New PDP campaign office in Katsina

In April this year, Katsina state PDP executive was dissolved based on the directive of the national headquarters of the party. The dissolution was done because the executive had outlived their tenure. For instance, the former State Chairman, Kabir Maiwada Daudawa was elected into office in the year 2001, almost 10 years ago. When Daudawa and his colleagues were eventually removed from office by the constitution of the party which stipulates maximum of two terms of four years each for the party executives, some persons began to cry wolf.

The group started flying the kite that the dissolution was engineered to pave way for the loyalists of Governor Ibrahim Shema as party executives. However, in attendance at the State PDP congress that was held on Sunday, April 25 were all the members of the state executive and legislative councils, all the local government chairmen, all the members of National Assembly, except Senator Yakubu Lado, the two ministers from the state, Minister of Mines and Steel, Architect Musa Sada and Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Murtala Yar’adua, and a business mogul, Alhaji Dahiru mangal.

Not only did all these people, including the state governor, participate in the congress that produced a new set of executives to the PDP, they all contributed immensely for the success of the congress adjudged by the national headquarters of the PDP as transparent, peaceful and fairly conducted during its NEC meeting held on Tuesday April 27. Not only did all the people mentioned participate in the congress, they all spoke gloriously about the excellent performance of Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema.

If all these people accepted Governor Shema as leader of the party in Katsina state, it further shows that the new group members cohorts are only after mischief by insinuating that the governor could not build confidence among the party stakeholders.

In the letter addressed to the Minister Police Affairs and published in the Daily Trust of Tuesday, June 8, the group stated that the PDP office opened by the group along WTC Road, adjacent to the old CBN complex in Katsina, is not a parallel office, but a PDP campaign office of the group for 2011 election. It was stated in the letter as follows:  “I was made to understand that the continued existence of the office is a challenge to constituted authority who believes it is a paralled PDP state headquarters. This is far from the truth. We have in a similar correspondence addressed to the Honourable Commissioner of Police dated 24th May, 2010 debunked this claim emanating from State Executive of the PDP whose very existence is being challenged in a High Court here in Katsina state.”

From the this statement, Mustapha and his group do not recognize the current state executive of PDP produced by the congress supervised by national leadership of the party and witnessed by the representative of Independent National Electoral Commission. This prompted them to institute a court action against the party and the new executive.

If the group is made up of people of honour and integrity, the noble thing for them to do since they could not accept the leadership and authority of the new executive in place is to maintain the status quo until the court gives a verdict on the case filed before it by the group. Doing otherwise is tantamount to breach of public peace and taking law into one’s hand. Because with the situation of things on ground in Katsina state, the only recognize state executives of the PDP by the National Secretariat of the party is the newly constituted executive led by Alhaji Rabiu Gambo Bakori.

The challenge before the group is that  they should bring out a list of 50 notable members of PDP across the state who belong to their group. The late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua would not have made a worthy successor better than Shema whose exemplary leadership qualities stand him out among the so-called late President Yar’adua political associates. What the public is witnessing today in Katsina state PDP is the continuation of the grand design by the so-called ‘cabal.’ They have shifted their base to Katsina state.

There is no doubt about the fact that Shema may likely be the only governor in Nigeria who, in the first year of his administration, ensured that he completed all the inherited ongoing projects from the previous administration. He did so without owing any contractor.

In terms of probity and accountability in governance, Governor Shema is a testimony and also a reference point among the political office holders in Nigeria for his commitment to the betterment of the life of Katsina state residents. He is also committed to upholding the sanctity and the tenets of good governance. Katsina state government under his leadership within two years of his administration generated the sum of N6 billion as income from fixed deposit. Similarly, as at end of May this year, the state government had in its treasury the credit balance of over N10 billion at the time many states could not afford to pay their workers salaries.

Within the last three years, Governor Shema has constructed not less than 2000 affordable housing units across the state. He also rehabilitated over 27 earth dams across the state to the admiration of the irrigation farmers. For instance, the Jibia irrigation dam that has been abandoned for the period of 29 years with the farmers in the area cultivating 100 hectares of land out of 3800 hectares capacity of the dam, has been resuscitated by Shema led administration. With Governor Shema intervention, farmers at Jibia irrigation site are now cultivating 3000 hectares of farmland. Do Mustapha and cohorts think all these farmers whose life have been transformed for better under the leadership of Shema not support the Governor to rule the state for another term?

Also in educational sector, Governor Shema is parading unparallel record of achievement. The administration inherited a total number of 255 secondary schools from the previous administration in the state that span the period of 20 years since Katsina state was created. But within three years, Governor Shema administration established new additional 109 secondary schools to make the total number of 364 secondary schools in Katsina state. This record is available for anybody to verify and counter the claim if it is not true. This is why it will be difficult for elements to begin to fault his administration to the point of setting up a parallel PDP office.

Hassan is a member of the PDP in Katsina State