Gombe State Governor and a presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, has praised the leadership of the party for rejecting the proposal for a micro-zoning to pick its standard bearer for the 2019 presidential election among its various aspirants.
Dankwambo, who spoke through his campaign organisation, commended the leadership of the PDP for its quick and timely response in jettisoning the demand for micro zoning arrangement among its presidential aspirants, especially those from the North West geo-political zone in the primary election scheduled for October 5, 2018.
North East deserves priority, not North West, which has produced five heads of state
The Director, Media & Strategic Communication, Dankwambo Presidential Campaign Organisation, Dr. Ayoade Adewopo, told our correspondent in Abuja that every Nigerian with credible and genuine credentials deserved the right to contest the highest office in the country.
Adewopo, however, said if such condition as micro zoning should be considered, “for the purpose of fairness, equitable distribution of power and to forge a formidable front in the 2019 presidential election, the North East zone deserves priority in that regard, not the North West, which has produced five out of the nine heads of states of the country from the North till date, while the North East has only produced one and that was over 50 years ago. The North East is the most marginalized zone in Northern Nigeria.
“It is on record that the only leader ever produced from the North East zone was late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the selfless and dedicated Prime Minister, who served the nation from 1960 to 1966 with all he had, including his dear life. The North East zone and the country, by extension, is about to recover the loss, 52 years after Sir Tafawa Balawa’s demise, as another true son of the zone, Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, the Executive Governor of Gombe State, has been trumped up for election as President of Nigeria on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“By providence, Dankwambo, a fellow of the Institutes of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria, Chartered Economists and Chartered Bankers, has proved to be exceptional from his childhood till date. Dr. Dankwambo is obviously cut out to take on the baton from where Sir Balewa dropped it 52 years ago. Dr. Dankwambo’s exceptional brilliance, coupled with his transparency as a chartered accountant of repute, has been tested and trusted since he graduated 33 years ago,” Adewopo declared.
Continuing, Adewopo said, “After the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, he joined Coopers & Lybrand, now Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), a multinational accounting firm open only to thoroughbred accountants around the world. Dankwambo thereafter joined the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1989, where he also served as a board member with enviable track records.
“Dr. Dankwambo later answered the call of his people to become Gombe State Accountant-General in 1999, the position he held till 2005, when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo identified his mettle and brought him into the National Economic Team as the Accountant-General of the Federation, where he equally served three Nigerian Presidents meritoriously.
“It is worth mentioning that he occupied that position for six years unblemished. His unique ideas are still being explored till date, including the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Integrated Payrol and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), which are being celebrated and lauded by both former President Goodluck Jonathan(GCFR) and the sitting President Muhammadu Buhari(GCFR).
“Dr. Dankwambo joined active politics in 2011, when he contested and won Gombe State Governorship election and later became the only PDP Governor that returned to office, not only in the north but the entire country in 2015. Gombe State, unarguably, is a microcosm of Nigeria, where indigenes freely practice the two major religions (Islam and Christianity) without hindrance while people of various ethnic groups are flourishing till date. Even at the height of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East and some other parts of the country, the Dankwambo-led Gombe State was least affected. His passion for human capital development is very visible as shown in the successive national data.”
The spokesman for the campaign organisation added, “Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, unarguably, a silent achiever, reputed for not making a carnival out of any project delivered by his government, saying “that is the basic work we were elected to do.” For Dankwambo, nepotism, religion or any other form of association remain irrelevant, when it comes to service to humanity. He is an irredeemable proponent of justice and fairness in all aspects of human endeavour, saying “militancy, insurgency and every other vices in the world today blossom due to lack or neglect of justice to aggrieved parties.’
“Dankwambo’s quest for Nigeria’s presidency is driven by his desire to ensure effective use of abundant resources of the nation to the benefit of all and without promoting exploitation of one side over the other, including relationship between government and the governed at all levels. His knowledge of ICT makes him to passionately believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will highly reduce loss of human and material resources in the area of security. How best can our party, PDP, put up a formidable fight in the race for the 2019 presidential elections and latch on the increased political awareness of the electorates across the nation, if not by fielding a candidate with national and internationally acceptable evidence of good stewardship and an unblemished record of accountability? Loyalty to the party, integrity, capacity and patriotism should be the rudders of our great party in its quest to return to power and help Nigeria to favourably compete in the comity of other nations with abundant resources like ours.”
