Re: Borno APC primaries and the fury of a loser
An opinion article with the above title purportedly written by one Ishaku A. Williams appeared on Page 45 of the Daily Trust of Monday, October 22, 2018. In the article, the writer attempted, albeit poorly, to portray a frontline gubernatorial aspirant in the September 30, 2018 primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno […]
An opinion article with the above title purportedly written by one Ishaku A. Williams appeared on Page 45 of the Daily Trust of Monday, October 22, 2018. In the article, the writer attempted, albeit poorly, to portray a frontline gubernatorial aspirant in the September 30, 2018 primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno state, Alhaji Idris Mamman Durkwa, in bad light.
The author admitted, and rightly so, that “the runoff to the primaries across the country and the intrigues, horse-trading and scheming that characterized the process have quite naturally mired and estranged political relationships so much that some analysts have suggested that the political terrain will never be the same again.” Curiously, he went ahead with his hatchet man’s job and unsuccessful attempt at smearing the hard earned reputation of Durkwa.
The so-called Ishaku A. Williams exposed his subterfuge by his weird assertion that “…one of the unsuccessful aspirants who, from utterances, actions and body mannerisms has allowed his apparent failure to become a fuel to inflame and stoke hatred and enmity within the APC family and within his own biological family, to the extent that dangerous divisions along ethnic, political and geographical lines are being fanned and exacerbated in a state that is struggling to shrug off a destructive religious fundamentalism of immense proportion.”
This remark is not only a figment of the author’s imagination but also a fatal misrepresentation of the facts. To begin with, the resentment that trailed the APC gubernatorial primaries in Borno state, which saw the purported emergence of Professor Babagana Zulum as the APC candidate, was expressed by a coalition of aspirants through a civilised and democratic manner devoid of any form of violence.
Minister of State for Power, Works and Transport, Mustapha Shehuri, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved aspirants, said during a press conference on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 that the primaries “was fraught with several irregularities…and did not meet the barest minimum of criteria required for a free, fair and credible election.”
From the foregoing, which was widely published by both the social and mainstream media, it is difficult to situate Williams’ assertion that: “It was painful that he (Mamman-Durkwa) lost, but the fact that there were other 22 or more aspirants who equally lost, drove the message home that, even if the process was not entirely transparent, the need to preserve peace and look forward to the future will, to my mind, have mellowed down any personal desire for personal conquests or acquisitions. The information to the effect that one of the aspirants is currently in the forefront to drum up opposition for the successful candidate and is already expending huge resources to sabotage the process is to me very unhelpful, unwarranted and insensitive.” This wild insinuation was, indeed, that of a perverted mind.
Ishaku A. Williams claimed to have hailed from southern Borno minority and has been active in the struggles for power shift to southern Borno, “believing, as we all justifiably do, that the marginalization inherent in the system has stirred up resentment in all of us. So, quite naturally, I and many others warmed up to Alhaji Idris Mamman Durkwa, a serving director in one of the federal ministries and a man apparently with the financial war chest to galvanize support and organize the struggle to, within the ambit of the law, achieve the objective of power shift.” This is quite illogical and stands the truth on its head. How can one say he is marginalized and in the same breathe refuse to stand up for the truth and condemn injustice? Williams should unveil himself and say who he truly is – a masked hatchet man out to do the bidding of his paymaster.
It is in this context that his allusion to the fact that Alhaji Idris Mamman Durkwa violated the law by not resigning his federal appointment before contesting the gubernatorial primaries. This smacks of a hollow understanding of the constitution, the Electoral Act and other extant laws.
For the record, Alhaji Idris Mamman Durkwa has always been an adherent of due process and rule of law. He was duly screened by a competent APC screening panel which comprised of sound stalwarts. If he had violated any provisions of the law, he would not have been given him a clean bill of health by the screening committee.
Mohammed Ali Ahmadu Biu [email protected]