By Musa Baba Adamu
A former Executive Director/ CEO of the Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, was among the many dignitaries that graced the swearing in ceremony of the newly elected Chairmen and Councilors of the 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Nasarawa State.
Dr Shuaibu, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, is widely held as a front runner in the race to succeed Governor Abdullahi Sule when he finishes his second and last term in office in 2027.
By the principle of zoning practiced in the state since the enthronement of the present political dispensation in 1999, the Governor of the state is expected to returned to Western Senatorial Zone of the state popularly known as Keffi Zone.
Of the five LGAs making up the Zone, Toto, where Dr Shuaib hails from, is widely favoured to produce the next helmsman of the state, having been absent in the political equation as far as producing key political office holders is concerned.
Two and half years till the primary that would produce the next flag bearer of the APC, political pundits have since recognized the overwhelming presence of Dr Shuaib in all the three Senatorial Zones of the state.
In his address during the ceremony, Governor Sule congratulated the Chairmen and Councilors on their electoral victories and emphasized the critical responsibilities they now bear as leaders at the grassroots level.
He urged them to govern with a strong commitment to fairness, accountability, and transparency, stressing that these qualities are essential for ensuring the equitable distribution of resources and the overall development of their LGAs.
Governor Sule also offered words of encouragement, reminding them that their actions would directly impact the lives of their constituents and the progress of Nasarawa State as a whole.
is is a zone that has suffered tremendously with no federal presence and development, despite what it puts in the table for other to share every month. Rising up now against the South South zone by scrapping the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is an indication that the government has not learnt from the past.
“We urge the president to please reconsider this decision so as to allow the relative peace and development stride the ministry has achieved in the affected zone. We should not return violence and crisis to the Niger Delta, which has already been arrested through the creation of both the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the ministry of Niger Delta Affairs,” he cautioned.
Amb. Dagogo equally called on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, as well as other senators and National Assembly members from the South South zone to rise up and protect the Niger Delta Affairs ministry, which he said is the driving force for the development of the region.
