As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) warms up for its primaries which will culminate in the general elections in 2011, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State is set for a fight to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan clinches the party’s ticket and eventually wins at the polls.
Determined to pursue this to a logical conclusion, he has continued to unequivocally restate his unflinching support for Jonathan, stressing that he is ready to die for the cause since he is not known to sit on the fence concerning any matter.
Suswam has also staged a final onslaught against the opponents of President Jonathan as the party primaries approaches.
Recently during the declaration ceremony of Senate president, David Mark for Senate in Otukpo, the Governor who is the President’s Campaign Co-ordinator in the North-Central zone maintained that a man must die for a cause, insisting that he has always stood for something.
At another fora, while questioning the right of the Adamu Ciroma-led consensus committee whom he said, single-handedly picked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the northern consensus candidate, Suswam posited that the decision of the nine northern elders was an exercise in futility, as it would not enjoy the support of the people of the North Central zone.
He maintained that Nigerians could not afford to jettison their support for the President, in view of his background and his unreserved commitment to the betterment of the living conditions of the people.
To ensure he accomplishes his mission, Suswam took up the case from his immediate domain by making sure that he mobilized most political bigwigs in his home-state to join in the support for the President.
The political elders in the state includes Wantareph Paul Unongo, Chief Barnabas Gemade, Prof. Mvendaga Jibo, Chief David Attah, Prof. David Ker and others.
These pro-Jonathan elements have been effectively mobilized in the quest to ensure that the opposition in the zone were not allowed to gain any air of importance.
This informed what happened at a grand reception organized at Tor-Donga for the Governor by the Shittile Community of Benue State where Paul Unongo and Professor Mvendaga Jibo declared that the people of Benue State would not support any other person except Jonathan.
In his remarks, Unongo who explained that the northern consensus candidate will not represent the interest of the Benue people maintaining that Jonathan who is from the Ijaw ethnic minority, represents the aspirations of the middle belt, especially as Benue has always fought for the rights of the minority.
“We the Benue people fought for minority rights in Nigeria. We therefore cannot at the threshold of making history of producing a minority President in the person of Goodluck Jonathan, make a u-turn. ”
Jibo, in his comments opined that Atiku cannot get Benue votes because he was allegedly linked to the sale of the Benue Cement Company, the only viable Federal Government company and economic mainstay of the middle belt to his friend, Alhaji Aliko Dangote which was against the interest of the people of the state and the north central zone as a whole.
He opined that by so doing, Atiku who is now seeking to rule the country as president impoverished the people of the state, adding that anybody who claims to be supporting Suswam and at the same time opposing Jonathan is living a double standard life.
Earlier in his remarks at the occasion Governor Gabriel Suswam pointed out that the state would benefit more from a Jonathan Presidency, because the president has high regards for Benue people, adding that under his presidency, Benue would be accorded its rightful place.
While describing Jonathan as God-fearing, honest and a gentleman who will not renege on his agreement with the people, Suswam maintained that coming from a minority background, Jonathan understood the needs and aspiration of the people of the state and the zone.
He explained that the people of the zone had suffered so much neglect in the past stressing that the agrarian people of the zone had secured assurances from the President that if elected, he would ensure massive Federal government intervention in the agricultural sector of the zone which is the main stay of the people of the area.
He insisted that the nine-man Consensus Committee that picked Atiku did not represent the interest of the North as according to him, the decision ran contrary to the peoples’ wish.
He informed that the intention of the committee to impose candidates on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the entire North is not acceptable adding that such action is against the principles of democracy.
He said that in a democratic setting the opinion of certain persons should not be forced on others who may not share in the agenda of such leaders, pointing out that the committee’s decision was a total infringement of the rights and privileges of the people of the zone as it does not reflect the entire will of the Northern states particularly the north central zone.
“The issue of a consensus candidate is not known to me. If nine people agree among themselves that they want to select somebody who will contest an election, I don’t think that is binding on me.
I was not consulted and the people of Benue State were not consulted either. So, to make a generalization that that is a Northern position, I don’t think that is fair.”
“I, as the Governor of Benue State, you take a decision and you do not consult me and you say that that decision is a decision that’s binding, I don’t think that makes sense to anybody and it does not make sense to me anyway.”
Meanwhile, Suswam is not relenting in his efforts to ensure that president carries the day both at the primaries and at the polls, he is said to have continued to hold secret meetings with notable political leaders within the zone to strategize on the need to ensure that President Jonathan records a clean sweep on the votes from the zone.
Our investigation also revealed that he is not leaving any stone unturned as he is said to have let loose all his political arsenals around the north central zone to ensure that the Atiku campaign machinery is properly close-marked, caged and incapacitated.
Source:http://www.sunnewsonline.com/
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