A geroup of Borno indigenes living in Lagos and other parts of the Southwestern States of Nigeria has told ex-Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff that he had no right to impose an associate of his, Alhaji Mohammed Imam as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state.
Sheriff had allegedly refused allowing Imam to marry his daughter on the basis that Imam was not a “responsible man”.
Borno PDP had on December 11, 2014 after a meeting in Abuja, attended by President Goodluck Jonathan, National chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu and other stakeholders, adopted Alhaji Gambo Lawan as the party’s governorship.
However, former Governor, Sheriff, allegedly on Wednesday, 24th December, 2014, replaced Lawan’s name with that of Imam.
Lawan has, however, filed a suit at a Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging his substitution.
The tussle over the PDP governorship influenced the Wednesday’s briefing in Lagos by YERWA-OODU’A SOCIO-ECONOMIC SOCIETY, a union of Concerned Indigenes of Borno State in Southwestern States of Nigeria.
Text of the group’s briefing, held at Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos, was titled “2015 and the Future of Borno People: URGENT MATTERS ARISING.”
The statement signed by the group chairman, Alhaji Kachalla G. Bulama and Haruna Womdio, the secretary reads in part:
“It is very important for us to inform the general public that from 2007 to 2011, this same Alhaji Mimam went into courtship with the first daughter of former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff (SAS). Her name is Hadiza. Imam was so much in love with that lady and many people in Borno knew about it. Imam was at that time about 40 years or so, but Sheriff refused to allow Imam to marry her because he said Imam was not responsible.
“We will not go into specifics about his character; you can please investigate that yourselves. As journalists, you that should lead the public to making informed decisions. Imam was mostly living in hotels whenever he was in Maiduguri. He had houses in Maiduguri and didn’t lack money. Imam travels almost all the time to Dubai for reasons we don’t know and we don’t want a governor that will relocate the Borno state government to Dubai. Nobody can clearly point what Imam does for a living.
“He is known to have a network of rich friends here and there. Imam dropped out of school when his peers became graduates many years ago and he didn’t lack anyone to pay his fees because his father wasn’t a poor man. He only returned to university of Maiduguri about five years ago. Till date, we don’t know the status of his education. SAS refused to allow imam to marry his daughter and that made them become open enemies. In February, 2011, SAS married out his daughter to another man who took her out of Borno state, perhaps Kano or Abuja.
“When Imam finally got a woman to marry in 2012, SAS boycotted Imam’s wedding on the argument that Imam was an irresponsible man who do not deserve his presence. SAS also directed his close associates not to attend the wedding. Mind you, the lady imam married was a cousin to the wife of SAS.
“Now, how could SAS today impose on the people of Borno state the same man he refused to allow him become his son-in-law because he was not a responsible man? Why should a man who was not suitable for his own daughter suddenly become suitable to manage the affairs of over three million people of Borno state under a difficult time that requires a governor with extraordinary qualities of leadership? What have we done to SAS in Borno that he wants to sacrifice our future just for his political interest? Have we done anything wrong by electing him twice as governor and three times as a senator? Some of our members voted for SAS in 2003 and 2007 as governor under the app. some voted PDP.
“We are worried because we have seen what happened in Ekiti State and we all know the developments there today, whether good or bad. We have no interest in whether the APC in Government in Borno State retains the seat or not, all we want is a credible person in PDP such that whoever Allah chooses to become Governor of Borno will be someone we can look up not someone that will allow Borno to disappear due to terrible leadership. There is a common saying in the northern Nigeria that “JUMMA’A MAI KYAW TUN DAGA LARABA A KE GANE SHI” in direct translations it means ‘A Friday that will be good gives sings by Wednesday’ but the wisdom here is that you can predict whether something will be good or bad in future based on what you see today, ahead of the future.
“Ahead of Mohammed Imam as Governor, we see a bad Friday and this is not good for Borno. Some of you may ask why don’t we refuse to vote Imam if we think he is not good. But we all know how politics works and how our kind of democracy is. SAS is close to the Presidency; we do not want to take chances. Borno is greater than any individual and we will do anything legal to safeguard Borno. Borno is a friend to you in need today; Borno State can become a friend indeed to you tomorrow.
“We know the developments going on in Borno and we are all full of hope that the problems will one day end if our leaders in the State remain committed as they are now. Recent political development makes one afraid for the future of Borno State. We are not card carrying members of any party but we want the best candidates in the major political parties in Borno, that is the APC which is in Government and the PDP, the main opposition in Borno. In politics, anything can happen no matter what expectations people have for a particular person. This is why we prefer both APC and PDP to have credible candidates for the Governorship so that in the event anyone of them wins, Borno State will have a good future.
“However, as we speak today, Sheriff has imposed on the PDP a person that is not fit in any way to be a Governor of Borno even in normal times not to talk of the critical time Borno has found its self. We reiterate that Alhaji Mohammed Imam was on Wednesday, 24th of December, 2014 dubiously imposed as the new candidate of the PDP. His name was smuggled in to replace the validly elected Governorship candidate in the person of Alhaji Gambo Lawan that was elected by delegates and given certificate of return by the INEC. We are not really concerned with the political intricacies in PDP but we are concerned with the person of Alhaji Mohammed Imam in the event that kind of man is to become the Governor of Borno State with all our challenges”.
The group had earlier explained the existence of its group, saying it was established to support indigenes of the State living in the Southwest.
“By way of a short introduction, our union is the coming together of some indigenes of Borno State operating in different States within the Southwest of Nigeria, for the sole aim of helping ourselves and being our brothers keepers through economic support for one another. We do this in the form of having cooperative ‘Adashi’, which we give as loan to anyone of us in need to pay back without interest. Wwe help each other to start businesse; help each other with links to customers and other business contacts and we are always there for each other to offer moral support at the time of need and at happy social events.
“We have members who go to Dubai, China, Malaysia and many European countries to do businesses. We are not a poor organization even though many of our members are not really educated. As a policy all our members have something doing. We have our rules and we have been a silent union that is open only to our members.
“Gentlemen of the Press, we are holding this press briefing because we are concerned with what is happening in Borno State and it affects our relations and all of us. Every one of us has either lost a relation or friend or his community has been affected one way or the other by the unfortunate developments in Borno State. Some of us here have families who escaped to us to take refuge in our houses in the southwest.
“Some of us have businesses in Borno that have collapsed. Many of us used to bring in some Agricultural products from Borno to Lagos and the southwest but everything has stopped today because farmers cannot go to farmlands in many parts of Borno, while cattle cannot go for grazing. In short, we are directly affected by the crisis in our State” the group explained.
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