RE: CRISIS IN KATSINA APC A HEAD OF 2019 - Maiwada Dammallam

Reading a very subjective opinion published by Daily Nigeria which debated the electoral chances of some states (one of which was Katsina State) come 2019, I had to conclude that either the opinion was entirely that of the author or the account of Daily Nigeria must have been hacked and compromised. Known for being analytical and factually persuasive, the mentioned analysis was nowhere near what normally comes from the incisive Daily Nigeria.

It doesn't make sense for one to allocate valuable time disputing imaginative opinion formed largely by surfing through the social media or listening to physical agents of hearsay. The author of the rather unscientific analysis under review should have been a little less officious and more pragmatic than an average social media 'analyst'.

There's nothing embarrassing in the Mashi/Dutsi by-election unless one look at it from the perspective of the "Jackboot style" of the PDP which makes a ruling party a default winner. Perhaps, the author is yet to get used to the idea that the era of a ruling party allocating votes and announcing winners while most voters are at home sleeping waiting for voting to begin is over. In the new era margins need not to be obscenely wide to determine the popularity of a candidate or his party. 2015 elections should have taught us a little about the realities of democracy. That's not the case with author.

We may recall that, despite the almost cult-followership of PMB and, despite the clumsiness and overwhelming rejection of Goodluck Jonathan, PMB won by 15m to Jonathan's 13m - a mere margin of 3m. Going by the sweeping impact of hurricane which saw to the success of dismantling the well established incumbent PDP, 3m margin couldn't have been the correct estimation of PMB's popularity against Jonathan's. That Jonathan was an incumbent made PMB's 3m winning margin very spectacular. That PDP gathered its 'who's who' in Mashi/Dutsi and shared a little of the looted funds of Katsina State to participate in the election in a way it knew best made Mashi/Dutsi a very acceptable outcome beside been a clear proof of a new dawn in electoral conduct in Nigeria.

I wholly disagree with the opinion that Governor Masari has lost touch with the grassroots especially without being offered any scientific proof to support the opinion. The writer mentioned imaginary 'sins' of Governor Masari like sacking of civil servants appointed by immediate-past governor, Ibrahim Shema, unlawful removal of all elected local government chairmen of the state, an equally imaginary war between Governor Masari's SGS, Mustapha Inuwa and top politicians in the state bla bla bla for a supposed commandeering influence of the SGS which the author conveniently excluded thereby making his analysis entirely speculative.

Interestingly, the writer also made no effort to mention a single person that was sacked from the civil service out of the thousands Governor Masari inherited from Shema for the reading public to debate the circumstances of the sacking. Just as much, the writer failed to mention those at war with Mustapha Inuwa and for what reasons.

I'm sure the writer is not even aware that the immediate past Head of Service was inherited by Masari from Shema and he went on to serve the administration in the same capacity until his retirement few months ago. I don't think anybody need an Einstein's brain to know that to serve PDP at such a prestigious level, one MUST BE 120% submissive and PDP compliant. With Shema, this undemocratic demand for loyalty from the civil servants is even higher. I will not go into details about this because it's an open secret in Katsina State. However, I'm yet to hear about a single Permanent Secretary sacked because he was inherited.

To prove this let me mention few officers that held sensitive portfolios and went on to serve the reminder of their service years without any incident. The Permanent Secretary of the most sensitive Ministry, Finance, Kabir Bakori served until the end of his career as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance. This fellow even gave me a message at the point of his retirement to thank the Governor for the chance given him to exit his career respectably without any harassment.

Still in the Finance Ministry, my boss and elder brother, Alhaji Abdullahi Remawa aka, Alhaji Rimi, the inherited Accountant General of the State not only served to the end of his career but was promoted to Permanent Secretary before his exit from the service. In the Ministry of Justice, the Permanent Secretary/Solicitor-General inherited from the previous administration, Hajia Fatima, served until her retirement from the service due to exhaustion of service years. I related closely to all the three people mentioned above and I'm sure they will attest to the modesty and political tolerance of Governor Masari when it comes to dealing with the civil servants.

To further prove Governor Masari's political maturity and sophistication, even the Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Education, the two cash cows of the previous administration, as well, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information who supervised the total blackout given the opposition by state media houses under Shema and the Permanent Secretary in the sensitive office of the SGS who had been supervising he administrative affairs of the SGS office until recently when he was posted to another Ministry in a general posting, were not only left untouched and dealt with in accordance with civil service terms and conditions but related very well with the Governor. I'm writing in a public forum, let somebody dispute this and counter it with a SINGLE incident where any civil servant was harassed, intimidated or dealt with unfairly by Governor Masari.

Actually the author's allegation about Masari sacking civil servants prove nothing but the Governor's fairness in upholding his oath of office without ill-will or affection. If I need to educate the author of the faulty analysis, there had been numerous complains against Governor Masari for refusing to flush out civil servants inherited from Shema even when there were clear proofs of their partisanship in politics and politicking. The author must be an alien not to know the role Permanent Secretaries played in Katsina State and other states of the federation including Federal Permanent Secretaries to even think it's a sin if a new government flush them out to avoid sabotage and internal reprisal. That Governor Masari let them be, should be a plus not a minus to his political working capital to an objective mind though.

Another funny segment of the analysis speculated about a fallacious disharmony in the Katsina State APC family largely caused by Governor Masari 'not doing much to invigorate his political base to other senatorial districts (whatever that means). The author concluded his absurd analysis that even Funtua, the zonal headquarters of Karaduwa does not have a commissioner.

Left me wondering if this 'analyst' know that appointments of commissioners are not necessarily done on the basis of Local Governments and are seen to be done when done on the basis of senatorial districts. Karaduwa have commissioners in Governor Masari's cabinet. Though advisable, commissioners are not necessarily selected on the basis of LGs, political expediency determines the process of appointing commissioners. Building a cabinet is not entirely an "each-LG-must-have" affair. It defends on various considerable political and administrative factors. Perhaps, that may explain the flexibility of Governors having a means of balancing the situation by the option of Special Advisers. Local Governments that could not have commissioners are compensated with Special Advisers, effectively balancing the gap created political expediency.

For the record, Commissioners and Special Advisers are equal members of the state executive council with equal powers and responsibilities. Funtua does not have a commissioner but have Special Adviser, Hon. Rabi'u Idris Funtua. So, where's the problem? By the way, Malumfashi and Kafur, the two LGs Governor Masari represented twice in the NASS have no commissioners and like Funtua, are represented in the executive council by Special Advisers Hon. Abdulkadir Nasir and Hon. Abba Abdallah. This is a clear proof that Masari refused to be domesticated and reduced to a provincial champion rather than the governor he was elected to be. He's not elected to be the Governor of Karaduwa but the Governor of Katsina State and that's exactly what he's doing.

By crying wolf where there's none, I can only conclude that the author's objectives were far from sincere and closer to an early campaign for 2019 for the PDP. He summarised his motives in the last paragraph of his 'analysis. He wrote and I quote:

"While the APC boils in the state, Mr Masari’s immediate-past predecessor, Ibrahim Shema, is gaining the support of the youths over alleged persecution by the governor". Unquote.

Please don't ask me where APC is boiling in Katsina or from which misguided youth is Shema gaining support over alleged 'persecution'. That the author chose to see the sincere effort of Governor Masari to make Shema accountable for the rape and abuse of Katsina State for 8 years as PERSECUTION says more about the motives and objectives of the author than the scripted balderdash he intended to spoon fed the public as honest analysis.