By Gideon Mathew
By March 2021, it will be exactly two successive years since the 2019 general elections were conducted in the country and in many states. Therefore, plans for the 2023 elections have since begun.
It may appear to be too early to some apolitically inclined minds, but for political parties and gladiators, there isn’t a better time to start mapping out political strategies and brainstorming than now – to them, the earlier, the better it will be. In fact, individual’s political orientation and acculturation determine one’s perception and possible viewpoint.
Similarly, on its part, to further steam up the political atmosphere, the electoral umpire, the Independed National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the 2023 election time-table. The gesture is unprecedented in the history of the commission.
Let me hurriedly recap the word of an American ink-slinger and political philosopher, Benjamin Franklin who postulated that, “he who fails to plan, is planning to fail”. In unanimity to the famous scholar and father of America as he’s fondly referred to, the early shooters are doing the right thing; timely preparation is very vital in all our dealings.
It’s apparent that there’s disquiet within the ranks of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe state because there’s a kind of mistrust between the leadership at the centre and those who supported the emergence of the present APC led government in the state.
Today, instead of the major opposition party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to do the work of opposition by criticising policies of the APC led administration, it’s the same members of the ruling party who are busy criticiising their supposedly own government.
Certainly, the Governor of Gombe state, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya is often accused of being indifferent to the welfare and wellbeing of the party and his supporters who worked thick and thin to see to his success in the 2019 general elections. On several occasions, the governor’s supporters are heard on various radio programmes lamenting over the neglect they have suffered from the same government they brought to power.
The discussions are usually wrapped up by sounding a word of caution to the governor of the likelihood of him and the party losing the seat to PDP in the 2023 general elections if he does not turn over a new leaf in the way he manages politics around him.
It was on the same political woebegone and tactlessness that, a stalwart of the APC and in his capacity as the Director General of the APC’s Campaign Council for the December 19, 2020, local government election in Gombe state, Habu Mu’azu, appealed to the governor that while executing projects, concern should also be given to the welfare of the people. His said, “It’s only in politics that one can be running while scratching his rumps concurrently”.
Yet, the governor is not showing any remorse or sign that he is willing to heed the advise of his people to either retrace his steps or change his approach. Thus, a strong and threatening tidal wave is seemingly sailing towards what looks like the governor’s misadventure ship that will sink by 2023 in murky sea of Gombe state politics.
It’s obvious that majority of the state’s voting population have lost confidence in the present stewardship and are rooting for a worthwhile option – Dr. Jamil Isyaku Gwamna (Sardaunan Gombe) whose stars are gleaming like a bright light in a dim world.
It’s not yet dye-in-the-wool that Jamil Gwamna will throw in his golden hat into the ring come 2023 but the blizzards of calls by well-meaning citizens of Gombe state, cutting across all boundaries and political parties, are overwhelming and manifesting as tough tidal wave that will push to the bank the Inuwa Yahaya administration.
There have been convincing insinuations that he will be contesting on the flagship of his former party; the PDP which could have been a workable idea for him, the beleaguered citizens, and the PDP as a party.
As fate may have it and humans will never alter it, it was unambiguously and widely whispered that, had the PDP picked Jamil Gwamna as its flag bearer in 2019, the party would have been victorious at the ill-fated polls.
It was the emergence of Senator Usman Bayero Nafada as the party’s candidate who appears to be an unpopular candidate that infuriated many voters to vote against the PDP because fielding Bayero was akin to a humiliating failure of the party and it happened as predicted, PDP lost virtually all the contested seats in the state, vindicating those who have vehemently rejected it in the first place.
For us in the state, the oft beamed decision by the PDP was what paved the way to the emergence of the present leadership in the state who has within barely two years, shown a conspicuous administrative inadequacies and dimness.
2023 is the governorship election in Gombe state and must be considered as a rescue mission to bring out the state from the unfortunate misgovernace and for every right thinking mind, we must unanimously reecho the call for Dr. Gwamna to reconsider contesting.
For the opposition PDP, with Sardauna, 2023 will be glaring chance to reclaim the party’s mandate by wresting power from the ruling APC. It happened in our neighbouring Adamawa and Bauchi states in 2019, we will together replicate the gesture in Gombe.
Gideon writes from Gombe.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Sky Daily
