One Isa Sadiq Achida, who parades himself as the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto State, has in a press conference, raised issues on the loan of N28 billion that the Sokoto state government plans to secure to finance its ongoing development initiatives.
This response is to Achida, not in his self-acclaimed capacity as the chairman of Sokoto state All Progressives Congress (APC) but as an indigene of the state. For, it is now known nationwide, that the party executive committee which Achida previously headed, has been kicked out of office in the last congress of the party, in rejection of his and his sponsors’ reactionary brand of politics and primitive opposition style.
Achida’s remarks on the current loan that the Administration of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal seeks and its ongoing transformation drive are a manifestation of complete lack of awareness on contemporary development practices that characterizes his group. His recent tirade is as usual, marked by sheer ignorance and adds nothing of value to the discussion on governance in the state.
The impression that Achida attempted to create that Sokoto is second only to Lagos as Nigeria’s most indebted state is false, misleading and thus mischievous. Actual statistics, which Achida’s criticism, characteristically refused to refer to, in fact put the Sokoto as the 21st in the list of indebted states in Nigeria, regardless of the current loan that the government is seeking.
The fear expressed by Achida that the loans being secured by Tambuwal may leave for Sokoto state, an unbearable debt burden is both treacherous and mediocre. Facts from the global states of states report ranks Sokoto seventh among states with a balance of public revenue to invest in capital projects after repayment obligations to lenders and recurrent expenditure.
Complimentary to this and contrary to the deliberate misinformation that detractors are spewing, Sokoto is second out of the 36 states in Nigeria with comparative latitude to borrow more due to their low debt burden, as captured in the State of States report. Achida’s ignorance of this fact is however not surprising because he has no inkling of how and where to source or even comprehend credible information.
Sokoto state’s actual debt profile was resoundingly restated at the state’s citizens forum for the 2022 budget, where all speakers on the subject acknowledged the state’s low debt status and suggested the sourcing of more loans to fund projects. Most of the participants at the meeting were civil society groups whose opinion is based on accurate information on the issue.
Achida’s erroneous position is obviously inspired by the outright lie by one Dr Abubakar Alkali, who previously published a misleading analysis of Sokoto State’s debt status. That an academic, whose statements should be guided by facts could stoop so low as to conduct himself thus far below the ethical mark of intellect, is to say the least, unfortunate.
Alkali has proved beyond doubt to be a symbol of the intellectual, ethical and moral slide being experienced in the ivory tower. People like him, whose only claim to high educational accomplishment is the certificate they manage to acquire, are a liability to the society by lending themselves to unscrupulous politicians with reactionary agendas.
The claim by the pseudo-academic and the ex-APC chairman that loans secured by Tambuwal administration are “unexplained”, exposes the negativity that inspires the attitude of certain elements to all issues. But their attempts to pull down Tambuwal’s transformation drive are regarded by the discerning public as the mischief of misguided wailers, who are rejected both by the masses and their own political party.
The people of Sokoto state cannot be distracted from the numerous legacy projects being carried out across the state by Governor Tambuwal. And Achida’s claim that his capital projects are as a result of prodding by the APC is the most self-deluding part of his statement, an absurd assertion that stands against the reality of the numerous abandoned projects he inherited from the purported leader of their party and completed.
Tambuwal’s projects in Sokoto state are too imposing to be diminished by baseless accusations. The infrastructure being put up in education, health, transportation, water supply and social development are too imposing to be dismissed by makers of crude mischief.
Leaders of APC at national level came, saw and commended the advances Sokoto state is making under Aminu Waziri. These included President Muhammadu Buhari, who in 2017 applauded Tambuwal for completing the 500 Kalambaina housing units and other projects abandoned by APC’s ex-governor Wamakko, years before the end of his final term.
The most recent accolades by an APC chieftain for Tambuwal’s achievements was House of Representatives Leader, Ado Doguwa who, on a visit to Sokoto last week, applauded the sectoral transformation of the state under the current government. This opinion is shared by many other prominent APC personalities like ministers, governors and legislators.
It bears mention however, that Achida and his factional APC are elements who have cast themselves into marginality by their disability to break away from the primitive politics of the past. Their failure to realize that development is more crucial to the people than partisanship has counted them out of the progressive politics being practiced at all levels in contemporary Nigeria.
Shekara is Special Adviser to Governor Tambuwal on Public Affairs
