Bala Dan Abu is the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba state, on Media and Publicity. In this interview with BusinessDay’s Nathanial Gbaoron in Jalingo, he expressed optimism on the Governor’s chances of securing victory in the fast-approaching general election, even as he rolled out some achievements of the administration.
Looking at the political situation in the state presently, are you not worried that your Governor might lose to APC candidate in the coming elections?
I am surprised that you are even giving APC mention on the politics of the State today. APC has been in disarray as they have been turning into shrinks. You can see that Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan has ran into an inconsequential political group.
The other people who took the remnants of the APC that she left also spilt and they are fighting with themselves to get as much facts of the fragments as possible. In the process, they are all pitched against one another in the battle that has not ended.
So where is the organization that you call APC today that can win election in Taraba State?
There is no such political organization or political party. On the other hand, PDP has remained a very solid group. It has never lost election in the state since 1999. No other other political party has won election in the state and you can even see that our congress was successful. There was nobody who stood against the Governor to contest for the ticket. That is to show you how much confidence the people of Taraba State and members of the PDP in the state have in the Governor. So PDP have no problem as far as 2019 is concerned, we are solidly very prepared, victory is just waiting for us.
What will be the Governor’s strongest selling points as poll draw closer?
The strongest selling point is that, this is the Governor that has performed, that has empowered so many people; men, women and youths, through skills acquisition. The Governor that has encouraged farmers, empowered them through successful rice farming project.
This is the Governor that has stood behind the people of the state in times of their needs. He is the strongest fighter for justice. At a time that people looked up to him to stand by them, he came on strongly and did so. He was very vocal when the herdsmen were killing people. He stood solidly behind them and made sure that people did not suffer. He made sure that those who lost hope and their beloved ones were comforted and compensated to a very large extent.
This is a Governor that has provided water. When he came, there was no water. Now, there is water virtually in all the places. He has drilled boreholes in 250 communities. This is the Governor that has taken education to a very high level. When he came, performance in WAEC was less than 20%. Within one year, he took it to 67.3% and the least figure we recorded this year is 75.3%. In less than three and a half years, WAEC performance in the state has jumped up and it is as a result of the encouragement he has given to education.
The 3,000 rescue teachers he has employed are performing magic. They were screened very well and adequate measures were taken on those who had the capacity to deliver. They were chosen from all constituencies, all wards in the state.
This Governor has been a unifying factor. He has brought people together. Everybody now look up to him as a messiah of the state. He has proved to be somebody who can be trusted, is reliable, and very prudent and careful in the management of public funds. The people of the state have no reason not to return him and that was why nobody came out to contest for the ticket of the PDP governor in the state with him.
We are sure we are going to have it even much easier in the forth coming general election. All the other people that are making noise will fall by the road side, because they have more serious domestic problems to settle.
Sir, what is your faith of your boss winning in the 2019 polls?
My faith is 100%, Tarabans voted him into power and they have seen the dividends, he has worked, and he is still working to change their lives for better.
I have all the believe that they would vote the PDP which they known to continue.
They known governor Ishaku as peace and development master and I believe that they would not make any mistake at all.
Tarabans are wise enough to be convinced by cheap political sweet words.
We have enough to tell the people during campaign because we have done highly great, our vision for the people is not hidden and I most thank God that everybody knows
