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| Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo |
As part of efforts to contain mass desertions from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State, Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo recently appointed no fewer than 352 people as his “special assistants.”
The move is seen by political pundits as political maneuvering to save the PDP from further trouble in the state. Insiders in the Gombe Government House said the governor was reluctant to make the appointments long after he was sworn-in for a second tenure 18 months ago.
It was gathered that the 352 appointees are just the “the first tranche” and many more would be announced soon.
Sources said recent developments in the ruling PDP in Gombe compelled the governor to soft-pedal on his earlier stand of trimming appointments in order to save costs.
The names of the new SAs, categorised into SA I, II, III and IV respectively, were announced without any portfolio or specific assignments, a development seen as just a mere political action to avoid a catastrophe.
The appointments came at a time of economic hardship and shortfall in earnings at both the federal and state levels.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that people who served as SA I during Dankwambo’s first tenure collected N80, 000 as monthly salary, while SA II got N56, 000, SA III and SA IV were pegged at N43, 000 and N33, 000 respectively. It’s not yet clear whether the governor will maintain the template or roll out a new one.
Why the new somersault?
Unlike what obtains in other states where members of the opposition party are decamping to the ruling party, for some obvious reasons, the reverse is the case in Gombe because frontline members of the PDP are surreptitiously decamping to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP has been the ruling party in Gombe since 2003 when the former governor, Muhammad Danjuma Goje, wrestled power from Abubakar Habu Hashidu of the then All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Not long after Goje’s inauguration, all the major members of the ANPP ditched the party for the now reigning PDP.
As expected, during the eight years Danjuma Goje held was governor, opposition parties maintained a kind of a graveyard silence. They only resurrected during election to make small impact and then retreated into their shell, paving the way for the PDP to sweep almost all political positions in the state with little resistance.
There was a time that all the political office holders and legislators at both the state and national levels, were from the PDP.
But this time around, in what may arguably be described as unprecedented in the political history of the state, the PDP is losing its grip this time around, no thanks to the exodus of high profile politicians to the opposition APC.
The exodus from the PDP started in 2014; three years after Governor Dankwambo took over when he was reportedly singlehandedly anointed by Goje, who was rounding-off his tenure.
Now a senator, Goje and his associates left the PDP for the APC under which he re-contested election and retained his seat in the Senate in 2015.
A former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Usman Bayero Nafada, now the senator representing Gombe North, also followed suit. Similarly, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, Goje’s finance commissioner for eight years and also a gubernatorial candidate under the PDP in 2011, among other prominent members of the party, ditched it for the APC.
Obviously, their departure was a heavy blow to the PDP. At the 2015 polls, the APC won four out of the six House of Representatives seats, two senatorial seats and some seats in the state House of Assembly. The governor was said to be able to retain his seat by sheer luck after a tough contest that almost truncated his crave for a second term.
However, about 18 months into his second tenure, some high ranking politicians who were said to have played a vital role in Dankwambo’s re-election started to leave the party, citing internal crisis and bleak future in the state chapter.
Curiously, most of them normally defected along with their supporters, a development seen as a serious setback for a sitting governor, even if he had nothing to lose.
First to defect was a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, who collected his membership card in his ward in Kumo, Akko Local Government Area of the state.
Modibbo was a three-time minister under the PDP government. He first served as minister of state for power and steel between December 2002 and May 2013. He was also appointed minister of commerce and served from May 2006 to May 2007, all during ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
With the election of late president Umaru Musa ‘Yar’adua in 2007, Modibbo was again appointed as minister of the FCT in June 2007, and served till November 2008 when he was dropped during a cabinet reshuffle.
Prior to his series of ministerial appointments, Modibbo worked for over 10 years at the Aso Rock Villa in the office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
Another politician that defected from the PDP to the APC was Alhaji Abubakar Habu Muazu Hassan, who was the campaign coordinator of former president Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. He was able to get the required 25 per cent for Jonathan’s re-election in Gombe State.
Habu Muazu came to prominence as a PDP youth leader when he played a vital role in the campaign that brought the administration of Danjuma Goje in 2003, defeating the then incumbent governor, Hashidu, a feat seen at the time as somewhat impossible.
Popularly known as Youth Leader, Muazu was believed to be a resounding contributor in many of the successes recorded by Goje’s administration.
They however, parted ways with Goje in 2007 after the latter was re-elected for a second term. He publicly apologised for his ‘shortcomings’ when he served as the youth leader. That particular action was said to endear him to many people.
Prior to his defection to the APC recently in his hometown, Kashere, where a mini rally was held, posters bearing his picture appeared all over the place, especially during the 20th anniversary of the creation of the state.
Speaking to newsmen after he registered at his ward in Kashere, Habu Mu’azu said he defected to the APC was due to the lack of internal democracy and the leadership crisis in the PDP.
Other big shots that ditched the PDP include Senator Saidu Ahmed Alkali, who represented Gombe North Senatorial District in the sixth and seventh Senate.
He came to prominence in 2007, when he was appointed into the Goje cabinet as commissioner for information, a position he held until 2010 when he was nominated for a by-election to replace the late Senator Kawu Peto Dukku, who died while representing Gombe North.
He was re-elected in 2011 under the PDP and served as the chairman, Senate Committee on Nigeria Air Force. He didn’t seek another term in 2015.
Mr. John Lazarus Yoriyo came to limelight in 2003 when he emerged as running mate and subsequently a deputy to former governor Goje. He was a loyal deputy to for eight years but chose to remain in the PDP until recently when the internal crisis in the party forced him out.
Among the decampees, so far only Yoriyo comes from Gombe South, the zone said to be a PDP stronghold. The zone played a key role in the re-election of Dankwambo in the 2015 elections.
Political pundits are of the view that the defection of Yoriyo, who is from Balanga LGA, was a setback to the PDP, considering his popularity and influence during the eight years he served as Goje’s deputy.
However, some analysts believe that even when the ‘big shots’ left the PDP for political expediency, their supporters would only follow suit when they lack a sense of security.
To this end, even redundant appointments that come with stipends could be enough to retain patronage of supporters by a ruling party.
Shedding light on the appointments, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Alhaji Umar Ahmed Sulaiman Nafada, said they were to compensate people who worked for the governor’s victory in the 2015 polls.
He told Daily Trust on Saturday that the appointees were selected from various political wards across the state to bring government closer to the people.
The state chairman of the PDP, Mr. Joel Adamu Jagafa, however disagreed that members of his party were decamping to the opposition.
“As far as I am concerned, the decamping was not done publicly, therefore, the party is not aware, so the PDP remains intact in Gombe State,” he said.
However, a reliable source within the party told our correspondent that the state PDP secretariat was drafting a reconciliatory committee that would be inaugurated soon to curtail the desertions.
-Daily Trust
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