the auspices of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) yesterday endorsed the candidature of Darius Ishaku, saying he was the “most qualified” for the governorship.

    The students, coming from universities and other tertiary institutions across the country, spoke when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard-bearer met with them at the pool side of the Jolly Nyame Sports Complex, Jalingo, the Taraba state capital.

    The SUG President, Salahudden Shuabu, said Ishaku, an architect, has the best credentials for the position, having worked as a seasoned lecturer in the university and as a minister in three ministries, which “he served without any blemish.”

    He added that among the candidates, Ishaku was the consensus candidate from southern Taraba “where power is officially supposed to shift to.”

     

  • Health relief in Taraba

    Health relief in Taraba

    Patients agonised when there were no facilities at the hospitals. Suddenly, some state-of-the-art tools were shipped in, but no skilled personnel to operate them. Now, the challenge has been overcome and everyone is happy. FANEN IHYONGO reports on what has been dubbed a quiet revolution in the northeast state

    When 25-year-old Aisha Musa, a resident of Zing Local Government Area of Taraba State, took ill with appendicitis, a disease caused by a blockage of the hollow portion of the appendix, she was quickly taken to the Specialist Hospital, Jalingo, the state capital. In a few minutes, the medics did their job and she was well again.

    John Buba, 30, was also at the hospital with the same complaint, and like Aisha, got prompt attention and was discharged.

    Both patients were treated through laparoscopic surgery or Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), a procedure in which a surgeon inserts a very thin tube called laparoscope, a tiny video camera, into the abdomen. With that equipment, the surgeon can view the insides of the abdomen, observing such organs as oesophagus, stomach and large and small intestines on a monitor. The tiny instrument responds to the movements of the surgeon’s hands and the appendix is removed through small abdominal incisions. The surgeon can also see whether these tissues have cancer or not.

    Thanks to the precision of the operation, minimal loss of blood, and the need for very small incisions, the patient recovers much faster and with less scarring, compared to traditional open surgery. In most cases it is no longer necessary to open the patient up with a large incision.

    Soon after the process, Aisha and John became so well that they could eat and even talk to reporters.

    “I wasn’t myself, but now I am OK,” Aisha told The Nation.

    •Dr. Michael Misanu (left) and Dr. Anuye Rimamskeb at the Specialist Hospital, Jalingo
    •Dr. Michael Misanu (left) and Dr. Anuye Rimamskeb at the Specialist Hospital, Jalingo

    The Specialist Hospital was a classic parting gift from former Governor Jolly Nyame who bowed out of office in 2007, after 10 years of service. Nyame, the first elected governor of the state, was in office from 1992 to 1993, came back in 1999 before leaving in 2007. The hospital was however not equipped when the former governor commissioned it in 2007. Governor Danbaba Suntai, a pharmacist, equipped the hospital with state-of-the-art facilities when he took over the baton of power from Nyame. Some of these facilities are said to be found only in few hospitals. But despite these ultra-modern facilities, something seriously was missing at the Specialist Hospital: the skilled manpower to operate the machines. The hospital was like a ship without a sailor. The facilities were lying waste like a community with a river blessed with fish, but without the technology to catch the fish. The new Chief Medical Director (CMD) Dr. Joel Rimande made the difference.

    How did he do it? Rimande, a consultant radiologist, employed the services of expert doctors from Jos, Plateau State, who came and taught the resident doctors how to use the facilities. The doctors were led by Michael Misanu, a surgeon with expert knowledge in Endoscopy and Laparoscopy. Rimande’s wisdom reminds us of a Chinese proverb in which a man turned down a fish gift, preferring instead to be taught how to catch fish.

    In two weeks, Dr. Misanu and his team trained the resident principal doctors of the Specialist Hospital. During the training, Dr. Anuye Rimamskeb, who served as what could be described here as a class prefect, learned fast. He in turn trained the hospital staff. Some see the development as a revolution.

    When The Nation visited the hospital during the training, a 38-year old woman who had gallbladder disease was being treated. The gallbladder is a little sac that stores bile from the liver, and it’s found just beneath the liver. It releases bile, via the cystic duct, into the small intestine to help break down the foods eaten —particularly fatty foods. The gallbladder may seem okay to forget about it, as it stays tucked away doing its job, but watch out when something goes wrong with your gallbladder. Thus, this lady was in excruciating pains when she was brought. But in a few minutes, the process was over and the lady was well again.

    Another patient, a man with stomach disorders, was also treated with the modern science healthcare facilities. Soon he recovered and was discharged that same day. Other problems such as cysts, adhesions, fibroids , and many infections can be found using laparoscopy. Tissue samples can be taken for biopsy through the tube (laparoscope).

    The medical director spoke to journalists on the training. He said the hospital would now provide modern science healthcare delivery on a regular basis. “And we are doing it at the barest minimum rate for patients. We have adapted the Danbaba Suntai philosophy that we must not allow a person to die here because of lack of money,” he said.

    Remande advocated for “attractive” salaries, emoluments and incentives for doctors at the Specialist Hospital to avoid losing their manpower to hospitals with better pay packages.

    The Specialist Hospital, just resuming from one-month strike, is hoping to intensify its efforts in offering to Taraba people the best of modern healthcare services. Acting Governor Abubakar Sani Danladi is expected to ensure the staff get all their allowances to enable them work to the best of their abilities.

  • ‘Three councils to generate cash for Taraba’

    ‘Three councils to generate cash for Taraba’

    Three local councils have been identified as inexhaustible sources of revenue or what is popularly referred to in business as cash cows. One of the councils is Ibi in the southern part of the state known for the famous Nwonyo  Fishing Festival.

    Another revenue source is Sardauna Council in the central area of the state where the equally renowned Mambila Plateau is located.

    The third is Yorro on the northern tip of the state, where you find rocks so neatly arranged that you might think some ancient hands placed them there. Yorro rocks remind visitors of those in Plateau State.

    Who identified these cash cows? It was Darius Dickson Ishaku, who is running for governorship of the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Some have said his campaigns have been issue-based and innovative, from house to house. He has toured the entire state canvassing support and eliciting votes. During the campaign tours, he had firsthand information on the nature of the state, popularly called Nature’s Gift.

    Ishaku said he believed those three councils could generate enough revenue to drive the state. So why not develop the tourist havens?

    Ibi council

      The attraction here is the Nwonyo Lake, which has produced the biggest fish in Nigeria. The fishing festival is a tourism product that has put the country in world reckoning. The lake has been the identity and heritage of southern Taraba people for 101 years now. A tributary of River Benue flows into it, covering a distance of about 10km. Most of the aquatic creatures from the main river course take asylum at Nwonyo due to its cool and serene habitat and the fact that the lake is a reserve. The main business of the festival is the fishing expedition.

    But there is also the search for turtles and crocodiles. Boat regatta, horse race, traditional wrestling, masquerades and cultural dances are other exhilarating attractions that herald the day. The atmosphere is generally that of a carnival. The catcher of the biggest fish is usually rewarded with a car prize. The biggest catch ever at Nwonyo has been the Nile Porch fish, known in Hausa as Giwa Ruwa by Hudu Yakubu which weighed 280kg.

    The state, however, has not been spinning the kind of currency it desires to derive from the fishing festival and other tourists attractions. And the socio-economic lifestyle of more than half of the natives in Ibi  and its environs contrasts sharply with the nature’s benevolence. Ishaku said he will rebrand it to yield economic benefits. The candidate is not happy that Taraba is richly blessed with natural endowments, but its people are wallowing in misery.

    Sardauna council

    In Sardauna, the ‘great’ Mambilla Plateau and other beautiful mountains are the essence, as far as tourism is concerned. And that was the reason why the candidate began his campaign at the Mambilla Plateau, a breathtaking 1,840 meters above sea level.

    He said the plateau is one of the greatest tourist destinations in Africa, with the best climate in Nigeria. Being the most accessible high altitude, offering the largest and most impressive eco-system sights, Ishaku said he will build a world-class holiday resort in the area where world presidents shall be going to enjoy their holidays.

    One favourable factor for this the temperate weather which does not exceed 25°C  all year round.

    Ishaku said, “The plateau will become an ideal place for hosting ECOWAS Summits. I believe participants who would come across West Africa would love to visit some of the exciting historic sites on the mountains and the plateau.

    Besides the captivating mountains, the fields look beautiful, with evergreen lengthy belts of tea plantation and gallery forests that inhabit beautiful birds, chimpanzees and little mammals that tourists love to watch.

    To achieve this, Ishaku said he has to complete the Mambilla Hydroelectric power dam which is to generate 3050 megawatts electricity. The people of Mambilla Plateau had confronted the candidate with seven demands. But the former minister of Niger Delta Affairs told them that the hydroelectric dam shall be their life wire when completed.

    “The venue (Mambilla Plateau) for this rally is deliberate because of President Goodluck Jonathan’s efforts to complete the Mambilla Dam project.

    “The Mambilla Hydroelectric Dam project had been on the drawing board since 1960. It was when Jonathan came on board that the project came to fruition. It can employ many youths in Sardauna and other parts of the state.

    “After voting for Jonathan on February 14, you must vote me on February 28, because I was the one the president sent to work on the dam project when he appointed me as minister of state for Power,” he told a curious mammoth crowd at the Mansur Stadium in Gembu, headquarters of Sardauna local government area.

     Yorro (Northern Taraba)

    Yorro is another council area in the north of Taraba identified by Ishaku as a tourist haven. But it is usually difficult getting to Yorro, because of bad roads. The absence of road alone can scare a tourist, especially a new comer. Here, the sun can rise piercingly and ferociously sharp above 45°C. The dust and searing heat can also put a visitor to flight. But while in Yorro, you will marvel at what nature has offered the state. The blazing heat becomes dissipated in the shadows of hills and inselbergs. Some of the hills are a heap of stones or boulders. You will think a human being arranged them. In some areas a boulder is perfectly placed on another, as though it would fall, but it has been there for thousands of years, according to the natives. Like in Gembu, you can see the rock with giant footprints of an unnamed ancient warrior. Another rock looks like a woman and her daughter, without any application of art work.

    The vegetation is beautiful too, a mix grill of Guinea Savannah shrubs and desert tree species. These plants have the abilities to adapt to both dry/hot and wet/humid seasons using both physical and behavioral mechanisms to endure, resist and or retain water. Saguaro, Joshua tree and Palmyra palm trees are good examples.

    One major setback for these tourist havens is woeful roads.

    Ishaku said he would build those roads if elected.

    “Roads and other infrastructural facilities must be built in these tourist areas to speed up massive development,” he said. The candidate said he believed that when this is done, the people would be more united and bridged closer to their cultures. The tourism, which he referred to as an “effervescent industry,” shall create wealth for the people.

    Ishaku, who was ferried via local boats when crossing from Lau to Karimlamido, made a covenant with the electorate. “Do you want roads? Do you want development?” When the crowd answered in the affirmative, he solicited: “Give me your votes and I will build beautiful roads for you; I will complete the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Dam; I will rebrand tourism in Taraba.”

    Good news! President Goodluck Jonathan, during his presidential campaign in Jalingo, said he has released $1 billion of the $1.5 billion contract sum, through counterpart funding for the Mambilla dam project.

    “The contractors are already on the site. The Mambilla dam is the best in West Africa. We shall develop it with top grade infrastructure for all African presidents to be going there to holiday. I believe this would generate revenue for the state,” Jonathan said.

    Acting Governor Abubakar Sani Danladi also assured the people that Ishaku is an architect while his running mate, Haruna Manu, is an engineer. “These technocrats will design and reconstruct a beautiful Taraba for us,” Danladi said.

    The people will decide on February 28, whether they want Ishaku to ‘beautifully’ transform Taraba, or not.

  • Jonathan’s convoy stoned in Taraba, Adamawa

    Jonathan’s convoy stoned in Taraba, Adamawa

    Twice at two state capitals yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy was attacked.

    The President led the campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to Yola, the Adamawa State capital, and to neigbouriing Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

    His convoy was attacked in both places.

    Windshields and windows of many vehicles in the convoy were shattered in Yola, according to Associated Press, which could not confirm if anyone was hurt.

    Police used tear gas and whips to disperse the mob.

    Soldiers guarded billboards and posters of Jonathan.  Protesters shouted that the troops should instead be fighting the Boko Haram insurgents that are holding part of the state.

    “Why are they using soldiers and other security operatives? They should be deployed in Sambisa and fight with Boko Haram, not with innocent civilians,” one youth yelled as he tore down a poster of a smiling Jonathan.

    Sambisa Forest is where the insurgents have camps and where they are believed to be holding some of the 276 schoolgirls abducted from a boarding school in the remote town of Chibok in April – a mass kidnapping that brought international outrage.

    Yola is housing tens of thousands of people driven from their homes in the five-year-old insurgency.

    The President’s convoy was attacked when he visited the Emir of Muri, His Royal Majesty Alhaji Abbas Tafida, in his palace in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

    As usual during campaigns, Jonathan, on arrival, was driven to the emir’s palace to seek the royal blessing.

    While the President was discussing with the monarch, hoodlums reportedly hauled pebbles at his motorcade.

    Also, while Jonathan was campaigning at the Jolly Nyame Sports Complex, on Yola Road, the hoodlums reportedly invaded the PDP secretariat on Barde Way.

    The two policemen at the PDP office said they were overpowered by over 300 hoodlums, who invaded the secretariat.

    They damaged over 10 vehicles belonging packed on the secretariat premises.

    Questions were being asked on the identity of the hoodlums.

    Many said they were APC thugs, but another source said they were aggrieved PDP thugs.

    It was learnt that some PDP youths, on Wednesday, threatened to disrupt Jonathan’s rally yesterday, because they were “abandoned”.

  • Election: Taraba Tiv affirm their choice

    Election: Taraba Tiv affirm their choice

    The Tiv in Taraba have made clear who they want to govern the state after the elections. It is former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Darius Dickson Ishaku.

    Tiv masquerades and the popular Swange cultural troupe performed before a large crowd in Takum, headquarters of Takum Local Government Area of the state, as the people held a reception for the ex-minister.

    The Tiv have a dense population in Wukari, Ibi, Donga, Takum, Gassol, Bali and Gashaka local government areas of the state. Their Chanchanji ward in Takum alone has over 30,000 persons, has the highest number of voters in the state and determines who wins Southern Taraba polls.

    Ishaku, an architect and administrator, hails from Takum council in Southern Taraba. He defeated sacked Acting Governor Garba Umar and two others to clinch the ruling party’s governorship ticket.

    Thousands of Tiv and Jukun residents in Southern and Central Taraba districts have been attacked and killed, others were injured and hundreds of thousands dislodged from their homes which were also destroyed by insurgents in the last two years.

    The hostilities are coming to an end following the reinstatement of Abubakar Sani Danladi as Acting Governor. The end of killings and the victory of Ishaku as the standard bearer of the ruling party brought joy in the land. This was evident at the reception and rally organised for Ishaku in his country home of Takum to mark the New Year festivity.

    Folksingers, masquerades, cultural dancers, political bigwigs and the general public graced the occasion. The Tiv people displayed their popular Swange dance to show their solidarity. Commissioner of Environment Rebecca Manasseh who is leading the campaign, said the Tiv were pleased with Ishaku and would do everything possible to support him during the election. She said Tiv and Jukun were united and working closely to ensure that Ishaku became governor.

    Besides the killings, Taraba people are not happy with the level of development in the state. The consensus seems to be that there is no remarkable thing to show for the state’s 23 years of creation from the defunct Gongola, despite its huge mineral and human resources. And the worst time is said to have come when Garba Umar steered the state between November 14, 2012 and November 21, 2014 when he was sacked by the Supreme Court for unconstitutionally occupying the office. Reinstated Acting Governor Abubakar Sani Danladi has accused him (Umar) of plundering the state and leaving behind a debt of over N14.9 billion which is reportedly suffocating the state and impeding payment of salaries. In Ishaku, though, the Tiv said they see a spring of hope. They believe the architect can extricate Taraba from its rural profile to an enviable pedestal.

    Thus, the Jolly Nyame House, Takum where the rally held, was filled to capacity. A large crowd surged as dignitaries made their speeches. A wave of excitement pervaded the atmosphere when Ishaku stood up to speak. His speech appeared to soothe the minds of all the ethnic groups in the area.

    He said he will make a difference as governor. He stated: “there is peace in the state now that Acting Governor Abubakar Sani Danladi has been reinstated to steer the state. But if I take over there will be peace, peace and peace. We shall remove war and replace it with peace. Displaced persons will return to their homes and farms.”

    Ishaku said: “We need celebrations not funerals. I want to work, and I am ready. Please come out and vote to bring back stability and development needed in the state.”.

    In his speech, former Minister of Commerce and Industries Ambassador Idris Waziri said: “The time has come to effect a change in the state through Ishaku. Those in the grave must come out and vote.

    The Senator representing Southern Taraba Emmanuel Bwacha described the occasion as “a huge success.”

  • Taraba: Travesty in Wadata Plaza

    SIR: I need to make the following clarification: I am not a member of PDP or its sympathizer, my loyalty lies with the All Progressive Congress, APC. But as an indigene of Taraba state, I have every right to comment on issues bothering on our collective well-being and our future; and my argument is premised on the fact that I am a stakeholder by virtue of my being from the state, Taraba.

    The People’s Democratic Party, PDP last week conducted its nation-wide gubernatorial primaries where the party’s flag bearers were elected by delegates (statutory and elected) as contained in its constitution. However, few states including my state could not perform such rituals due to what the state chapter described as unresolved issues which requires the attention of the national working committee of the party. Five days later, the NWC shifted the primaries to its Wadata Plaza headquarters and before you know it, all the elected delegates voyaged from Jalingo were barred from entering the premises of the party’s headquarters. Shortly after, the party in cohorts with the presidency at the instance of a retired army general, anointed, hand-picked, and announced the emergence of Architect Darius Isiyaku as the flag bearer of the party in the state, thus, shutting the door to other contestants.

    As someone whose loyalty lies with the APC, I consider this as a blessing, because with Darius as the flag bearer, we can secure our victory effortlessly. He is not just unpopular, but timid politically. As I write these lines, I have never come across a person who confesses to me that he is voting Darius come 2015. Now, politics apart, let’s talk about morality, with what PDP did to its aspirants in Taraba and other states such as the neighbouring Adamawa State, what is democratic about the party? How would somebody who owns No house in Taraba sit down in Abuja and dictate who should be what in the state?

    How can someone born, schooled, and work (apart from his stint in the Jonathan’s cabinet) all his life in Kaduna come to Taraba as governor? How do you expect somebody who does not know the number of local governments in Taraba State to deliver? Are we in the military era where military administrators emerged at the pleasure of the commander-in-chief?

    Muhammad S. Adamu Auta

    Jalingo, Taraba State