What APC has done for Sardauna People- Ambassador Hassan Jika
• Says Abubakar Bawa Using Hausa/Fulani Muslim communities in Sardauna for political games
Alhaji Hassan Ardo Jika is the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State from Sardauna Local Government, in this interview with Taraba Truth and Fact Newspaper, he reacted to recent claims by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa that his party is misleading Hausa/Fulani Muslim communities in Sardauna.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa, has said that some APC leaders in Sardauna LGA are misleading the Hausa/Fulani Muslim communities not to support Governor Darius Ishaku's government. What is your reaction to this?
I think that is completely false because any responsible person will never support injustice and if that is the support they want, I am not speaking for Hausa/Fulani because I am not the leader of Hausa/Fulani, but I am a leader of people of Sardauna LGA irrespective of tribe, religion, or area that you come from, I am speaking minds of responsible people of Sardauna LGA that we will not support injustice. We support justice and we stand for justice and what he said was because of his own inability to interpret what support is all about and what justice is all about he felt we are not supporting the governor. But he forgot that we cannot support the governor when it comes to injustice because injustice has been melted on some section of the group in Sardauna LGA, particularly the Hausa/Fulani especially with what happen in 2017. so that is completely false, wrong, mischievous, misleading and unacceptable.
Okay, Abubakar Bawa said that the APC controls the police, other security agencies and largely the judiciary system is not controlled by the state government and it's an independent arm of the government, but what as APC and its leaders in Sardauna LGA done to effect justice base on what has happened to Hausa/Fulani community in Sardauna LGA in the past?
I really appreciate this question. It is timely, correct, precise and concise. Let me tell you, you are a journalist, all of us are educated and vast in proficiency of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Now, in answering your question, let me also ask this question. Who is the chief security officer in a state, is it not the governor? Constitutionally by law and by any standard that is one. Secondly, if he is saying that the police, the security agencies are under the control of the federal government then I ask recently not up to a week, the governor and his special adviser on political matters used the same police to arrest a political leader who is an Hausa/Fulani from Sardauna LGA and he is now the same person saying that the police is under the control of the apex government? How can you justify that? In the past, they have used same to arrest members of the APC, intimidate them, jail them, take them to court, who was in control of the security of the state then when they were doing that? We know that the security agencies are employees of the federal government but in the same vein they are been controlled by the state governor that is the naked truth.
Another point he raised was the judiciary, they said judiciary in under the absolute appointment, control and discipline of the state, and to buttress my point, when some members of the militia group were arrested from Sardauna LGA for killing Hausa/Fulani and destroying their properties and their cattle, they were arrested and brought down to Jalingo by the same police, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Police to release them with immediate effect and I have a copy of that letter and upon that single letter, the were released. So personally, I personally brought people who were stabbed, injured and battered before the Police Commissioner, the governor and three allies of him intervened that those guys be released and they refused to do anything about that, so who is in control of judiciary? Apart from that, when it became obvious that the governor and his ally are not ready to protect lives and properties in the LGA in 2017 genocide, we had to cry out to the federal government to assist us with the military and they assisted and sent military including sending a military patrol jet on the demands of people of Mambilla Plateau.
The question here sir, is that in what ways has the APC and its leaders help to ameliorate the sufferings of the Hausa/Fulani communities in the LGA?
One, we are not talking about Fulani alone and that is what I want you to understand. Here, we are talking about the people of Sardauna LGA because some of them are not even Fulani but they are directly affected by the attacks. The federal government has sent relieve materials which have been distributed in Nugoroje and Gembu respectively times without number directly from the presidency as a result of our intervention and as a result of the intervention of some of us and that was why we were able to save the remaining life of those that were alive by insisting that the military should be sent. But, if we had not saved those lives, who are those people he will go and deceive to go and thank the governor now after the governor had already faulted the apex government for even sending the military? So, relieve material have been sent, and apart from that, well-meaning Nigerians like Dangote, Kwankwaso and others have sent their own assistance to those suffering in the LGA, they have visited them and after apart from that, General Dambazzau who was a minister visited Gembu. So, if today they are the same people when the federal government is trying to assist, definitely the federal government has to work with the state but it is the same state government and people like him that are sabotaging efforts of the federal government in assisting those victims. Let me add to that, right now as I speak to you, the N-power, the school feeding, all these are program of the federal government which he has sent to states but the same person that is talking hijacked this and gave it to his cronies, friends, sons and daughters in Sardauna LGA and these are federal government projects.
Okay, one of the things Alhaji Bawa said in his interview is that the APC members did not visit the displaced people when they were out of the country and that some of the APC member were faulting efforts of the government in supporting the displaced people don't even know where those that have been returned, that have been brought back by the state government to the state don't even know where they are or how they are faring. How much are in touch with your people?
Firstly, contrary to what he said, those claims were a blunt and blatant lie because the state government did not bring any body back from the Republic of Cameroon. Secondly, the visit of APC member, I personally was in Gembu and many others and Kwankwaso then was in APC, he was in Gembu , Danbazzau was a minister in APC then, he was in Gembu and numerous others across Nigeria, they have visited Gambu Mambilla Plateau and everybody has given his or her own contribution in different ways.
So, I don't know what he meant by alleging that APC members did not visit the victims and displaced person. Just like Dangote did when he took N50million and handed it over to the state government and the same government sat on it and later said they have distributed 300milion while they never mentioned to us the amount given by Dangote and many others who contributed to the course. It was announced publicly that the federal government sent assistant to states suffering from attacks but it was diverted by the government in power. So, you are talking about a visit, is it the federal government duty to organize a visit or the state?
Cuts in… No, he was talking about APC leaders from Mambilla?
From where? who are those APC leaders? Look, I am among those who have visited Mambilla among APC stalwarts in the country and the federal government have sent delegations times without number to Mambilla Plateau and Jalingo. The President himself have gone to Jalingo so which visit is he talking about? What we are after is, what can we do that would touch the lives of the citizen? look at the Mambilla Hydro, they are the ones frustrating the project up till today and if he is talking about visiting the governor, why not take all the tribes why select few of his family members.
After the visit, there has been lot of political activities in the LGA, particularly a lot of APC member are decamping to PDP on the Plateau, how strong is the party in the LGA?
You see those people that he claimed to have gathered that have decamp to PDP, I am telling you they are the same leaders of PDP who were with him from time immemorial even when they visited the governor, some of these people were hired in Jalingo just to go and visit the governor and deceive him that he has supporters in Sardauna LGA. But try to check the lists of those who visited, you will realize that all of them were members of the PDP and such deceit cannot take us anywhere. Because, no right thinking person whose father, mother, brother was killed, and sisters and daughters were raped, properties and cattle were burnt under the government watch and then you asked such person to decamp and join the same political party who looked away during such situation? How is that even possible?
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