By

Suleiman Musa Gombe

How time flies! So the saying goes. Here we are, preparing for 2023 general election, a time to vote and be voted for. At the same time, a time for electorate to take stocks of those who represented them in the last four years. A time to scrutinize dossiers of performance of Representatives in office with a view to make or mar them as they present themselves for election.

Senator Saidu Ahmed Alkali, currently representing Gombe North Senatorial District is contesting 2023 elections on the platform of the APC for the third time. As he contests alongside others, it is curious and incumbent on any rational mind to know his performances in the last 8 years.

Let me be quick, therefore, that I don’t want to be partisan, but to look at the issue at stake from the logical perspective. It’s reasonable for one to dissect issues between facts and fictions, between propaganda and reality. It is on this premise, I dare to say, Senator Ahmed Alkali has damning performance as Senator representing Gombe North Senatorial District in the last 8 years at the upper legislative chambers.

Maxim goes, “res ipsa loquitor”, facts speak for themselves. The social vices, lack of federal government infrastructure, under development, the lack of strong voices each time the Senatorial district was attacked/fracas are facts that speaks for themselves.

Very damning to an extent that he fears the unknown each time election approaches, hence, he resort to helping himself by ballot snatching in connivance with corrupt elements at the INEC system.

For now, it will be suicidal for the zone to fall prey, beguiled or hypnotised in voting Alkali again. The reason is very simple. The lawmaker hardly initiates, or sponsors motions that concern the zone he represents at the red Chambers.

For example, when there was floods and all in the Northern Senatorial district, Alkali did not raise the issue of urgent national importance to draw public empathy until his colleague from the Central district

Secondly, the unfortunate incident happened sometime this year, and since then, the Senator has neither visited the scene, nor called on the Federal government to send relief materials, or lobbied the Senate Committee on Nema to pick up the issue.

“Lobbying”, the world over, is a privilege of lawmakers to lobby for infrastructural development and it remains incomprehensible that the Senator representing Gombe North has never moved for the zone to be connected to the national grid.

Time has come for political office holders to see that they were not elected to the office for perks, but to trigger development. In Gombe North, development has eroded and was still eroding the zone. Of the three Senatorial district of Gombe State, the Central flank has two Federal Institutions, National Institutes of Transport technology and Federal Medical Centre which was sponsored and passed into law by Senator Goje. The question begging for answers is, what has Senator Alkali attracted to the zone in the last 8 years?

In as much as the electorate would not be exculpated in woes that betide the land for always being there for the Senator when he needed their votes, the lawmaker needed not belabouring himself that much, if he had performed.

It’s no wonder that he would always arm-twist APC primary election process and resorted to the coward’s alternative, thereby becoming a subject of legal fireworks thereafter.

For sure, 8 years was quite a long time. Political enlightenment of the electorate has grown alongside the election dynamics. A time when a politician is voted into office and suddenly disappeared only to emerge from the blues with handouts during election is gone. Now is time to try Alh. Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo PhD., OON (Talban Gombe), a man who has been tested and trusted from far and near.

Suleiman Musa writes from Gombe State.

I also had that Lagos state Speaker is also going for 3rd term as if he the only one in his area.