By Tukur Mamu
After presiding over the most compromised Red Chamber in the history of Nigeria’s democracy and the failure to get the presidential ticket of the APC through a fraud called “consensus”, the SP, Sen. Ahmed Lawan even after eating his cake is determined to still have it.
He has been in the National Assembly without any benefit to the people of his constituency, senatorial zone and Yobe State at large for over two decades. He probably wants to remain there for the rest of his life. This is after plots to make his own biological son a member of the House of Representatives woefully failed.
This can only happen in a state like Yobe where there is endemic poverty, ignorance and a state where leadership positions are being ‘allocated’ not on the basis of competence but loyalty to the political authorities. Ahmed Lawan, having known his ways took that advantage for many years until recently when by Allah’s will, signs are clear that owing to his greed and blind ambition to succeed President Buhari which has failed despite the power play and intrigues that he will soon be forced to retire from the business that earned him so much money and influence but yet with no benefit to the people of his state.
If there is any achievement or what the people of Yobe will remember Lawan with is his politics of tribalism and how he institutionalized nepotism in the politics of the state; an act that benefited a clique within his tribal group. Other tribes in Bade, Jakusko and indeed his entire senatorial zone did not benefit at all from his largesse of influencing employment opportunities and appointments.
As Sen. Kashim Shettima aptly captured, Sen. Lawan despite the opportunities has NOT succeeded in creating and earning that brand name for himself even in his senatorial zone not to talk of Yobe or the nation. President Buhari and other major stakeholders in APC knows very well that his potential presidential candidacy of the party even if few have succeeded in manipulating in his favour will be a walk over in a free and fair election. The PDP would have gotten the presidency on a platter of gold.
Having convincingly failed to secure the APC’s presidential ticket largely due to his woeful performance as the SP, lack of popularity in both Yobe and Nigeria, and for wasting over two decades at the National Assembly to the benefit of ONLY himself, efforts are now being intensified through threats and blackmail after failure to compromise/induce Bashir Machina to relinquish the mandate he freely got to represent the APC in his Yobe North Senatorial District through frivolous petitions to instigate the EFCC against him.
Ahmed Lawan is also determined to take maximum advantage of his relationship with the presidency and the APC National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu to deny Bashir Machina his lawful mandate. The SP is only being clever by half even as it could be a divine nemesis for him. He shouldn’t have supported at whatever cost from the first place the likes of Bashir Machina to get the senatorial ticket of his zone in case of such predictable eventuality.
He should have financed a puppet, somebody that can easily be compromised with money, somebody that is not close to the political leadership of his state. He is now at the mercy of very influential and powerful political gladiators that are determining the politics of the state. To my understanding, there are ONLY two personalities in Yobe State today that can pacify or talk to Machina to drop the mandate given to him. They know themselves and I urge them to please in the interest of the suffering people of that zone to resist any pressure from the SP to that effect.
At whatever cost Bashir Machina must not allow himself to be compromised. He should be mindful of the political future he is building for himself. Money or appointment can never buy the price of integrity. He must resist and continue with conscience. We will deploy whatever we have free of charge in his favour and in his support in the interest of the people Ahmed Lawan misrepresented over the years. I am particularly very happy that in view of the intrigues and desperation by the SP to deny him his mandate, he promptly wrote to the National Chairman of his party, stating unequivocally his position. By law, it is now a settled issue until Machina decides to do otherwise which we pray he will not.
I also urged President Buhari, Governor Mai Mala Buni and Sen. Abdullahi Adamu to resist whatever pressure from Ahmed Lawan or anybody that will be sponsored in that regard. If after spending over 20 years in the National Assembly, Sen Lawan did not have the goodwill, support and confidence of his people to warrant Bashir Machina to freely drop his aspiration in his (Lawan’s) favour then it shows the kind of personality he is, how he has misrepresented his people over the years and how unpopular he has been even in his own senatorial zone.
Ahmed Lawan MUST accepts the reality that it is only Allah’s reign that last forever. Nobody holds the monopoly of leadership and power except Allah. Lawan has got his opportunity, he became the nation’s No 3 citizen by providence, by chance, not because he deserves it and he wasted it through greed and have compromised basic interests of over 250 million Nigerians as the SP.
History and posterity will judge his inept leadership at the upper legislative chamber. If I were him, I will be thankful to Allah and be contented for the divine elevation especially having come from the family of nobody to occupy such an exalted seat. But it is the promise of Allah that when you did not do good, when you abandoned your responsibilities and concentrate in blind accumulation, you will never be grateful, you will never enjoy such bounties or find peace with yourself.
Mamu is the Dan-Iyan Fika and Publisher/Chairman of DESERT HERALD Newspaper. He holds Masters Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.