The All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate for Gurara/Suleja/Tafa federal Constituency for the 2023 general elections, Hon. Haruna Arafat Abubakar Magaji has described as a welcome development the ongoing peace move and reconciliation among the supporters of the ruling party in Niger state ahead of the general elections by the gubernatorial candidate, Hon. Umaru Bago.
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| Hon. Umaru Bago APC Governorship Candidate Niger State |
Hon. Arafat believed that the reconciliatory initiative by the gubernatorial candidate is the best thing that has happened to the party in the state in view of the fragmentation in the party, stressing that the move goes to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Although there are many reconciliatory moves by various political leaders in the party in the state, including that state working committee, Hon. Arafat believed that the House to House, local government by local government and zone by zone peace move by the candidate have given hope that the party is retain power in the state comes 2023.
It could be recalled that since the removal of the former party Chairman ,Engineer Jibin Iman and some members of the state working committee of the party over an allegations of financial misappropriation, the party lost its Peace and the center couldn’t hold again.
While the party struggle to over the crisis of the change if leadership, it was engage engulfed with another round of crisis following the out come of its ward, local government and state congresses with accusations and counter accusation over what some aggrieved party members described as high level of imposition of candidates at all levels.
The party leadership was accused of favoritism and lacking principle of internal party democracy. While some aggrieved members headed to court to seek justices, other decided to dump the party.
The climax of the crisis in the party came during the just concluded party primaries to elect the party flag bearers for the 2023 general elections where lists of delicates to the party were openly uttered in some cases while in other cases the entire process was marred with high level of irregularities.
This development and the crisis in the party have heightened the fear of anti party activities or mass defection by the aggrieved members ahead of the 2023 general elections.
It was as a result of this and the need to have a United front that the party gubernatorial candidate decided to to take the bull by the horn by embarking on a state wide reconciliatory and peace move which has taken him across the nooks and crannies of the state.
According to Arafat who is one of the aggrieved party members following an attempt by the party leadership to hijack his mandate that was overwhelmingly given to him by the party delegates from his constituency at just concluded National Assembly Primaries, the gubernatorial Candace has demonstrated by this singular initiative that he has the capacity to pilot the affairs of the state.
He said leadership is all about capacity and wisdom, and ability to carry everybody along, pointing out that this is what the candidate has demonstrated and it has restored confidence in the party.
Arafat argued that a house divided against its of can not stated and that is why all well meaning members and supporters of the party should cue behind the gubernatorial candidates and every other candidates in the APC so as to guarantee landslide victory comes 2023.
While appealing to all the aggrieved party members to give the gubernatorial candidate a chance to bring everybody on board ahead of the 2023 elections, Arafat said the party can not afford to loose the forthcoming elections after ruling the state for just eight years.
The House of Representatives candidate who took a holistic x-ray of the political leadership in the Niger East Senatorial District, singled out Senator Sani Musa for commendation for his leadership role in bringing together for the progress of the zone and the party at large.
He pointed that Senator .Sani Musa contributions to the development and peace of zone B in the last four years remained unequal, stressing that apart from his developmental programme, the senator has remained concern and has always be on top of the security challenges that have bedeviled some party of the zone which has rendered hundreds of thousands homeless and hundred killed.
While justifying senator Sani Musa deserved second term in office, Arafat disclosed that the senator has remained with the people and shared in the grieve and frustration through the period of the violent invasion the bandits and Terrorists in the zone.
His magnanimity to the thousands of Internally Displaced People (IDP) across the affected local government areas of the zone was a welcome development, adding that his leadership should be emulated by our political leaders across the length and breath of the country.
The youths empowerment programme of the senator is worthy of emulation, as it has greatly addressed restiveness among the army of unemployed youths in the zone, maintaining that the last seven years of the senator at the red chamber has been eventful.