Gombe Intrigues and 2007 Governorship

By

Usman Aliyu Garry

usmangari@yahoo.com

When I first read the story, my initial reaction was that of total indignation. I said to myself that these people were at it again. They would stop at nothing to achieve their selfish aims. However something suddenly struck me, that the parson who has deeply sunk into the river of power would stop at nothing to guard it. Freedom of expression as entailed in the constitution now becomes an extension of the authority of the vagabonds in the corridors of power. To enjoy it you must submit to this power seeking cabals or surrender completely. The brigandage initially started on ordinary motals, it has now graduated to intimidating avowed political opponents. Sadly this is happening under a supposedly elected government. Nothing illustrates this more than a write up purportedly written by one Adamu Garba Musa, which appeared in Daily trust of Thursday, December 15, 2005. The article confirmed the desperation of his paymasters to remain at the corridors of power through dubious means. It was written as a response to an interview granted to daily sun newspaper by Mallam Murtala Aliyu.

For the avoidance of doubt and to set the records clear for praise singers like Adamu if at all he exists, the PDP was never bankrolled by the incumbent governor Goje as said in the write up. He joined the party after people like Ambassador Yarima Abdullahi, Ibrahim Hassan, Dr. Sulaiman Kumo and many others who are not respected today by those at helm of affairs in the state have put it in shape. For anybody to claim that the governor stood in to bankroll the party when others have left is not only false but also imaginary.

People like us are leaving witness to the already dead party with factions and so many internal wrangling after Goje left office in 2002. The party was thrown out of their rented state headquarters along BCGA road barely few months after Goje was dropped as a minister for non-payment of rent for two years. It was also battling with no functional vehicle at the state secretariat or any of its offices. It was during this period that people like Ambassador Ajuji Waziri came in to support the party with some vehicles; Mallam Murtala Aliyu also donated some. He also made available a Peugeot 406 to the then state chairman. He also settled the arrears owed for the rented state secretariat of the party and made a payment in advance of two years. The writer said as I quote him ‘the truth is that everybody knows that when Governor Goje was relieved of his appointment as a minister he came back home, and started from the scratch to breath a new life into the party in such a manner that the party could withstand the forces of the ANPP who were in power and working against the party. By this time Murtala Aliyu was busy in Abuja, while Goje was back at home in Gombe’ this is the kind of contradiction that cannot be understood even to a layman, how can somebody believe this baseless imagination, Murtala was just appointed a minister, and does Adamu expects Murtala to relocate his ministry to Gombe in other to please detractors like him? His first assignment as a party leader in the state was to reconcile the already divided party Goje left behind. This was achieved until he left office. Nobody in his right senses would believe Adamu when he said little was known about Murtala Aliyu before his appointment, where was Adamu and is paymasters during the PTF days, and where was he also when roads were been rehabilitated courtesy of Murtala. If there was any parson that was not known before his appointment, as a minister obviously is the governor. Even the protests that followed his appointment were the handiwork of the governor who has sensed that Murtala could be a threat to him in the 2003 election. Half of the petitions written originated from the governor’s camp. As to his residence in Kaduna or Abuja as said by the writer, or his going to kano for holidays is baseless and unfounded, his consultancy business took him round the country and sometimes abroad. Is it not the governor whose family still resides in Abuja? Or worst still the rent of this extra house in Abuja is at the expense of our coffers, even while we have a state of the art governor’s lodge there.

When in the said interview Murtala said he was a victim of the governor, the statement was straightforward. He also talked about building a structure under which the governor rode to the government house, this is evident in the stable and well-organized party Goje made and used through the general election. Murtala was also visible in Goje’s campaign especially in the southern part of the sate. What else could he have done to support the governor other than the structure he put in place for him to follow? Col. Musa Mohammed who also contested alongside Murtala is also not in the good books of the governor. The fact remains that the governor cannot be said to be with any respected elder in the state except a cabal that seeks to remain at the corridors of power at the detrainment of others. If the assertion made by the writer portrayed the minds of his paymasters, then our hard earned democracy is in danger.

The issue of who is more qualified to lead the state shouldn’t have raised any eyebrow because the good people of Gombe state who are working to ensuring the best is chosen to govern them will never be touched by praise singers and enemies of true democracy. They will surely not be blindfolded come 2007. The assertion that our traditional institution has been strengthened is not only false but mere propaganda; the institution has lost its bearing since the coming of this administration. The deposition of the emirs of Yamaltu, Pindiga and Akko is still fresh in our minds. Appointment and deposition of emirs and chiefs have become a political issue of a sort; their appointments have been politicized. It is carried out without due recognition to the laid down procedures, this of course contradicted the views of Adamu and his cronies on the crumple institution.

Most of the people in Gombe state have fell victim of the daredevil governor on trivial disagreements. Only recently the governor dumped his political godfather and financier who has done so much to bring him to power. No wonder all strong politicians have found their fates elsewhere. The cronies have realized the looming failure in 2007, and they have started budging to destroy possible successors. The cronies are battle ready to track and mow down anybody with enough guts to challenge Goje’s tazarce mission. Meanwhile disgusting ineptitude, unrestraint corruption, bleak nepotism and uninformed paranoia characterized the affairs of government. My advice to people like Adamu and his paymasters is to realize that the decision to choose leaders lies in the electorates. Murtala Aliyu’s popularity would never be dented by these disgruntled elements that are out to blindfold the people Gombe state.

Garry writes from No.52 Jekadafari quarters in Gombe state.