From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Gombe State Political Progressive Forum has called on the State Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, to look inward and assist groups that support and contributed to his success in the 2019 gubernatorial election in the state.
The group, which paid a courtesy visit to the State Deputy Governor, Dr Manassah Daniel Jatau, indicated that they want the governor whom they said have performed well in two years to furnish his performance with welfare for the party members and to assist political groups such as theirs that struggled to install him as the governor.
‘We initially had a wish and one goal, which was to install a government under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe which was why we never seek or get any financial support from anybody and we did that,’ the Chairman of the forum, Usman Mai-Kusa, stated while urging the governor to support the group in running their activities and also appealed for appointments of members.
Also speaking, the Women Leader of the Forum, Hajiya Saadatu Yusuf, lamented that the Forum has sacrificed their resources to join the campaign which ensures the success of APC in the last general elections on Gombe State. She added that the political needs to be assisted to cover for their properties such as wrappers and others that were lost and damaged during the campaign. She also explained that they were seeking support to be able to sustain its activities which are for the success of the party in future elections.
The Women Leader also appealed to the government to consider the widows and their unemployed youths in terms of employment and other programs aimed at alleviating their prevailing situation.
‘We were one of the political forums that worked for APC, we sacrificed a lot including selling out our foodstuffs to raise funds to attend meetings and embark on campaigns for APC, but whenever the government introduced a program that is aimed at alleviating poverty, we only hear it on street and do not benefit from it and we have a lot of followers,’ Saadatu stated.
On his part, while commending the role played by the group in bringing the APC government into power in the state, the Deputy Governor, Manassah Daniel Jatau, assured that the government is on track to ensure the actualisation of all its campaign promises for the overall interest of the state.
He noted the desire of the administration to transform people in the state, especially the youths through involving them in economically viable ventures to make them independent and self-reliant to be able to shun hooliganism and thuggery.
While assuring the group of better days ahead, Mr Jatau disclosed that the proposed Leadership and Agricultural Training Centers in the state were for the youths to grab the opportunity towards shaping and reshaping their destinies and directing them towards contributing positively to the growth and development of the state.