Gombe 2019: PDP will retain governorship seat ― Kera

GOMBE State chapter of the PDP has asserted that it will retain the governorship seat of the state at the end of the 2019 general elections just as it explained that what happened during the presidential campaign rally of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) held in Gombe state last Saturday was a clear indication that the President Muhammadu Buhari “is not comfortable with his party’s candidates and chieftains in the state and that was the reason they are seen as not being fit to be tied with.’’

The assertion was made by the Special Adviser to Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo on Media and Publicity who doubles as the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of the PDP Campaign Council in the state, Dahiru Hassan Kera while speaking with Journalists Tuesday on the APC rally, saying that the President was with Governor Dankwambo at all the places he visited in the state except the venue of the rally and had allegedly shunned the APC leader Senator Danjuma Goje and other APC candidates in the state adding that what has infuriated them was how the President publicly appreciated and acknowledged the warm reception accorded to him by Governor Dankwambo whenever he visited the state in spite of their political differences.

According to him, Muhammadu Buhari has more regard for Governor Dankwambo than many of the APC chieftains in the state because most of them were his adversaries.

Hassan Kera further said that, “There was glaring indication that Muhammadu Buhari was not comfortable with his party chieftains in Gombe state because most of them were his adversaries particularly the self-acclaimed APC leader in the state, Senator Danjuma Goje who denied Buhari access to the stadium, the same venue where the Saturday’s presidential rally took place when he was Governor in 2007 and at certain time, he denied him landing at Gombe airport by stationing water tank on the runway of the Lawanti Airport. He was Buhari’s antagonist for a very long time.”

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“So Buhari wasn’t comfortable with him being the leader of the party in the state. Secondly, the same gubernatorial candidate that Buhari raised his hand in 2015 and failed to deliver is the same person Goje is bringing this time around,” he said.

Hassan Kera also alleged that there was also a mild drama during the rally at the stadium where Goje had to ask Buhari to raise his hand as a Senatorial candidate which the President allegedly did reluctantly adding that the President, however, didn’t mention the name of any APC candidate throughout the rally “which was an indication that he was not comfortable with them.”

“Another point is that throughout Buhari’s stay in Gombe, he wasn’t accessible to his APC leaders, and he was with Governor Dankwambo throughout. The only place he was without Dankwambo is the stadium. Dankwambo received him at the airport; they went to the State University together, from there they travelled with Mr President to flag off oil exploration project (in Bauchi), and the came back to (Gombe) emir’s palace where the president appreciates Dankwambo’s humility. At the palace, Buhari asked the monarch to thank Dankwambo on his behalf for the honour he did to him. So his (Governor’s) relationship with Buhari is more cordial than with the APC chieftains in the state,” he pointed out.

Hassan Kera also said that base on the current obvious reasons and the antecedents of those who ganged up in the APC, the party will lose the 2019 elections again in Gombe state noting that despite the Buhari ‘tsunami’ in 2015, PDP retained many seats and opined that the ‘tsunami ‘is no longer in place now.