Gombe’s status as PDP state cannot change - Jalo
How will you describe the strength of the PDP in Gombe?
Gombe from 2003 to date has been a PDP state. Goje to the best of my knowledge worked. But Dankwambo has doubled what Goje had done in terms of infrastructure and development. During Goje, 11 roads were constructed in the state capital, but Dankwambo constructed 46. So you see the difference. So the question of the strength of APC in Gombe is not even there. The people are satisfied with Dankwambo. .
Former deputy speaker, Nafada said the APC would bury PDP in Gombe. How do you react to that?
Bayero was deputy speaker for about four years. He hails from Nafada Local Government but up till now, there’s no police station; bank, or filling station in Nafada.
Let me say it loud and clear, Bayero is somebody who’s a family politician. When they asked him to submit the name of a minister, he submitted the name of his cousin. We don’t do things like that because we are not tribalistic.
Let him go and open an APC office in Nafada if he can, let him go home. But he stays in Apo telling you all sorts of stories which are not true.
But reports indicate that whenever APC stalwarts like Goje and Nafada are in Gombe, large crowd troop out to receive them…
It is a rented crowd. Goje is somebody who rents crowd. He is making all efforts to be relevant because he has a case with EFCC, and is now trying to show the world that he has followership, when he’s going to Gombe, he normally does those things to create confusion.
If not for Dankwambo, Gombe would have been chaotic because of Yankalare. But most of them are engaged now as marshals, traffic wardens and some are sweeping in the town.
Nafada said the reason Dankwambo is not liked in the
Barrister Abdullahi Jalo is the deputy national publicity secretary of the PDP and one of the chieftains of the party in Gombe State. He explains in this interview why the PDP is not shaken by the threats of APC stalwarts to bury the PDP in Gombe. Excerpts:
state is because he has worsened the poverty level as most of the contracts are given to outsiders leading to capital flight, is this true?
That is not true. It is a mockery. I beg to disagree. Let me give you an example. I know of one Alhaji from Gombe who got a contract of N96 million in education, and then he was again given for N200 million. Another one who is like a son to the father of the governor; was given a contract of N200 million. Another one was given a contract of about N300 million while another from Kaltungo was given a contract of N96 million. Go to the ministry of education and take the indices of the indigenes, even I got contract.
You’re talking about a state that has billions as capital expenditure and you’re mentioning less than N100 million contracts?
It is more than N2 billion if you put them together. Go to the ministries of education, commerce and works to find out how many indigenes worked for the state and their contracts. If you quantify it, it is more than N3 billion. So, the claim that there is a capital flight is untrue.
But these outsiders are equally Nigerians. Gombe should not be a state of discrimination; it shouldn’t be a state of tribalism. This is why I told you Bayero is a family politician. You can now agree with me that he doesn’t like other tribes other than his own relations.
How come many of the Gombe elders have shifted base. Is it that the
governor does not value elders?
If there is anybody that respects elders, it is Ibrahim Dankwambo. He doesn’t even speak; he is very quiet and humble. During Goje, most of the elders were not given their due respect.
Now, we’re lucky to have a son that listens to us; we’re lucky to be rescued by somebody who knows our problem. They’re envious, and their political career has finished; that’s why they’re making all this noise. They can never win an election.
Will advise governor reconcile with these stakeholders before the 2015 elections? you the
to
The difficulties they will face will make them come and look for reconciliation. The machinery they used when Goje was on the throne is no longer there. The people he used that time are no longer
around.
What about the Buhari factor
which is
strong in most northern states?
Buhari went to Gombe during Goje’s tenure for campaign. Goje asked that they should go and remove the roof of the stadium. Buhari was refused entry into Gombe. That is on record. In fact, they went to the stadium at night and put a signboard that it was under construction. The same thing with Atiku. He was flying from Abuja to Gombe; they went and put one truck of hardcore stones in the airport. When the plane came, he saw hardcore stones on the runway and left.
Have you ever seen a politician that has been treated like that and he’ll forget it? Politicians are not forgetful.
What do you think will be the major selling point for Dankwambo if the APC brings a very strong candidate to contest against him?
Who are the strong people? Why are you talking of dead woods?
The issue of Dankwambo Insha Allahu is 100 percent. He has done so well; they’re envious because of the achievements he has made. The eight years of Goje and the three years of Dankwambo, are not comparable. Dankwambo has worked very well in this three years more than the work done by Goje for eight years. His only weakness is that his publicity aspect is poor; that I can agree, and then he doesn’t talk, but he works. He is not arrogant; he doesn’t insult anybody because his father and mother were born inside Gombe.
Now that you have a new chairman in the person of Mu’azu, have you started seeing the changes envisaged?
Are you not in Nigeria? Didn’t you hear legislators from Kano, about five of them, defecting to PDP? Don’t you hear that PDP has 196 against 160 in the House of Representatives? Is it not the handiwork of Ahmed Mu’azu? He is a very pushy person. He is somebody you cannot play with in politics. He is very hardworking and very intelligent in terms of what he needs.
It’s too early for you to say much about him, but I have said a little for you; watch and see. You’ll see his performance very soon. He is a no-nonsense man. The way things were run before, they won’t be run now. You’ll see a lot of changes, God willing. Let’s give him time.