Governor Abdullahi A. Sule, the shining light of progressive politics
Barring unforeseen circumstances,
By Comr. Olumuyiwa Onlede
September 06, 2023
Governor Abdullahi A Sule is poised to coast home to victory in the coming 2023 gubernatorial election in Nasarawa State, and the reason is not farfetched, for those who know him very well as an astute technocrat, they will testify to his professionalism, humility and high agreeableness both in and out of official duty as the number one citizen of the state.
For most of his fellow party members and loyalists, he may not be seen as a conventional political juggernaut who will at times use his exalted office to manipulate processes in order to get whatever he wants for himself and his loyalist at all cost regardless the feelings of larger members, but to the party hierarchy, he is a man who defines relationship and accord respect and honour to whoever deserves it, he is a man who allows a system to run according to lay down rules and procedures.
To opposition, they know it is difficult to manage people of diverse ethnicity and religion and even managing resources in a prudent manner to satisfy that diversity may be an uphill task. But to their greatest surprise and disappointment is how Governor Abdullahi A. Sule is achieving this great task even with the meagre resources available to him.
According to the feelings among oppositions when he took over the mantle of leadership in 2019, they awaited a Governor that will be at loggerhead with state actors both within and outside his party, civil servants, other government workers due to his training as a technocrat, hence they believe whatever mission Governor Abdullahi A, Sule has in Nasarawa Government house must that that which will see him take advantage of his office as governor to enrich and create an empire for himself .
Governor Abdullahi A, Sule, the man with vision and focus on how to achieve the aim of a greater and prosperous Nasarawa State for the benefit of all, both indigenes and residents alike have not only proved critics wrong both within politicians and outside of it and also within the state and outside of it.
The handling of the perceived fallout that may have arised in different primaries and with different aspirants in the last party primaries in the state is a clear testimony of the maturity and the spirit of togetherness as one big family by the Governor.
Casting our minds back to the last APC convention that brought about the new National Working Committee of the party, Governor Abdullahi A. Sule unprecedentedly had two major contenders for the office of the National Chairman from his state, Senator Umar Tanko Al- Makura and Senator Abdullahi Adamu both Serving senators as at then, the former being his predecessor while the later also a former Governor of the state.
Naysayers were of the opinion that whichever way the election goes and whoever clinch the office of the National Chairmanship among both of them will herald the greatest conflict and internal wrangling in the state thereby causing unresolvable dispute in the state chapter of the APC thereby having a negative impact on governance in the entire state. Lo and behold, the man at the helm of affairs in the state was up to the task of putting his house in order no matter the conflict of interest.
Today the doom the opposition prophesy has not only disappointed them but Nasarawa State stand like a tall tree among other trees in the forest and this is evident in area of infrastructure, education, health, security and harmonious relationship between people of different faith and ethnicity within the state . Today the state stands like a rubicon. Today every strategy by opposition planned to oust Governor Abdullahi A. Sule from office in 2023 seems to have defied every possible implementation as the government has not only performed beyond expectation but also trying to compete with state with larger federal allocation and financial war chest in IGR.
The race is still on and until the last line is crossed there is no room for complacency as the people are eagerly waiting for the coming election to reciprocate the good deeds of the government by casting their ballots for the governor to continue the good work for another four years.
Comrade Olumuyiwa Onlede, TYLC National Coordinator
Conference of Civil Society for Transparency and Accountability (COCTA)
Write from Abuja