As the gubernatorial battle intensifies in Niger State, Governor Babangida Aliyu has adopted a policy of aggressive campaigning across the state, especially in his opponents domain. Dipo Laleye reports.IN the 2007 general election, the gubernatorial battle was between incumbent Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu and Barrister David Umoru. Aliyu was the standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Umoru flew the flag of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).Even though both Aliyu and Umoru are from the same senatorial zone and the same emirate, Minna emirate, Umoru had a better outing in the zone because of the sympathy the Gwaris, who are dominant in the zone, had for him and General Mohammadu Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of the ANPP then. Aliyu, however, fared better in the two other zones, which accounted for his ultimate victory in the governorship election.As both Umoru and Aliyu got the nods of their parties for the gubernatorial race, it is clear that a titantic battle is in the offing again between the two brothers, especially in the Niger East Senatorial District.This may have been why, when Governor Aliyu received the flag of his party at the Trade Fair Complex late February, he vowed to carry out an aggressive campaign as if he was seeking the mandate of the people for the first time.We will go about this campaign as if this is the first time we are going to contest election; we will not say because we are in government and the people like what we are doing, we will go to sleep.By the statement, Aliyu sent a message to Umoru and other contenders for the Niger State GRA Government House that this time around, it is a serious business.Aliyu has, therefore, been going about the campaign for his re-election with all the seriousness it deserves, even when two more serious contenders, Alhaji Bawa Bwari, former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives and Alhaji Bagudu Shettima of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), have entered the race.The Niger East Senatorial District, therefore, becomes the battle ground for both Aliyu and Umoru, who, at the last minute, picked the ticket of the ANPP after the party had been embroiled in crisis over nomination of the candidate for the April 16 gubernatorial election.The ANPP crisis seems to have eroded the popularity of the party on the campaign field. However, Governor Aliyu took the battle to the lions den, daring it to devour him if it still had the capacity.From Pandogari to Kagara and from Kagara to Kuta and from Kuta to Sarkin -Pawa and Gawu Babangida as well as Tafa, Aliyu, for almost four days and four nights, took his re-election message to the people. His major foe, the ANPP, seemed to have lost most of its sting, at least going by the large number of people that thronged the venues of all the campaign rallies.Though crowds at campaign rallies are not the proper barometer for measuring the acceptance or popularity of a candidate, when the crowd is active, it signals that the future is very bright for the party and its candidate.The electorate at Kagara and Pandogari did not hide their desire and determination to change from the ANPP to the PDP, as their leaders openly told Governor Aliyu and his deputy that they would cast their ballots for him, but reserved their opinion on the issue of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after Governor Aliyu had asked them to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan.The reaction of the supporters was cold, resulting in Aliyu telling them that it is God that gives leadership to whoever pleases him, adding that if it is Gods wish that Jonathan will be elected, no human being can stop him.The supporters also disagreed with the governor over the choice of the PDP for the House of Assembly candidate. The PDP had picked the House leader, Alhaji Haruna Labaran, as its candidate for the fourth time running, and the people felt that even the three terms he had spent as their representative had not been in their best interest.To show their seriousness about voting out Alhaji Labaran, they openly displayed the poster of their favoured candidate in another party placed side by side with that of the governor.The PDP candidate also promised to begin the implementation of a new master plan for the development of Pandogari and Allawa because of the roles played by the the two communities in the socio-economic development of the state and the country, especially as the gateway between the northern and southern parts of the country.The master plan, he said, would entail the shifting of development of the towns inwards and turning the areas to mega cities where all social amenities would be provided.There is no way one will go into the lions den without being scathed; only the Biblical Daniel has been able to perform this feat. All those that tried after him became food for the carnivorous animal. The very successful campaign of Governor Aliyu at Kuta and Gwada, where the people, in their thousands, threw their weight behind the second term aspiration of the PDP candidate, was Daniel-like.Aliyu had told the people that he would win the April 16 gubernatorial election and promised to continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.If you want to come to Government House, if you want good roads and potable water, vote me as your governor. I have not disappointed you and I will not disappoint you. Show me I am your own, show me I am one of you by voting me and all PDP candidates in the election, he said.Aliyu reminded the people that he was one of them because he had his roots in the area and also married from Shiroro Overseas, as Erena, the country home of his wife Jumai, is normally described.But there were some people who attended the campaign of the governor from the area but had not contributed to its development. They may have been responsible for the attack the campaign train recorded from some miscreants, leading to the damage done to some of the vehicles in the campaign team, including those of the deputy governor, Ahmed Musa Ibeto, and Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta, the senatorial candidate of the PDP who is seeking a return to the upper chamber of the National Assembly for the second time.Five youths believed to have been sponsored by a rival political party were immediately apprehended in connection with the incident, which did not stop the campaign train from moving to Sarkin-Pawa in the Munya local government area of the state, where former Niger state Deputy Governor, Dr Shem Zagbayi Nuhu, was on hand to mobilise the people in their local language.The former deputy governor, a member of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidential campaign organisation, used the occasion to drum up support for the president and Governor Aliyu, saying votes for the two candidates would usher in peace and tranquillity, not only in their area but for Nigeria as a whole.Zagbayi reminded the people that the concept of ward development projects introduced by the government of Governor Aliyu had been able to carry development to the door steps of ordinary people in all the nook and crannies of the state and that a vote for the governor would ensure continuation of these developments.Just as Dr Zagbayi was resting his case, a mild drama occurred where people scampered for safety over a fake bomb scare. The rally later continued and Governor Aliyu made a joke of the incident by asking those who still feared explosions to consult him for supernatural protection over such matters.
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