2011: The Challenges Facing Gov. Yuguda
To many observers of Bauchi state politics, the governorship race to government House Bauchi is going to be hotly contested just like it was in 2007.
The reason is obvious. The incumbent governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda is up against some top politicians from his state based in Abuja.
And these are formidable politicians, formidable in the sense that they are believed to have the support of the federal government to wrest power from the incumbent governor.
The question on the lips of many Bauchi people is whether Gov. Yuguda could be able to surmount the opposition allegedly led by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Alhaji Yayale Ahmed.
Interestingly Yuguda is not new to such a big challenge. It would be recalled that in 2007 when the then governor Adamu Mu’azu made up his mind that Yuguda has no place in PDP to fulfill his gubernatorial ambition, Yuguda opted for the opposition party ANPP that provided him a platform to seek the gubernatorial mandate of the people.
At the time PDP was truly a formidable force in the state. It had the power of an incumbent governor, controlled 31-member state House of Assembly from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007. It also had control of 17 out of the 20 Local Council Chairmen in 2000 and the entire 20 Local Government Chairmen and their councilors between 2003 and 2007. The PDP also had 100 percent control of Senators from the state while producing 98 percent the House Representatives members from the state in 1999 and by 2003 had 100 percent control of Bauchi state Representatives. This is alongside the support of the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration which regarded Bauchi under Mu’azu among its success story.
How did Yuguda overcome this apparently insurmountable obstacle and found himself the occupant of government House Bauchi. SUMMIT DAILY was told that the banker turned politician did what well horned politicians in United States have done successfully for years and which president Barack Obama added a new niche with the use of multimedia. Yuguda reached out to the people.
Our correspondent gathered that Yuguda began door to door campaign at the remotest parts of Bauchi state immemdiately after ANPP adopted him. While Mu’azu was noted for building road networks and providing electricity and other infrastructure in Bauchi state, it turned out that much of the workable infrastructure was limited to few urban centres along major roads linking Bauchi state to other parts of the country while majority of Bauchi people who dwell in the rural areas were not in the radar of Mu’azu administration in the distribution of amenities. Yuguda was said to have met a people so despondent that they embraced him with open arms.
Thus while the incumbent PDP government was touting its federal might and the supposed spread of its tentacles across the state based on the number of elected officials under its platform, the grass-root mobilization of Yuguda was to teach them never to take anything for granted.
Yuguda was said not only to have reassured the people that his administration will not neglect them, he also accompanied his assurance with voters education. He told them to come out to vote enmass. But that was not all. He also told them that their votes would amount to nothing if they left their destiny in the hands of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) whom by then were already well known as the extension of the ruling PDP. Yuguda’s order to his supporters was simply guard your votes, Bauchi people. And the people did.
Therefore, by the time the April 14, 2007 governorship polls result in Bauchi was announced, its outcome confounded not only political pundits but the apparatchik of PDP leadership in the state was in shock. The result marked a paradigm shift in Bauchi state politics. The state and a few others across the country became a sign that if the behemoth PDP is confronted with a well orchestrated strategy it could be defeated hands down. In fact many political pundits are still insisting that the political philosophy behind Yuguda’s victory which is people’s power should be emulated nationwide to ensure that the PDP national leadership despite its avowal to conduct free and fair elections in 2011 do not steal the people’s vote as usual. The famous slogan “Akasa, Atsare, Araka” which when translated literarily means: “Cast, Protect and escort your votes,” that worked for Bauchi, Kano and Lagos states amongst few others are already being adopted by the supporters of the CPC. The CPC lead by former Head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is not ready to go to court after the 2011 election results have been announced. Its likely presidential candidate in 2011 has learnt through the hard way that the legal options sometimes do not pay. So what better option than “Akasa, Atsare, Araka” which is a call to people’s power.
More than three years ago, the people’s power brought Yuguda to Government House. A very big challenge facing him is whether he can still sustain the momentum and beat his competitors to the coveted seat. Many believe he can, if only he can deliver the dividend of democracy to those who were denied it under Mu’azu. When SUMMIT DAILY spoke with Alhaji Mohammed A. Abdullahi, the Permanent Secretary, Media Affairs, Bauchi state he said the government has performed even beyond the expectation of the masses that put it in power.
Commenting on the performance of Yuguda administration, he said: “some of the accomplishment of Yuguda include, human resources and economic developments through capacity building by providing car loans to civil servants on salary grade level 14 and above on loan basis at 50 percent subsidy, while junior civil servants were given motorcycle loans.
“Various retreats and workshops was also organized for the civil servants and many of those in public service have become proud owners of their own houses through an owner-occupier housing scheme, There were also loans to traders and grants to community banks in order to boost the economy of the state, students allowances have been increased by 300 percent and scholarship for indigenous student in tertiary institutions reviewed by 100 percent, while over 32 secondary schools have been renovated. Also several daughters and sons of Bauchi state have been sent to Egypt to study medicine while others are being trained as pilot/Aeronautical Engineers in the United States; there is also agricultural revolution going on in the state under Yuguda’s leadership through the provision of fertilizers, reactivation of grain silos among other facilities; in the area of health care delivery the governor has renovated over 10 General Hospital and Ten Primary Health Care Centres while there are two on-going. 110 bed hospitals are being constructed at Bayara and Toro. In addition over 2000 medical personnel/health workers of all grades as well as 30 Egyptian doctors have been recruited to boost the health sector; in the area of infrastructure Yuguda has paid for most of the urban and two kilometers LG road projects awarded by the previous administration; provision of portable water to schools, hospitals across the state and 20 new solar powered water schemes in some LGAs, linking 9 LGAs in the Northern part of Bauchi with new 133 KVA Power Sub-station at Azare; and the provision of drainage facilities in major towns of the state while environmental sustainability is carried out through the launching of tree planting campaigns in the state; and youth and women empowerment programme under which over 1,500 youths were trained on 23 trades and empowered to carry on with their new trade, while women were given soft loans for groundnut extraction, cattle rearing; and the government gave financial assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs)from Plateau state to find a means of livelihood. The list of Mallam’s accomplishment is actually too long to remember them all at once, he said.
Like the Permanent Secretary, the Director Press Affairs to the governor, Alhaji Maigari Moh’d believe that the governor has justified the People’s Mandate. He said, “This administration has justified the mandate and confidence reposed in it by the electorate. In fact, to be honest, it has redeemed more than 80 percent of its 2007 campaign promises. For instance, some roads such as the Ningi-Bura, Alkaleri-Futuk and Azare-Isawa-Giade that were on the drawing board since 1976 are either being constructed or completed by this administration. We also inherited decayed infrastructure particularly in the health and education sectors, but various reforms were introduced to rehabilitate, upgrade and equip all existing general hospitals in Kafin Madaki, Katagum and Tafawa Balewa.”
SUMMIT DAILY interaction with ordinary people of Bauchi indicates that many of them think highly of Yuguda’s performance over the past three years. There were however those who insist that the governor’s performance had been bellow the huge expectations that heralded him to power.
But Yuguda’s supports would have none of that. They think that their man has done more than any governor since the creation of the state to develop the state. They noted that the governor has achieved so much for the state despite the financial constraint he met when he took over.
Yuguda’s supporters said that he inherited a crippling debt of over N22 billion as against a monthly revenue N1.7 billion; the problems of unpaid contracts, pension arrears, high maternal and child mortality, high level of illiteracy, abject poverty, general insecurity, massive unemployment among the youth and others which engendered hopelessness among the people. That is aside decayed infrastructure in all sectors in the state.
However, Yuguda is not only up against those who questions his performance but he is also up against Abuja politicians determined to take over the state from him. To the Abuja politicians, it never matters whether Yuguda paved the streets of Bauchi with gold. They want him out. This is despite the fact that they all now belong to the PDP.
Gov. Yuguda defected to the PDP, his original party, with the hope of consolidating his hold on power and to also ensure that the state benefits from all the entitlements that accrue to it from the federal government that hitherto viewed the state with suspicion for belonging to the opposition. An aide to the governor told our Correspondent that before the governor defected to PDP there were many projects which he could not get the support of the presidency because he was in ANPP.
At last the governor did not only defect to PDP, he also married the President’s daughter, the daughter of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. And as expected of every inlaw who worth the name, he supported the family of his father-inlaw when Yar’Adua was sick. Because of this the governor was perceived as anti-president Goodluck Jonathan. It is believed that many of those against him today are cashing –in on that perception to present themselves as the anointed Godfathers of the state.
But as one pundit told our correspondent, unless the Bauchi people abandon their people’s power anchored on Akasa, Atsare, Araka, Yuguda can still surprise his traducers.
“Let the governor continue to do the will of the people and they will do the rest for him. My advise to Yuguda, work, work, and work. Let your works speak for you,” the pundit said.
The governor is said to have rested his political survival on the people and the conduct of free and fair elections in 2011.
Recently in Bauchi, he called on politicians to unite against electoral malpractices. He said, “politicians should unite nationwide to resist all forms of electoral malpractices, to ensure that only the choice of the people are elected, as it was in the case of Bauchi state during the 2007 elections. We set the pace with the expectation that other states would follow for democracy to thrive. We should always strive to stand by the truth and support the electoral body and the other relevant agencies to do their constitutional duty in the interest of democracy and good governance.”
The reason is obvious. The incumbent governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda is up against some top politicians from his state based in Abuja.
And these are formidable politicians, formidable in the sense that they are believed to have the support of the federal government to wrest power from the incumbent governor.
The question on the lips of many Bauchi people is whether Gov. Yuguda could be able to surmount the opposition allegedly led by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Alhaji Yayale Ahmed.
Interestingly Yuguda is not new to such a big challenge. It would be recalled that in 2007 when the then governor Adamu Mu’azu made up his mind that Yuguda has no place in PDP to fulfill his gubernatorial ambition, Yuguda opted for the opposition party ANPP that provided him a platform to seek the gubernatorial mandate of the people.
At the time PDP was truly a formidable force in the state. It had the power of an incumbent governor, controlled 31-member state House of Assembly from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007. It also had control of 17 out of the 20 Local Council Chairmen in 2000 and the entire 20 Local Government Chairmen and their councilors between 2003 and 2007. The PDP also had 100 percent control of Senators from the state while producing 98 percent the House Representatives members from the state in 1999 and by 2003 had 100 percent control of Bauchi state Representatives. This is alongside the support of the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration which regarded Bauchi under Mu’azu among its success story.
How did Yuguda overcome this apparently insurmountable obstacle and found himself the occupant of government House Bauchi. SUMMIT DAILY was told that the banker turned politician did what well horned politicians in United States have done successfully for years and which president Barack Obama added a new niche with the use of multimedia. Yuguda reached out to the people.
Our correspondent gathered that Yuguda began door to door campaign at the remotest parts of Bauchi state immemdiately after ANPP adopted him. While Mu’azu was noted for building road networks and providing electricity and other infrastructure in Bauchi state, it turned out that much of the workable infrastructure was limited to few urban centres along major roads linking Bauchi state to other parts of the country while majority of Bauchi people who dwell in the rural areas were not in the radar of Mu’azu administration in the distribution of amenities. Yuguda was said to have met a people so despondent that they embraced him with open arms.
Thus while the incumbent PDP government was touting its federal might and the supposed spread of its tentacles across the state based on the number of elected officials under its platform, the grass-root mobilization of Yuguda was to teach them never to take anything for granted.
Yuguda was said not only to have reassured the people that his administration will not neglect them, he also accompanied his assurance with voters education. He told them to come out to vote enmass. But that was not all. He also told them that their votes would amount to nothing if they left their destiny in the hands of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) whom by then were already well known as the extension of the ruling PDP. Yuguda’s order to his supporters was simply guard your votes, Bauchi people. And the people did.
Therefore, by the time the April 14, 2007 governorship polls result in Bauchi was announced, its outcome confounded not only political pundits but the apparatchik of PDP leadership in the state was in shock. The result marked a paradigm shift in Bauchi state politics. The state and a few others across the country became a sign that if the behemoth PDP is confronted with a well orchestrated strategy it could be defeated hands down. In fact many political pundits are still insisting that the political philosophy behind Yuguda’s victory which is people’s power should be emulated nationwide to ensure that the PDP national leadership despite its avowal to conduct free and fair elections in 2011 do not steal the people’s vote as usual. The famous slogan “Akasa, Atsare, Araka” which when translated literarily means: “Cast, Protect and escort your votes,” that worked for Bauchi, Kano and Lagos states amongst few others are already being adopted by the supporters of the CPC. The CPC lead by former Head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is not ready to go to court after the 2011 election results have been announced. Its likely presidential candidate in 2011 has learnt through the hard way that the legal options sometimes do not pay. So what better option than “Akasa, Atsare, Araka” which is a call to people’s power.
More than three years ago, the people’s power brought Yuguda to Government House. A very big challenge facing him is whether he can still sustain the momentum and beat his competitors to the coveted seat. Many believe he can, if only he can deliver the dividend of democracy to those who were denied it under Mu’azu. When SUMMIT DAILY spoke with Alhaji Mohammed A. Abdullahi, the Permanent Secretary, Media Affairs, Bauchi state he said the government has performed even beyond the expectation of the masses that put it in power.
Commenting on the performance of Yuguda administration, he said: “some of the accomplishment of Yuguda include, human resources and economic developments through capacity building by providing car loans to civil servants on salary grade level 14 and above on loan basis at 50 percent subsidy, while junior civil servants were given motorcycle loans.
“Various retreats and workshops was also organized for the civil servants and many of those in public service have become proud owners of their own houses through an owner-occupier housing scheme, There were also loans to traders and grants to community banks in order to boost the economy of the state, students allowances have been increased by 300 percent and scholarship for indigenous student in tertiary institutions reviewed by 100 percent, while over 32 secondary schools have been renovated. Also several daughters and sons of Bauchi state have been sent to Egypt to study medicine while others are being trained as pilot/Aeronautical Engineers in the United States; there is also agricultural revolution going on in the state under Yuguda’s leadership through the provision of fertilizers, reactivation of grain silos among other facilities; in the area of health care delivery the governor has renovated over 10 General Hospital and Ten Primary Health Care Centres while there are two on-going. 110 bed hospitals are being constructed at Bayara and Toro. In addition over 2000 medical personnel/health workers of all grades as well as 30 Egyptian doctors have been recruited to boost the health sector; in the area of infrastructure Yuguda has paid for most of the urban and two kilometers LG road projects awarded by the previous administration; provision of portable water to schools, hospitals across the state and 20 new solar powered water schemes in some LGAs, linking 9 LGAs in the Northern part of Bauchi with new 133 KVA Power Sub-station at Azare; and the provision of drainage facilities in major towns of the state while environmental sustainability is carried out through the launching of tree planting campaigns in the state; and youth and women empowerment programme under which over 1,500 youths were trained on 23 trades and empowered to carry on with their new trade, while women were given soft loans for groundnut extraction, cattle rearing; and the government gave financial assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs)from Plateau state to find a means of livelihood. The list of Mallam’s accomplishment is actually too long to remember them all at once, he said.
Like the Permanent Secretary, the Director Press Affairs to the governor, Alhaji Maigari Moh’d believe that the governor has justified the People’s Mandate. He said, “This administration has justified the mandate and confidence reposed in it by the electorate. In fact, to be honest, it has redeemed more than 80 percent of its 2007 campaign promises. For instance, some roads such as the Ningi-Bura, Alkaleri-Futuk and Azare-Isawa-Giade that were on the drawing board since 1976 are either being constructed or completed by this administration. We also inherited decayed infrastructure particularly in the health and education sectors, but various reforms were introduced to rehabilitate, upgrade and equip all existing general hospitals in Kafin Madaki, Katagum and Tafawa Balewa.”
SUMMIT DAILY interaction with ordinary people of Bauchi indicates that many of them think highly of Yuguda’s performance over the past three years. There were however those who insist that the governor’s performance had been bellow the huge expectations that heralded him to power.
But Yuguda’s supports would have none of that. They think that their man has done more than any governor since the creation of the state to develop the state. They noted that the governor has achieved so much for the state despite the financial constraint he met when he took over.
Yuguda’s supporters said that he inherited a crippling debt of over N22 billion as against a monthly revenue N1.7 billion; the problems of unpaid contracts, pension arrears, high maternal and child mortality, high level of illiteracy, abject poverty, general insecurity, massive unemployment among the youth and others which engendered hopelessness among the people. That is aside decayed infrastructure in all sectors in the state.
However, Yuguda is not only up against those who questions his performance but he is also up against Abuja politicians determined to take over the state from him. To the Abuja politicians, it never matters whether Yuguda paved the streets of Bauchi with gold. They want him out. This is despite the fact that they all now belong to the PDP.
Gov. Yuguda defected to the PDP, his original party, with the hope of consolidating his hold on power and to also ensure that the state benefits from all the entitlements that accrue to it from the federal government that hitherto viewed the state with suspicion for belonging to the opposition. An aide to the governor told our Correspondent that before the governor defected to PDP there were many projects which he could not get the support of the presidency because he was in ANPP.
At last the governor did not only defect to PDP, he also married the President’s daughter, the daughter of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. And as expected of every inlaw who worth the name, he supported the family of his father-inlaw when Yar’Adua was sick. Because of this the governor was perceived as anti-president Goodluck Jonathan. It is believed that many of those against him today are cashing –in on that perception to present themselves as the anointed Godfathers of the state.
But as one pundit told our correspondent, unless the Bauchi people abandon their people’s power anchored on Akasa, Atsare, Araka, Yuguda can still surprise his traducers.
“Let the governor continue to do the will of the people and they will do the rest for him. My advise to Yuguda, work, work, and work. Let your works speak for you,” the pundit said.
The governor is said to have rested his political survival on the people and the conduct of free and fair elections in 2011.
Recently in Bauchi, he called on politicians to unite against electoral malpractices. He said, “politicians should unite nationwide to resist all forms of electoral malpractices, to ensure that only the choice of the people are elected, as it was in the case of Bauchi state during the 2007 elections. We set the pace with the expectation that other states would follow for democracy to thrive. We should always strive to stand by the truth and support the electoral body and the other relevant agencies to do their constitutional duty in the interest of democracy and good governance.”
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