Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule has said that his ultimate goal is to hand over to a successor elected on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform come 2027.
Speaking during an expanded critical stakeholders meeting of the APC ahead of the scheduled 2024 local government election at the Government House, Lafia, the governor urged members to work hard towards achieving the goal.
He said, “As you all know and for those who don‘t know, my ultimate goal as a Governor is to hand over to another APC governor in 2027. If I have any dream whatsoever, projects we will do the best we can, areas of education, health, agriculture, anywhere we can think of, we can do the best we can to make Nasarawa State proud. However, all that will not mean much to me unless we come together and we are handing over to another elected governor under the APC,” he said.
He emphasized that the only way the APC could achieve such a feat is by forgetting what happened during previous elections and to come together and unite to make the party successful in the coming elections.
“As I have said over and over, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, what happened in 2019 and 2023 have happened and gone. God has given us success. I have no problem whatsoever holding grudges against any other person,” he stated.
Governor Sule therefore called on members of the party to eschew bitterness and rivalry and to come together to form a common front to enable the party to consolidate further on its victories. Commenting on the November 2 local government elections, Governor Sule affirmed the decision of the stakeholders to adopt the consensus mode of arriving at the flagbearers of the party.
“As you have all known and also confirmed by our National Legal Adviser, one of the constitutionally recognized methods of the primary is the consensus. Luckily, this has been adopted in Nasarawa State since 2014. The current chairmen came through consensus,“ he said.
While noting that several members of the party have since indicated interest to contest in the local government elections, the Governor however appealed for the need for sacrifice, fairness and togetherness since only one individual would emerge as chairman of a local government area.
“We should reason that at the end of the day, only one person will hold that position. As our leaders and major stakeholders get together to select one person. I will also use the opportunity to appeal rather than selecting one, to appeal to you to select three as was requested by the party earlier. Because I will not like a situation where you select one and they will say the Governor has the power to remove that and select another person for you. I feel uncomfortable with that kind of arrangement,” he added.
Governor Sule also highlighted the need to consider the complex issues of religion, ethnicity and already established internal arrangements within particular local government areas.
Considering the reforms attained in the local government system in the state, especially with the financial discipline inculcated in the outgone chairmen, where the councils have savings enough to even pay monthly salaries without recourse to federation allocation, he pointed out that those aspiring to become council chairmen must be individuals that have the capacity, are prudent, foresight and are hundred per cent loyal to the APC.
He used the opportunity of the event to showcase some of the achievements recorded by his administration recently, particularly from his trip to India, China and the United States where he participated in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as well as the Woodrow Wilson Annual Conference.
“Our little efforts in mining have become a major attraction in so many places. We have been admired especially recently at UNGA where most of the mining companies were looking for a team from Nasarawa State to meet. When they heard that the Governor was part of the team they were rushing to come and find out. This is because of your cooperation, especially at the local level.
“The Department of Trade in the US has picked Nasarawa State as an area of interest especially in mining. As you all know, I just returned from the Woodrow Wilson Conference in Washington DC where they wanted to know how come we have this kind of lithium that has this kind of purity. The story is the same in China and India,” he stated.
Earlier, in opening remarks, Nasarawa State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Aliyu Bello, spoke on the successes recorded by the party in wooing aggrieved members who left the party in the wake of the 2023 party primaries.
Dr. Bello said the party under his leadership will leave no stone unturned towards ensuring that all those who left the APC in 2023 return back to the party.
“Notwithstanding this, however, we are not relenting in our efforts to reconcile members of our party to make us a stronger and more formidable party. We intend to intensify efforts in this regard after the local government election across the length and breadth of the state,“ he stated.
The APC chairman said the party will participate fully in the scheduled council polls with the zeal, spirit and unwavering commitment to emerge victorious.
“Our task in this meeting is to work out the dynamics and modalities for electing our flag bearers for the Chairmanship and Councillorship seats as spelt in our party constitution, which provides for either the adoption of Consensus, Direct or Indirect Primary election of the flag bearers,” he said.
Considering that the council elections are coming up early next month, Dr Bello urged the stakeholders not to dilly dally in selecting the flagbearers of the party for the party to prepare adequately for the election.
He used the opportunity to announce that the State Working Committee of the party has proposed various costs for the party‘s forms during the 2024 local government election as follows, Chairman‘s Nomination – N5,000,000, Chairman‘s Expression of Interest – N1,000,000, Councillorship Nomination – N1, 500,00 and Councillorship Expression of Interest – N400, 000.
Also speaking at the event, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, immediate past national chairman of the APC and first civilian governor of the state, tasked leaders of the party at the ward and local government levels on the need to live up to expectations and to discharge their responsibilities as reposed on them by the party.
“The onus, the success of consensus lies strongly with what the leadership at the ward and local government can do. Leadership at the various structures of our party will have roles to play. That role is the trust the party reposes in you. Local government and ward leaders must live up to expectations. They are to be held responsible if there is any failure in consensus,“ he said.
On his part, the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-makura said the 2024 local council polls are not like the previous exercise, especially with the status of the incoming chairmen as enshrined in the new law governing the local government areas.
“This election and the status of the chairmen as enshrined in the new law, is not like the chairmen like we used to know before, the responsibilities that go with this office as chairmen that are given full powers.
“We as stakeholders have to chaperon and guide the process so that at the end of the day, whoever emerges as chairman will be able to do the job. Someone who has the pre-requisite, the capacity, the competence, and maturity. That way we will be putting a foundation for a local government that will add value to the well-being of the people of Nasarawa State,“ he stated.
