MINISTERIAL SLOTS…. EYES ON TARABA

BY BRUNO OKEKE

From all indications, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is poised to keep his promise of getting down to work immediately after his inauguration, May 29th. He had said severally that everyday counts and that he can not afford to waste a day. This he has proved with the steps he has so far taken including appointments made so far. Obviously, he is injecting new blood and experienced hands into his administration in order to reform every sector of the Nigerian state.
The recent retirement of service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police and appointment of replacements immediately shows he means business. In all of these appointments, no one has condemned his choice of appointees so far. They are all square pegs in square holes and good materials for the jobs. He has largely shown that he emphasizes more on excellence and merit and no one can take that away from his posture and style of appointments.
With the retirement of the service chiefs, expectations are high that the next batch of appointments will be the ministers who will form an integral arm of the government. Infact, it is believed that these appointments will be made within two weeks from today going by constitutional provisions.

Read Also: Osimhen Visits His Primary School In Lagos

In these ministerial appointments, every state gets an appointee which is the norm.
For Taraba, Emmanuel Bwacha, a seasoned lawyer, former federal House of representatives member, senator for three consecutive terms and the immediate past APC governorship candidate in Taraba is expected to make the list .
Media reports and opinions have indeed tipped Bwacha for many reasons . This is a good development because the senator who served in the senate as the immediate past senate committee chairman on procurement has displayed capacity and doggedness plus good character during the campaigns and the election proper. It is on record that never had any opposition party come so close to winning the Taraba governorship untill Sen Bwacha came and changed the narrative. He gave PDP a stiff fight and it is even rumored that he won but was rigged out of that election.
For long , before Bwacha tried to change the political matrix during the last election , Taraba has been a core PDP state and draws it’s strength from the overlapping influence of Rtd General TY Danjuma. Nobody has ever dared to change the status quo in Taraba as much as Bwacha did. The posture and grip of the Rtd General in the state was so scary and intimidating and it is believed that the fear of T.Y is the beginning of wisdom for the opposition.
He had a very strong grip on the state and was the major kingmaker for a long time before Bwacha boldly took the bull by the horn and dared his might.
Through Bwacha, APC in Taraba is now projected and getting positioned to take over power from the PDP come 2027. Through Bwacha, people of Taraba have truly seen the dividends of democracy as he scattered his developmental projects beyond his senatorial district. There is hardly any community in Taraba as a whole that has not benefitted from his largesse as a senator. These are on records and people have taken note. Therefore, expectations are that Bwacha will be the eye of the President in Taraba as a minister. He has experience, clout, strength, humility, integrity, and high degree of acceptability. He enjoys a very intimidating followership in the state as he is widely loved and seen as the new face of Taraba politics. He is presently the APC leader and ambassador in Taraba. He is also the APC pointsman in the state and should be encouraged by a ministerial appointment to retain his relevance against 2027.

By all standards, he should be President Tinubu’ s man in Taraba. Even sources from the state APC secretariat also confirmed that Bwacha should be the man for Taraba ministerial as they say he has suffered and sacrificed a lot for the party in the state.
However, it is expected that if per adventure Bwacha is not named minister,, then the President should consider the Taraba central zone as it has never produced a minister since the creation of Taraba. It is on record that the Taraba south zone which is the zone of Sen Bwacha has produced about six ministers since 2003. The list includes- Southern Taraba-
Rtd Gen TY Danjuma, Amb. Idris Waziri, Mrs Salomi Jankada, Alhassan Bako Zaku, Sen Joel Danlami Ikenya, Mr Obadiah Ando and Arc Darius Ishaku who was the immediate past governor of the state.
Northern Taraba –
Dr Muhammed Shata, Hajia Aisha A. Abubakar, Engr Sale Mamman, and Engr Muazu Jaji Sambo. These individuals from the south and north Taraba were ministers between 1999 and May 2023.
Unfortunately, Central Taraba that parades a lot of APC stalwarts has never produced even one minister. On the strength of this, there are views that Hon Ibrahim T. EL Sudi, the current APC state chairman in Taraba is another good candidate going by his pedigree and political exposure.
El Sudi, from records, is another great and qualified option for Taraba ministerial for a lot of reasons.
One, he played key roles during the last elections and his efforts also made a lot of very positive impacts during the election. That much cannot be taken away from him. Secondly, he has vast experience of the runnings and workings of the government as he has served governments in different capacities. He was Attorney General in Taraba state, and became the secretary to the state government under the late Governor Dambaba Suntai. El Sudi like Bwacha also served in the 7th house of representatives and also.became a special assistant to former senate president Bukola Saraki when he was the senate president under the APC umbrella. He served Saraki as his special adviser on constitutional and legal matters. Above all, he has been tipped for a ministerial appointment over 16 years ago due to his relevance and grip on the Taraba and national politics. He is another square peg in a square hole and good for the job as well. He had in all the offices he had occupied displayed ability, capacity and sincerity while still holding onto his inbuilt integrity. He has had no records of blemish as he has up till now paraded a dirty proof pedigree. These could explain why he has remained the chairman of the Taraba APC since 2018. He is a perfectionist to the core and the party and its members have faith in him and believe in the magic wand he wields.
Presently, people in Taraba see him as another good candidate for the job atleast to compensate and give the Taraba central zone a good sense of belonging.
As a matter of fact, President Tinubu needs to empower individuals who promoted.and projected APC in their various states that is if he intends to win more states for his party. He needs to recognise men and women who sacrificed and fought for the party in their states and men who have placed the party on lips across their states and even beyond. He needs to encourage and empower individuals with capacity and grip on their state politics. He also needs men that will compliment his efforts in their individual states. The president is surely a man wit a zero tolerance for failure and is expected to do the needful.
From a available facts, the strength of APC in Taraba resides in the south and central zones of the state. This was made possible by the calibre of individual members of this party in these zones and their level of commitment to the party. These two zones are the seat of APC in Taraba. For instance, the APC in Taraba central by sheer hardwork and ingenuity of Hon El Sudi and others presently has one house of representatives member and four members in the state assembly while the south also by the hardwork and doggedness of Bwacha has a senator, two members in the federal House of representatives and two members in the state assembly. The Taraba North zone has only a member in the state assembly. By this breakdown, one can clearly see where the strength of the party is in the state. The men behind this achievements for the party should be recognized and utilised most effectively.
They are the kind of individuals the president needs to achieve his dream of a better Nigeria.

MINISTERIAL SLOTS…. EYES ON TARABA