Umar Takes Bold Steps to Woo Sokoto Electorates
Onuminya Innocent writes that the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate for Sokoto State, Mallam Saidu Umar, is taking bold moves to win the hearts of eligible voters in the state ahead of the March, 2023 gubernatorial poll
Watching Mallam Saidu Umar campaigning for the governorship of Sokoto State, reading his lips, and listening to people around him, one thing is easily deducible: an uncommon determination and passion to expand the frontiers of democracy and its dividends to everyone in the Seat of the Caliphate.
A man steeped in the philosophy of integrity, truth, and justice, the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says he is in politics to create a new kind of orientation anchored on honour and fairness to all, irrespective of social class.
According to him: “I am convinced that we all, young and old, poor and rich, educated and uneducated, are in this boat together”.
Umar adds that together with his running mate, Sagir Bafarawa, a former Commissioner for Environment in the state.
“We are in this race to win the mandate to govern Sokoto, and very importantly, also win the hearts and minds of our people over to new ways of thinking and acting in politics based on the underlying principle of mass participation and shared benefits.”
Doubling down on things that are just and of good report stands Umar out in an integrity-stressed political universe.
With the banker in him, Umar brings to the table strategic thinking, good analytical ability, development and service orientation, and capacity to cope under the drudgery of governance. Many believe his background in banking and administration can propel him to levels his political forebears did not attain.
He is making his pitch from a vantage position, having garnered useful experiences from the executive arm of government, particularly, under the incumbent governor, Aminu Tambuwal, and also from the private sector.
The immediate past Secretary to the Sokoto State Government (SSG) served as Commissioner for Finance in the first tenure of the Tambuwal administration (2015-2019). He was appointed SSG on June 6, 2019, at the beginning of Tambuwal’s second term. As SSG, he headed the secretariat of the government and together with the team of technocrats assembled by Governor Tambuwal in the state exco drove the development strides of the government.
Umar is a Fellow of the Chartered institute of National Accountants of Nigeria (FCNA); an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HSIB); Fellow, Chartered Institute of Economics of Nigeria (FCEN); and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Accountants of Nigeria (FCPA). He is Senior Executive Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
In the Sokoto customary setting, conferment of traditional title is seen as a way of grooming a potential leader. Umar was turbaned with the scholarly title of Malam Ubandoma Sokoto by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, on December 16, 2017.
It is a position of responsibility conferred on persons who have demonstrated commitment to the advancement of knowledge, philanthropy, religious ideals, and socio-economic development of society.