Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State
By Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Thursday stirred the hornet’s nest when he described opposition parties as a “sanctuary for failures.”
Lamido, fielding questions from reporters during a visit to the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, said many of the opposition parties were mere inventions brought about by the frustrations of their sponsors to achieve their political agenda.
According to him, “Other parties are mere inventions; inventions by frustration. From 1998 to date, only the PDP has been consistent. Look at the All Peoples Party (APP), which has now transformed to the All Nigeria Peoples Party, going down by the day. The Alliance for Democracy (AD) does no longer exist, or do we say moribund. They are all a sanctuary for political failures.”
By his assessment, none of the opposition parties has the strength of character and durability of PDP which has remained the ruling party since the rebirth of democracy in Nigeria in 1999.
Of the three parties that heralded the extant democratic dispensation, only PDP has not transformed into another party, even though many of its founding members left the party to found others.
Reiterating the supremacy and national character of the PDP, the governor said the party is the only hope for Nigerians, adding: “PDP is the only hope for Nigeria. Therefore, we must work very hard. We can’t afford to fail Nigerians.
“Whenever there is a crisis in PDP, with political instinct and sagacity, we overcome our crisis. If ACN has one fifth of our crisis, they will evaporate.
“PDP as a party will do everything possible not to fail Nigerians and will do everything to make Nigerians prosperous. Whatever cynics say about the party, we will remain united. Other parties draw their strength and inspiration from PDP.”
On the security challenges in the country, the governor said what the country needed now is the understanding, unity and patience of all Nigerians, as “the crisis has translated into a fear syndrome. People are simply afraid and people are worried over how they will become free from fear.”
He called for a united front in fighting insecurity because there is no difference between insecurity in the North and South.
Commenting on the $3 million cash-for-clearance scandal rocking the House of Representatives, the governor said it should be seen as part of the national malaise that calls for the total overhaul of the country’s moral values.
He called for a reorientation of our moral values.
“The matter (corruption) is gradually getting out of hand, and the question is being asked that as a people, what do we do? It is a national phenomena, everybody must be able to say no, I won’t do it. There is a total need for a reorientation of our moral values.
“People in the National Assembly, government houses and the armed forces are products of the Nigerian environment. So, when we speak of corruption, are we upright? It is a very serious problem, it is not a case of Farouk Lawan or any other person; it is a Nigerian crisis. Why don’t we do some kind of self-reflection? It is a general Nigerian crisis,” he said.
PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, described Lamido as the leading political filament of the current generation, stating that with what he had seen in Jigawa during his campaign to become the party national chairman, the governor is one of the hardworking governors in the party