The missteps of Nasarawa defectors
The report said Dr Hassan Lawal also claimed that, even though he was elected by his local government as delegate to the presidential primaries of the PDP, his name was removed. These claims were meant to justify the ex-minister’s decision to abandon the PDP in Nasarawa State, a party that twice sponsored his appointment as […]
The report said Dr Hassan Lawal also claimed that, even though he was elected by his local government as delegate to the presidential primaries of the PDP, his name was removed. These claims were meant to justify the ex-minister’s decision to abandon the PDP in Nasarawa State, a party that twice sponsored his appointment as federal minister and thereby brought him into political limelight and the coveted position of authority and influence at national level.
Given the status he had acquired and the favours he enjoyed for so long solely on account of his membership of the PDP in the state, it is ridiculous that Dr Hassan Lawal hinged his defection on his mere failure to make it as a delegate to the PDP presidential primaries. A truly committed party member of such caliber is expected to be more rationale and responsible in reacting to any real or perceived grievance in accordance with laid down regulations for seeking redress. In fact, if Dr Lawal was really worth his salt in politics and enjoys the popular support of his constituency, he would not be the lone voice of protest and the sole defector from his area, after having his purported election “as a delegate from Keffi” annulled as he claimed.
The truth of the matter is that Dr Hassan Lawal has been riding on the ambushed support of the people of his constituency to monopolize their representation as a federal minister from Nasarawa State on two occasions, only to recoil into his self-serving character once safely ensconced in office. He got away with such callous arrogance and betrayal in the past by manipulation and subterfuge for which there is no more room in today’s PDP in Nasarawa State, where the mass of supporters not only have their say but also their way in deciding who represents them. As far as the generality of members and supporters of the PDP in Nasarawa State are concerned, delegates to the presidential primaries of the party emerged through a transparent process which was a true reflection of the wish of the people. In the particular case of the people of Keffi, they were only too eager to reject Dr Lawal’s opportunistic overtures for nomination this time because they have had enough of his deplorable tendency to turn his backs on them once he got the ministerial appointment.
In view of these undeniable facts of the matter, it is laughable to hear Dr Lawal claiming to have a stake in the 2007 landslide election victory of His Excellency, Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma and even ranting about pulling muscles to support the non-starter governorship candidate of his new found fledgling party. For someone like Dr Lawal, who couldn’t even garner the support of his party members in his native Keffi for nomination as an ordinary delegate to primary elections, to have the audacity to lay claim to a capacity to influence general elections in Nasarawa State, is a classical case of delusions of grandeur! He knows too well that the impressive antecedents of Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma are formidable in the history of political leadership in Nasarawa State.
The unanimous rejection of Dr Lawal by his people marks the liberation of the people of Keffi from the tyranny of his monopolistic and bogus representation. By his latest action and utterance, Dr Lawal has confirmed himself to be an opportunistic politician whose interest in the PDP in Nasarawa State began and ended with his insatiable quest for positions of privilege and patronage even at the expense of those he was supposed to represent. If he has been turned away by his own constituency, the PDP in Nasarawa State can only regard his uneventful exit from the party as good riddance. By defecting to the CPC he has finally found a befitting corner on the inconsequential fringes of Nasarawa State politics.
Saleh wrote from Keffi, Nasarawa State