2023: Group purchases Zamfara governorship forms for Gusau

By Matthew Eloyi

A group of indigenes of Zamfara on Tuesday purchased the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship nomination and expression of interest forms for Malam Abubakar Gusau ahead of the 2023 general election.

The group, “Zamfara Rescue Initiative,” comprised people of diverse backgrounds cutting across party lines, including top business leaders, youth leaders, Zamfara indigenes abroad, friends and well-wishers of the people of Zamfara.

The Coordinator of the group, Mr Musa Bello, while presenting the forms to Gusau in Abuja, said that the dire condition of the state motivated the patriotic citizens to rally round with the sole aim of rescuing the state from underdevelopment.

Bello said that the initiative believed that the only way to re-engineer Zamfara was by identifying and supporting a credible candidate to run as governor, regardless of political affiliation.

He said that after a painstaking process that involved considering several prospective candidates, they settled for Gusau to run as governor of the state in 2023 on the platform of the PDP.

In his words, “In giving effect to this resolution, the initiative sought for contributions from its members and raised funds to purchase the forms from the PDP National Secretariat earlier today.

“There is no gainsaying that since its creation in 1996, Zamfara has fallen short of all expectations owing to lack of meaningful progress, largely due to a deeply entrenched leadership deficit.

“Indeed, the vision of Zamfara’s founding fathers has been destroyed beyond comprehension. Prior to its creation, Zamfara was one of the top three commercial centres in the North.

“Indeed, there were textile industries, cotton ginneries, confectionaries factories, oil mills, etc, that provided employment to our teeming youth population.

“Unfortunately, all of these have now become historical artefacts, with the state’s economy virtually grinding to a halt, resulting in unprecedented levels of poverty and deprivation across the society.

“In addition to this, even more critical aspects of development have been negatively affected by the lack of leadership.”

Bello added that the insecurity pervading the state through the activities of armed bandits had brought untold misery to Zamafara people, denying them peace and livelihood through farming.

Receiving the forms, Gusau expressed gratitude to members of the initiative, describing their gesture as a challenge and clarion call to service.

Gusau, who said he only got the invitation for the presentation two days ago, however said that he was going to continue with his wider consultations with stakeholders before making his final decision on whether to contest or decline.

He expressed confidence that the PDP would reclaim the governorship seat in 2023.