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Dr. Aliyu Bello is the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nasarawa State. He spoke exclusively to The EYEWITNESS shortly after marking a year in the saddle of the leadership of the party in the state.
On the challenges and prospects of the APC in Nasarawa State
Thank you very much, first and foremost I assumed the chairmanship of this party when my predecessor was appointed as a commissioner and that was at the heat of the election cases at the tribunal and that was a big task for me, at the same time after the 2023 general election were there were alot of aggrieved persons, alot of rancour in most of our local governments and when I assumed office we faced election cases and secondly there was a bye election a very strong one in Keana where it was too close to call and I had to mobilize and engaged critical stakeholders in Keana, because within Keana there were a lot of crisis and I believed that it is the APC that will make the APC win at the same time it is the APC that will make the APC lose.
So I swung into action engaged with various critical community leaders and stakeholders and by the grace of God we were able to retain that seat. Apart from that I told his Excellency Engr. Abdullahi Sule, who is the leader of the party that there was a need to embark on reconciliation not to set up a committee, we in the party should set a reconciliation committee and good enough we are thankful that with the help of the governor, we started very well, began in Awe, called the warring factions and pleaded with them that the election had come and gone it is now time for governance we should all rally round Enr. AA Sule. We did that in Awe, we went to Obi too and within the week we are going to continue within the northern zone.
We are achieving a lot of results because people are in support of this party and what really brought the crises that some people even left the party was because of the impunity of changing the delegate list from the top and we were not happy about that, the governor was not also happy as well but now as it is, you can see that we are more united than before, you will recall when I was being nominated for this office in most of the local governments there where factions, the two factions all of them were supporting my emergence as the chairman and I thought that is a task and challenge before me that nobody is objecting to my assumption as the chairman, so I have to go follow them into their houses, offices to see reasons why we should assist his Excellency, because if you look round you will see that he is concern about living a legacy for the people of Nasarawa State.
Apart from that, as the chairman of this party for the first time, we are receiving mega resources but we thank God His Excellency is augmenting what we are receiving from the 5% from the political appointees you can see for the first time as the chairman with my colleagues we thought that it is not only the governor that will continue to empower people, through our empowerment program and inclusivity, I was able to appoint 33 aides that are going to be working with me and all of them are going to be paid as you can see I did it across the lines, I have a Chief of staff who is a woman, I have three women representative from each zone, giving the position of senior special assistants, I have a special adviser on gender, I have special assistant on community relations who is an Igbo man, I have a special assistant on disabilities one Alfred Mailafia who is a blind Eggon man, so we don’t look at the issue of religion or tribal sentiment, we are doing it based on merit.
That is a little I have done, I was able to even increase our allowances most especially the State Working Committee. If you look around, about one year before now you hardly see people in the office but now, anytime am around I have not gone anywhere for any assignments I will always stay in the office to sometimes 7pm, we are really working so that we unite everybody so that we come together.
On why APC lost Senate, House of Representatives, State Assembly seats and efforts to bring aggrieved members back the APC.
We are going round the clock to see that we engage them, we have two senators who were members of this party, we have two House of Representatives members that were members of this party, they became aggrieved when there was change of delegate list from the national secretariat. We tried to appeal to them that they should stay in the party but they felt they should go elsewhere to seek people’s mandate and they were given. As a party we are looking for people that have the popularity to come and join us. As you can see, last week a member of New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Hon. Muhammad Isimbabi decamped, I don’t even call that decamped but he return back to the APC and very soon about three or four are coming. On the National Assembly side we talked to them, engaged them, the Senator representing Nasarawa West, and the Senator Representating Nasarawa north and the House of Representatives members we are engaging them including the PDP Senator we are telling them look this is the right party for Nasarawa State because it is during the reign of this party that the state enjoyed unprecedented growth and development never witnessed before. Look at the quantum of development being carried out by our investment driven governor, he is living a legacy in this state and we are so happy about it, that is why before the middle of next year all of them will be back to their home, APC is their own home by the grace of God.
By your projection sir, by the middle of next year anybody that left the party to seek election elsewhere would have been back?
By the grace of God, we are engaging them, we have to look for them because they have the people
On alleged attempts to politicise his relationship with Sen. Wadada, others, for political expediency
You see as far as we are concerned, we will continue to have this problem, it will continue to linger, in first place we are not even in the same party he is in the SDP and I am in the APC. Secondly my relationship with some of the aspirants, I know what they have done for me all of them, am so close to them. Wadada is my close friend for over 43 years we’ve been together since 1980 or 1981, so if you look at that there were times where I was in APP he was in PDP, there was a time I was in APC he was in PDP, so my relationship with him has been cordial and to make it clear, don’t allow something that bond you together and one thing should separate you, politics cannot separate me from my family, friends and my well wishers. My Elder brother once contested for Senate under APP with Solomon Adokwe, I was a member of Adokwe’s campaign council, I told them then at home that this is politics, I have my alliance and loyalty to PDP, so you are on you own, if you get better of it then we have benefited from the house but if I get it on the other side we are still going to benefit in the house.
Let me just put it that most of them never wanted to go and look for people, there are a lot of people who just want to sit down and hear that the governor anointed and endorse them this are the kind of people saying this. During 2019 general election there was that allegation, did he win the election? Despite my presence, it was Engr. AA Sule that won, even at that time I was very close to Engr. Abdullahi Sule, politically I was the closest person to him, I was one of the persons that introduced Lamus and some of them to Engr.Sule because of our closeness, because I did not go with him, a lot of insinuations sprung here and there. It is simply because am the party chairman, so Wadada should not aspire to be governor because of that, is that fair? Because Wadada is aspiring to be governor of Nasarawa State, I should not be the chairman again, it is not something that a sane mind should think of, as far as we are concerned we will continue to be friends with him.
We belong to different political parties, let me tell you, when I was appointed chairman Wadada called me that first he is congratulating me, secondly he wants to advise me that I should not use my office as the chairman to influence election or nomination of anybody including himself, that’s the advise he gave me, so where are we heading to, go and look for people, we know of aspirants who are going round to inform people and we know the ones that are just sitting down looking for manners to fall from heaven, so as far as we are concerned, if you are looking for Governorship of Nasarawa State, go outside God will decide for you if it is the wish of God that you become governor but if continue to talk about something that are very very unnecessary we cannot move forward.
Am the Chairman of the party, yes what about the leader of the party? The leader of the party is AA Sule, and by the grace of God we all know the kind of politics we play in Nigeria, the governor will have almost 70% of the person that is going to succeed him so why are they not talking about the governor? They are only talking about me Wadada and governor are also friends and brothers but he is not from our party but he wants to come to the party our doors are open, nobody can tell him not to contest because I am the Chairman and nobody will tell me leave because Wadada is contesting, he is from keffi am from Lafia, am the Chairman of the party while he is looking for governor, whoever is looking for it should go for it, if it is the will of God that you become governor so be it.
On whether Governor Sule has delivered on his mandate
You are a journalist and an investigative journalist for that matter, I know you know the answer you are just asking me and I want to believe that anybody that has been in Lafia for just that five years, on returning he will see so many things. When we talked about investment you are not investing for the present you are investing for the future, for the generation yet unborn, he has brought a lot of investors into these State, look at the road network that he is building and I am saying it without mincing words it is the coming of CPC/ APC that Nasarawa State is witnessing asphalt road.
It is because of Sule’s humility that when he came he decided to continue with abandoned and uncompleted projects that were initiated by his predecessors, completed Aliyu Akwe Doma banquet hall, repairs and renovation of the House of Assembly and so the Airport he completed it, look at hospitals, even the bus terminus, Al-Makura conceived that idea but AA Sule executed it, look at the teachers that Almakura engaged them on N30,000 monthly, he came gave them full employment, even the opposition are appluading him, although some of them are still opposing and saying we don’t need flyover, it doesn’t matter, because if you know Abuja in the past 30 years, There were roads, there were houses but no people to leave in, no vehicles to move on the roads, so this is a futuristic work that he is doing.
If you know the roads that linked Jos, Abuja to Lafia down to Makurdi is a busy road, so if you are coming from Jos you just go up continue your journey because of the traffic congestion, so as far as we are concerned Sule has done a lot and is still doing a lot, he is the only governor that will tell critical stakeholders that so and so money has come because so and so reasons, go and meet and see what are we going to do with this funds that came, he is the only person that does that.
Above all he doesn’t care who gets what and who didn’t get what, he is focused on providing dividends of democracy to the people of Nasarawa State and look at the peace we are enjoying, at least insecurity has reduced to the barest minimum and we thank God that he has given us AA Sule, because I always say by the time his tenure ends am beginning to pity the person that will take over from him, because the size of the shoe will be to big for him to step into because he has done a lot.
On the expectations of the forthcoming NEC meeting of the APC
Naturally going by our Constitution once a seat becomes vacant it is that area that produces the replacement which is okay but there are some circumstances that would not warrant that to happen, that is what happened, Tinubu is the leader of the party as far as I am concerned. It is our governor that started the agitation in Gudi if you can remember that North Central region should produces the next chairman, we had the first national chairman in the person of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu and something happened, in their wisdom they brought in Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, we don’t know any reason but look at it, he is also doing a very good job even with the coming of e-registration , it is not time to endorse or not to endorse, because nobody has called us to say endorse or do not endorse, we are going to the meeting, we will see what will happen but constitutionally it is what it is supposed to be but I am also a stakeholder, so everyone has his own opinion.
The other time my governor went to see the National chairman, a lot talks, comments, criticism that our governor should not go and see Ganduje that is really rubbish because he is the chairman of the North Central APC governor’s forum and you are telling him not to go and see Ganduje, I don’t know what they discussed there and by the time we are going for NEC most of those people talking are not members of NEC, but if it is the wish of the NEC that the North Central should retain their position we will support it wholeheartedly and we will want it, if they give if to Nasarawa it is a plus to us because that is what our governor has been clamouring for.
On the large number of would-be guber contestants for 2027 so early
First and foremost, as the chairman of this party and a progressive for that matter I don’t want to believe time has come to come out to contest. The election that brought in Engr. Abdullahi Sule for the second term is barely one year three-months, so we still have two years eight months to go, as far as we are concerned nobody has written to us officially that he is going for the office of governor of Nasarawa State, we are all political animals and there are series of consultations, as far we are concerned we are happy because our party is blessed with numerous aspirants, that shows that our party is very popular because even before time people are coming out showing interest, I should be happy about that.
Myself and the aspirants we all know that only one person is going to govern Nasarawa State and that one person is already known by God Almighty and even if you are talking about the numbers, the 2019 election that brought in AA Sule had about eleven contestants and all of them purchased form, because for us to even know who is going to seriously contest is one has purchased expression of interest form and that of the nomination for Governor, so when that time comes we will be able to know who are the contenders and who are the pretenders as far as this case is concerned. I have appealed to them in the name of God that we should allow Engr .AA Sule to provide the necessary legacy that he wants to provide not distraction from what he is doing, we are begging them because it is within their right to express to seek for this office but INEC has not lifted ban for electioneering campaign, we as a party we are still there, when the time comes they will be able to contest, we are still begging until that time comes, let them not distract Engr.AA Sule, I also thank them for showing interest in our own party, in the other partes there is nobody that is there, we are so grateful that they want to contest under APC.
On source of inspiration for philanthropic spirit
The motivation is from God almighty because you go to all the scriptures from the Bible to the Koran you know what God says about humanity, helping the poor, zakat, I know what God said about that so I drew that inspiration from God Almighty and my own Prophet so that’s why I decided on my own. Let’s look at it ordinarily what are you going to do with wealth that you amass so much, you can’t do anything with it, so it is better you look for people who are looking for assistance so you assist them. Once you serve humanity you are serving God because he is the one that is even going to reward you, the people you assisted will not reward you, they will thank you, through their thanking you God will give you your reward and he said that He is going to reward those that take care of the orphans, widows and the less privileged so that is what we are doing.
I chose not to be a store keeper, when you get money you keep it, what are you going to do with it, so you get and look towards to the people that are looking up to you for it, because the situation whereby as the chairman of the party, I woke up in my house eat a very delicious breakfast my children eat with leftovers and I don’t care about my next door neighbor, has he eaten at all, so that is what is even bringing a lot of insecurity, that is why we going to assist, a situation where a particular person will keep billions of Naira in the bank even his own family does not even know he has such money it is very dangerous for us, so am getting my own inspiration from God.
