From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Taraba State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Emmanuel Bwacha has regretted that the state governor, Darius Ishaku, wasted funds that should have been used to pay pensions and gratuities to try and stop him from been on the ballot paper for the March 11th gubernatorial election.
Bwacha who said this while flagging off his Gubernatorial campaign in Zing and Yorro local government areas of the state said that this has brought untold hardship to the people of the state especially those who served the state and have retired.
The former deputy Minority leader said that he would employ the developmental strategies of the former governor Jolly Nyame and make Taraba a reference point of development for all Nigerians.
He noted that developmental policies and programs of Rev. Nyame were the best to actualize Taraba of the people’s dream, insisting that the provision of social amenities for the well-being of the citizens, job creation and infrastructural development for improved revenue generation and development of the state, were key to the former governor’s administration.
He regretted that rather than build on the foundation laid by past administrations, the present administration in the state abysmally wasted the last eight years creating divisions and fighting imaginary enemies to the detriment of the people.
Bwacha urged the people to vote him as governor and other APC candidates to various elective positions so as to bring Taraba State to her days of greatness.
“My concern to be governor of Taraba is to restore the lost glory of the state. I will build on the existing foundation laid by our father the Reverend Jolly Nyame.
“You will agree with me that Nyame’s leadership ideology was to ensure a greater Taraba of the people’s dream. His policies and programs were best for bringing the desire development and I will build on it to actualize the dream.
“The infrastructural attraction for revenue generation and job creation for the citizens as a key interest of the former governor’s administration was able to placed Taraba among best performing Nigeria states. As Nyame’s former commissioner, I have learned the part of good governance and it impacts on the people and I will apply same to ensure that Taraba State and the people become great.
“I wish to appeal to you to disregard the PDP campaign against our party the APC, that we do not have a governorship candidate. I want to appeal to you to vote for me as governor and all the APC candidate in the March 11, election.
“I want to assure you that, I will follow the steps of our father Jolly Nyame, restore the lost glories of Taraba and bring the state to her days of greatness” Bwacha promised.
Earlier, the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim El-Sudi and the chairman of the campaign council, Alhaji Uba Maigari, appealed to the people to vote for senator Bwacha, noting that the APC candidate is the only candidate with the capacity to restore the hope of Tarabans by bringing development that would have direct bearing on the lives of the people.
Our Correspondent recall that pensioners in the state have staged several protests in recent times against non payment of their gratuities, pensions and enrollment of other retirees into the pension scheme.