Almost seven years after he left power as governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido still bestrides the Jigawa State chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) like a colossus. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs has been accused of trying to foist his son, Mustapha, on the party to fly its flag during the next governorship election. AHMED RUFA’I reports
The recent endorsement of the former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido’s biological son, Mustapha Sule Lamido, to contest the next governorship election on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) by the forum of former local government council chairmen has generated a lot of controversies, particularly as it suggests that some members of the party are dominating its affairs ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
The 22 former local government council chairmen who served when the former Foreign Affairs Minister was at the helm of affairs in the state between 2007 and 2015 met recently in Gumel, Gumel Local Government Area and endorsed the aspiration of the younger Lamido for the Jigawa State governorship race on the platform of the opposition party. The endorsement was made on February 7.
It was contained in a communique issued after the meeting by its secretary, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi Karkarna, who is also the former chairman of Yankwashi Local Government Area. The group said it is endorsing the party’s former candidate for the Jigawa Central senatorial seat for the governorship because it believes the young man can tackle the challenges facing the state at the moment.
The statement reads: “Apart from being well-educated, he also has a strong mind of confronting difficult judgment at a difficult time and above all, he is very sincere and an obedient party member. So, we believe he can do the job. Given the foregoing, we are calling on this intellectual youth and gentleman in the person of Mustapha Lamido to come out and contest for the governorship ticket of our great party, the PDP for a rescue mission.”.
Meanwhile, those against the idea believed that the forum is a powerful group within the party affiliated to his father’s political dynasty; a situation that may jeopardize the chances of other aspirants.
Between 2007 and 2015, Jigawa State was a stronghold of the PDP in the country. But, the party’s popularity has waned following the APC Tsunami of the 2015 general election that dislodged the PDP from the Northwest state.
Following the defeat of the PDP in 2015, the party has been thrown into a serious internal crisis that resulted in losing thousands of its members and supporters to ruling APC. The crisis was engendered by accusations, political blackmail and other smearing campaigns against its key stakeholders, particularly between Sule Lamido and Aminu Ibrahim Ringim factions of the party. This, it is said, made it very difficult for other party members to indicate interest in contesting any of the party’s tickets ahead of the next coming general elections.
Public reaction over the endorsement of Mustapha Sule Lamido by the 22 former PDP chairmen has been varied. The endorsement, which took place at a meeting in Gumel, Gumel Local Government Area under the forum chairman, Alhaji Ali Diginsa, who is also the PDP deputy chairman, is largely perceived as a ploy to impress the state’s PDP leader, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Sule Lamido. Some see it as a deliberate attempt to make the PDP bigwig the party’s sole candidate. This, it is said, has thrown some members into confusion, particularly those nursing the ambition to contest the governorship election.
Observers believe that the PDP ought to consider zoning the ticket to another senatorial district or emirate other than Jigawa Central where former Governor Lamido hails from. Others are also of the opinion that Mustapha Sule Lamido, the Santuraki of Dutse, a holder of master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, is qualified to contest for the position and that he should not be intimidated to step down from the race. One of such observers said: “He has the constitutional right to contest any position in the party, by virtue of his being an active member of the PDP, like any other member.
“Democracy is a system that gives every individual the opportunity to play his card, irrespective of his tribal, or parental lineage. According to the tenants of democracy, Mustapha can contest the same position with his father in the same party or under a different party. This is not a sin; so if his father was a governor and today he is also qualified to contest that position, no one has the power to deny him such right. Therefore his endorsement for the PDP governorship ticket is in order.”
But, the faction of the party led by Alhaji Aminu Ibrahim Ringim is strongly against the aspiration of Mustapha Lamido. Ringim who was the party’s governorship candidate in the 2015 and the 2019 general elections believes the former governor is trying to pave the way to his son to become governor.
Among those that have indicated interest in the Jigawa governorship race on the platform of the party are Bashir Adamu Jumbo, a four-time member of the House of Representatives representing
Kazaure/Roni/Yankwashi/Gwiwa Federal Constituency; and Dr Nuruddeen Muhammad, a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs under the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration between 2011 to 2015; Muhammad was also the Supervising Minister at the Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and National Orientation before he resigned from the Federal Executive Council to contest as the running mate to the PDP governorship candidate in the 2015 general elections.
The Gumel parley was like a meeting of the state working committee in disguise, as most of the former chairmen are also currently holding sensitive party positions at the state level. This raises serious moral questions and even doubts about their ability to organise and supervise a primary that would be fair to all.
It is interesting to note that the party structures are under the firm control of the former governor, with his son, Mustapha right behind him in command.
In essence, whoever becomes the party’s flag bearer would need Sule Lamido’s support to succeed in his bid to take over from Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar next year. Lamido has a considerable following in the Northwest state, given his record of achievement when he was at the helm of affairs.
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