Jigawa 2023: Between PDP stability and Lamido’s son gubernatorial ambition – An alternative view

By Adamu Muhd Usman 

I want to respond to a publication by your newspaper which appeared on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 page 15 with the caption ‘Jigawa 2023: Between PDP stability and Lamido’s son gubernatorial ambition’.

Let me from the beginning mention that the meeting of the forum of old council chairmen which your newspaper and others were invited to cover was an independently organised parley by the former council chairmen of the 27 LGAs in Jigawa under the platform of the PDP between 2007 to 2015. The claim according to your publication that a large segment of the Jigawa people had expressed surprises most especially because majority of the former council chairmen are also presently officials of the party at the state level cannot be further from the truth. 

Democracy is as much a game of choice as it is that of interest and freedom. Like everyone else the ex council chairs have every freedom to freely express their choice and that is exactly what they did in Gumel. And they have asked anyone interested in the position of the governor under the platform of the party to feel free to contest with a promise that justice will be done. 

Let me state in respect of the title of the publication, Mustapha Sule Lamido is yet to publicly declare that he is contesting any election. So how can a mere call by well wishers for a qualified citizen to contest a position cause instability in a party? I can accept this title to be that of a biased opinion piece but definitely not as an official analysis of a respected paper like your own

Sule Lamido is an institution of democracy in Jigawa state. He has sacrificed everything from his personal comfort to finances, freedom and even his life to fight for this democracy that we enjoy today. It should have been a matter of keen interest for analysts to examine what personal family legacy in politics can people like Lamido leave behind bearing in mind that leaders like  Sir Ahmadu Bellos, Sir Tafawa Balewa,  Mallam Aminu Kano, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi etc have all left without any of their offsprings participating in politics despite what they represented for us and our democracy. 

Lamido has in the course of his remarkable career in politics identified and supported numerous young people (both men and women) based purely on their competence, character and capabilities. It is a thing of pride to Lamido and his entire fold of supporters that some of these names are still relevant today in the polity. All Lamido deserves from us is to know that his biological son shouldn’t be seen as any different from those he has previously helped to achieve greatness.

Mustapha Sule Lamido is a self made and accomplished business man who against the wish of his father contested and almost won the senatorial seat of Jigawa North Central in 2019. Therefore calls from those who should know better for the same man to contest for the position of the governor four years after should not be a subject of controversy if not for some people who think that God Almighty can only do as they wish. 

Your numerous reference to Mallam Aminu Ibrahim Ringim the 2015 and 2019 gubernatorial candidate for the PDP in Jigawa almost potrays the biased of your esteemed paper for a politician whose chapter is closed in the jigawa PDP. Aminu Ringim lost two times in gubernatorial elections (2015 and 2019) His attempt to cause divisions within the party was also defeated defeated by the truth that Sule Lamido always believed in. And his further agitations  caused him to be expelled from the party by his Ringim ward. Aminu Ringim and his handful of followers can be referred as nothing in Jigawa PDP now but a small band of aggrieved and frustrated ex party men who can say anything to remain relevant. Therefore  the Peoples Daily is not doing itself any good by continuously repeating their discredited version of events in Jigawa. 

The Jigawa PDP is one big happy family under the absolute leadership of it’s principal and a former governor of the state Dr Sule Lamido CON. The party’s ticket for the gubernatorial position in 2023 is also open to all who are willing to contest. 

We welcome more aspirants from the party and those who are still outside our fold to come. The party under it’s current leadership will guarantee a level playing ground for all. It is equally within the right of any party member to extend his or her support to any individual whom he has confidence will deliver the party to success. Our ultimate aim is to defeat the visionless leadership of the APC that has yet again turned our dear state into a laughing stock.

Adamu is Sule Lamido Media aide, writes from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa state. amu3333@yahoo.com