AL-HAU24news

By ESV Salihu Abdullahi Usuko

The former governor of Nassarawa State and the present Senator representing the good people of Nassarawa South Senatorial District Senator Umar Tanko Almakura according to multiple sources is ‘getting set’ to be a Minister in the next administration.

The Senator according to multiple sources is ‘getting set’ to be a Minister. Following his victory in the February 25 presidential poll, Tinubu is expected to be sworn in as president on May 29, 2023, to succeed Muammadu Buhari who is finishing his second term in office.

He is however expected to send the list of his ministers to the National Assembly within 60 days of his inauguration.

Buhari recently signed a bill that requires the president and governors to submit the names of persons nominated as ministers or commissioners within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or state house of assembly.

“Almakura has joined others to start warming up for appointment in Tinubu’s administration. He is getting set to become a minister.

“There’s every tendency for Almakura to be selected to be a minister because he is a good ambassador of the president elect Ahmed Bolaola Tinubu”

Senator Umar Tanko Almakura of Nassarawa South Senatorial District of Nassarawa State has been hailed by the president elect Ahmed Bola Tinubu for upholding the leadership ideals of President Muhammadu Buhari and supporting him all the time. He gave the commendation while appreciating the Senator for everything he did during the past presidential election.

Saying Senator Umar Tanko Almakura has been an advocate of a united Nigeria.
His struggle for Nigeria to have a great leader was a “loud testimony of his idealogy.

“He appreciated the Senator for standing up for a united Nigeria. He is a leader that possesses the leadership qualities of Mr President.”

“We are keeping track of the achievements of your administration in Nasarawa State and in National Assembly.
Senator Umar Tanko Almakura is always making the APC party proud. He has been promoting the core ideals of the great party”

Thank you Senator Umar Tanko Almakura for providing leadership in the North Central, for always displaying “exceptional statesmanship” in the face of challenges in the nation.

“The former governor is leaving no stone unturned to actualise his ambition to be part of the federal cabinet,”

“Distinguish people’s Senator Umar Tanko Almakura set for higher service”

No condition is permanent, the only constant thing in life is change. When it comes as it will, no force or mortal on earth can stop it. When God wants to reward his anointed who has done a lot for his people and prepare him for higher and greater responsibilities, he sometimes bring obstacles in form of disappointment to his way just to test his faith and belief before placing where he deserves or wants him to be.

This is exactly the case of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the architect of modern Nasarawa state, in the just concluded National Assembly election, even though the result of the election which was believed to have been rigged is being challenged in the tribunal to set the record straight and deepen the country’s democracy.

Small minds and ethnic bigots who see Al-Makura’s temporary loss as a great political setback to him and his political standing in Nasarawa politics are on the wrong side of history, living in a fool’s paradise. Al-Makura is not a loser, he is only on a new political journey to fulfil one of God’s plans for him which will further bring him into reckoning and national fame.

As the saying goes “For the victory of evil over good can only be temporary’. Those who mean well for their people and keep justifying the confidence reposed in them when entrusted with public responsibilities and submit their affairs to God will not be put to shame. Instead, they will continue to sour higher, triumph over their detractors, laugh last as there will be light for them at the end of the tunnel. After all, it is said, he who laughs last laughs best.

Al-Makura is God gift and project to Nasarawa whose light cannot be dimmed let alone quench in Nasarawa politics. His light will continue to shine in the politics of the state. History will be kind to him and have a special place for him in the politics and governance of the state. Consequently, those waiting or praying to see his downfall will wait till eternity without seeing his back until they return to their creator as he keeps souring higher to their disappointment.

For ethnic champions in Nasarawa south particularly from the beloved Alago nation and their blind followers rest assured that your laughter will be shortlived. Your understanding of politics is not beyond the confine of ethnicity as you celebrate Al-Makura’s re-election loss in what most political analysts describe as “ethnic solidarity”. This is in spite if all he has done for the state and the Alago nation in particular as governor and as senator.

Al-Makura will soon take up bigger and higher responsibility in the soon to be inaugurated APC led federal government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu while he will reclaim his stolen mandate even though he will give up the seat to continue with his new responsibility to assist the government he supported to victory to succeed and live up to the expectations of Nigerians.

Those who failed to learn from the lessons of history are bound to be doomed, which means that, no ethnic group or tribe in Nasarawa state, no matter its so-called numerical strength, can do it alone. We all need each other to move forward as a state. The ethnic politics imported to us by some retrogressive elements who have nothing to show in public offices for years will only take Alago nation to the path of self destruction.

It has continued to fail the Eggon nation and other ethnic groups in Nasarawa since 1999 in their quest to govern the state. We must be accommodating, fair and just to other ethnic groups in the zone just as they have also been fair to us by supporting us to occupy the senatorial seat of the zone for 16 out of 23 years of our return to democracy in 1999.

Al-Makura’s re-election loss is more of a blessing in disguise rather than a political summersault as believed by his detractors because even if INEC declared him winner of that election in a matter of few months he will heed the national call by relinquishing the seat to take up a ministerial appointment in the Tinubu government, especially now when big brains like him are needed to reset the country

Hate or like him, you cannot wish away his unprecedented legacies, footprints and intimidating record of achievements that turned Nasarawa state into a model of good governance and infrastructural development in Nigeria and made him indisputably the best performing governor the state ever produced since its creation.

This intimidating records of achievements in politics and governance of the state that stand him out will continue to speak for him and remain a reference point not only in the present but also for the coming generation.

Despite this temporary set back, Al-Makura can walk with his shoulders high and today remains a happy and fulfilled man. God did not put him to shame as all his efforts, sacrifices and investments towards Tinubu presidency which even caused him the exalted seat of APC national chairman are not in vain.

Within the four years he served as a senator just like his tenure as governor, the people of Nasarawa south benefitted from his effective representation as he impacted the lives of his people positively in all sectors, including skills acquisition, empowerment, among others.

Predictions are essentially what someone thinks will happen. Predictions are usually gueses often times based on available facts or evidence but not always. , ESV Salihu Abdullahi Osuko a media aide to the Senator representing the good people of Nassarawa South Senatorial District Senator Umar Tanko Almakura is known for making predictions.

Not long ago, Osuko predicted that his political party, the APC will win all the states in the North because according to him, there is no single state in the North West that is happy with the PDP. Of course, his prediction came to pass. He has again made another prediction and like his previous guess, this same prediction on who will make the cabinet of President-elect Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

Osuko certainly is never a Prophet , but his recent quip especially in the media accords Nigerians the opportunity to actually ponder on who will make the incoming cabinet of the President-elect.

Certainly, there will be those who will want to gate crash in their effort to be among those who will make the incoming cabinet. This is rather typical of our politics where competition for political office is not only intense but also demanding.

Predictions about who makes the cabinet of the incoming president are all part of the game, except that President-elect, Tinubu has since declared that competence and character would be the determining factor while constituting his cabinet.

Thus, for Tinubu, predictions such as propounded by Osuko, who is even a member of the same party APC, holds enough water with competence and character.

Recall that Tinubu made the declaration in a statement he personally signed entitled, “Nigeria : At the Cusp of Renewed Hope,” made available to newsmen, where he declared that it was time for politics to take backstage for governance and noted that only those who share his vision of good governance would make his blueprint for the nation attainable.

He said:” As your incoming president, I accept the task before me. There has been talk of a government of national unity. My aim is higher than that. I seek a government of national competence. In selecting my government, I shall not be weighed down by considerations extraneous to abiilty and performance.

“The day for political gamesmanship is long gone. I shall assemble competent men and women and young people from across Nigeria to build a safer, more prosperous and just Nigeria. There shall be young people. Women shall be prominent. Whether your faith leads you to pray in a church or mosque will not determine your place in government. Character and competence will.

“To secure our nation and to make it prosperous must be our top priorities. We cannot sacrifice these goals for political expediencies. The whims of politics must take a backseat to the imperatives of governance.”

Though the individuals osuko named in his most recent posts are men of real value, still his action hovers on his uncanny knack for second guessing and trying as much to make inferences regarding the selection of Nigerians that will make the cabinet of the President-elect.

Indeed, the names Osuko mentioned in his previous posts fit in with the benchmark set by the President-elect as most of them possesses both qualities required to make the cabinet list of the incoming administration. But so also political juggernaut like Senator Umaru Tanko Al-makura.

Senator Al-makura readily fits in with the calibre of Nigerians needed to make the President-elect’s cabinet list. The two-term governor of Nasarawa State is not only competent but has the required character to make Tinubu’s cabinet list.

Not only that, Senator Al-makura is a long term ally and confidant of the incoming President, with Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu publicly acknowledging the former’s consistency and honesty since the period leading to the merger that the APC into existence.

While addressing APC delegates from Nasarawa State in Lafia seeking support for his presidential aspiration, Tinubu has this to say about Senator Al-makura.

“I cannot forget one person, he was a lone ranger in one party called CPC and we pursue it, it was then I noticed the consistency, reliability and honesty of Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the former Governor of Nasarawa State.

“It is showing now that Al-makura has something in common with me, hunting the talent, producing the talent and standing by that talent and that is why you have Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State today.

“I must say, you people are extremely lucky, you are following the man who knows the way and that is my motto, follow me, I’m the only one who knows the way.”

Certainly, people must be made to remember that without Senator Al-makura, there won’t have probably been any merger that would have led to the formation of the ruling APC. It’s all history now but it’s still pertinent to emphasize that, Senator Al-makura being the only state governor under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), provided the platform for the entire Northern Nigeria to go into a political alliance with the South West led by Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

Again, just recently, Senator Al-makura allegedly lost his bid to become national chairman of the APC due to his perceived closeness to Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. It was alleged that certain powerful individuals felt with Senator Al-makura as the national chairman of the party, Tinubu will have an easy ride to clinch the presidential ticket of the party.

The former Nasarawa State governor was at the forefront of the support base for the emergence of Tinubu as first the presidential candidate of the APC and subsequently as the President-elect. Al-makura served as the head of Directorate of Support Groups at the Tinubu/Shetimma Independent Campaign Council, where he effectively mobilized and harnessed grassroots support for the presidential candidate of the APC.

A modest politician, Senator Al-makura is neither presumptuous nor harbours any sense of self-entitlement but he has paid his dues in the current political dispensation. Even his recent lost in his bid for another term at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, is seen by many as a blessing in disguise. Senator Al-makura is better suited to serve the incoming administration directly, where his visionary leadership, administrative competence and unparalleled passion in pursuit of the common good, will come to bear as the President-elect unfolds his vision for the country.

Of course, Senator Al-makura has remain a bastion of hope and inspiration to many and his towering political profile cannot not be sullied by the assumptions of especially some oppositions whose penchant for dillusionary predictions is legendary and who has only remained consistent in chasing shadows as he embark on a frivolous voyage of relevance seeking.

However, the incoming president is someone known for being meticulous while putting his team together. Tinubu will not be goaded by opposition.

“Senator Umar Tanko Al-makura is qualified for ministerial position and he will soon be rewarded for his hard work”

Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura will soon be rewarded by the next administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu the president elect and the APC as a minister for his hard work and unfailing support for the party.

Sen. Almakura the architect of modern Nasarawa state, representing representing Nasarawa south, Nasarawa state, is a man of history and destiny who does not take the electorate’s mandate for granted. Whenever given the opportunity to serve, he performs beyond expectations, leaving many agape marvelling at the secret behind his success. These attributes have not only kept him soaring in politics but stands him out among Nasarawa politicians.

His standing as a revered political leader in Nasarawa state today distinguishes him as a gold fish that has no hidden place in Nasarawa politics. Love or hate him, you cannot take away the fact that he is an embodiment of humility and a performer who has written his name in the sands of time in the politics, governance and development of the state which will be very difficult if not impossible to replicate let alone surpass in the history of Nasarawa state.

Al-Makura’s private and public life is characterised sacrifices and services to God and humanity. This is why he always triumph in his politics and always succeeds to put his detractors and ethnic champions to shame as their understanding of politics, governance and representation is not beyond ethnicity, which he has since buried when he was governor.

The Sardaunan Kwandare took Nasarawa politics by storm with his brand of progressive politics of development leaving his footprints in the sands of time which will continue to speak for him, and has been following him wherever he goes in his political sojourn to the awe of his detractors.

What distinguishes Al-Makura from his detractors, apart from his ability to spring surprises with performance, is the fact that, the senator did not venture into politics as an opportunist. This is unlike most of his detractors hiding under ethnicity to realise their selfish political interest. Al-Makura came into politics as a well established business man, astute and tested politician who has been in the political circle since in second republic, holding several positions.

Al-Makura was the state youth leader of the defunct National Oarty of Nigeria (NPN) in the then Plateau state in the second republic and member of its National Executive Committee. He was the state secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC) in the aborted third republic and held other political positions which culminated in his election to the House of Representatives representing Lafia/Obi federal constituency.

These were achieved after many years of hardwork, commitments, resilience and perseverance, having built a formidable business empire spanning beyond the shores of Nigeria – he has business tentacles and connections within and outside the country. Al-Makura’s simplicity, love for the common man, passion for humanity and penchant for development prompted the people of Nasarawa state to drag him into the gubernatorial race in 2011 to salvage the state.

He was arrested, detained and all coercive apparatus deployed against him all in a bid to frustrate his gubernatorial race. But Al-Makura refused to bend let alone break in his determination to salvage the people of the state. He made history as the only politician in Nasarawa to defeat an incumbent governor, leaving a legacy of the best performing governor since the creation of the state.

Within his eight years as governor, Al-Makura raised the bar of governance to its peak, re-wrote the development history of the state and turned Nasarawa into a model of good governance and infrastructural development in Nigeria with his legacies and footprints scattered across the state. This endeared him to the masses and made the people of Nasarawa south to elect him as their senator in 2019.

As a senator, Al-Makura has left no one in doubt that, his mission in the National Assembly is to serve the people of Nasarawa south with the same commitment, passion and zeal as he did as governor by giving his people effective and result-oriented representation that is second to none in the history of the senatorial district

Within his almost four years in the red chamber, the people of Nasarawa south have continued to reap true dividends of democracy with many achievements recorded. They include legislative responsibilities, project execution,, attracting federal presence to his constituency, among others.

As a senator, Al-Makura has continued to make the voice of his people heard not only in the National Assembly but also in Nigerian politics and governance. He glorified the name of his senatorial district and the state in the eyes of the world with his vibrancy, oratoral skills, intellectual prowess, frequent and brilliant contributions to debates, building more bridges which enable him to attract more projects to his people through various government ministries, departments and agencies.

Within four years as a senator, Al-Makura has construct and rehabilitated many urban and rural roads in all the five local government areas of his senatorial district. They include construction of rural access road in Shabu, Ashige-Ugah – Fadaman Bauna in Lafia local government area, among others.

On education, Al-Makura carried out massive renovation of schools, construction of classrooms, provision of educational materials to schools across his senatorial district where millions of naira was expanded geared towards reviving the education sector of Nasarawa south. Some of the benefiting schools include Danka Primary School near Kwandare, Randam Sarki Primary School, Gidan Sule Primary School Kadarko, Asha Primary School Azara, among others

Al-Makura has also made giant strides in the area of electrification and water supply which saw the distribution and installation of transformers to communities,, drilling of motorised boreholes, installation of integrated solar street lights in Lafia, Awe, Keana, Obi and Doma. He also supports community development efforts. There are also intervention in the healthcare and empowerment of women and youth

There is, therefore, no better way for the people of Nasarawa south to reciprocate Al-Makura’s gestures than coming out en masse on Saturday, February 25, 2023, to put ethnic bigots to shame by re-electing Senator Al-Makura to sustain the gains of people-centred representation. Al-Makura remains the best and one of the options to considered for ministerial position.

The relationship between Tinubu and Almakura dates back to the mid 90s during the struggle for democracy in Nigeria.

Earlier, there was a report on how some past governors and allies of the ‘President-elect’ were scheming to be part of Tinubu’s cabinet.

“Kano Governor Ganduje wants to be the Federal Capital Territory minister, El-Rufai wants the NSA (National Security Adviser) position, Fashola and Gbajabiamila want the Chief of Staff position.

“Wale Edun wants to be the Minister of Finance while Governor Bagudu wants to be the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,” a source had said.

When Tinubu was the Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007, Edun held the position of commissioner for finance in the state.

Kaduna State under El-Rufai has been one of the most terrorised states in the country, with bandits killing, kidnapping and wreaking all forms of havoc.

Meanwhile, over the years, Bagudu has been in the news for the wrong reasons, one of which was connected to moves by the US to help Nigeria repatriate millions of dollars from the British Island of Jersey.

The funds were part of the billions of dollars traced to Sani Abacha, the late military dictator who ruled Nigeria from November 1993 till his sudden death in June 1998, and his associates.

Shortly after the agreement was signed in the US, Bloomberg wire service reported that officials of the US Department of Justice (DoJ) kicked against plans by the Nigerian government to return $100 million to Bagudu from the Abacha loot.

The DoJ said in a February 3, 2020 statement that the Kebbi governor was part of a network controlled by Abacha that “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria”.

Bagudu was said to have created anonymous companies in the British Virgin Islands and other financial havens.

His offshore network system relied on a sprawling global industry of bankers, investment portfolio managers and go-betweens who worked together to protect his stolen wealth.

He also reportedly used anonymous companies, investment trusts and other paper entities to create complex structures to disguise the origins of Abacha’s dirty money.

“But Senator Umar Tanko Almakura will be rewarded as minister soon”

Al-Makura the former governor of Nassarawa State, who is also the Senator representing Nasarawa South in the National Assembly will soon be rewarded as a minister in the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is presently the president elect. He is really in a vantage position to clinch the position in the new administration.

He worked very hard for the party during the last presidential election and deserved to be rewarded as a minister.
He is prepared because this is a party that he was opportune to be at the very beginning amongst people who by providence came together with our leaders to find a common ground where we will consolidate the gains of our nationhood. Oh yes because never in the history of this country have we had an opportunity where every part of this country came together, despite our different tendencies to agree to work together as one united team – to ensure national unity and national cohesion. So with that opportunity to salvage this country, I feel at this point, when such efforts have yielded a lot of fruits, are good to go to the next level and we are faced with challenges of transition, he is truly ok for such position.

This is because the symbol of unity, the symbol of that success is on its way out in the next month. That is why he was motivated to partake in gunning and supported Sen. Ahmed Bola Tinubu to win the presidential election to sustain the legacies and also to ensure the indivisibility of that cohesion as one people, one destiny. So.

The Progressives Congress For Solidarity Movement Worldwide has asked President Muhammadu Buhari, Ahmed Bola Tinubu the president elect and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure the emergence Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura as a minister.
Al-Makura is the best man for ministerial position.

“We hereby strongly advise Ahmed Bola Tinubu the president elect not to abandon his long-term political associate, Sen. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura who stood by him when others worked against him respectively.

“Sen. Al-Makura conquered the political odds through fair means but his traducer always bamboozled his way through unfair, undemocratic means,”

I am not a prophet of doom. People just speculate about negative prophecies. As for me, the more the merrier. This party is sophisticated, it’s cosmopolitan, it’s widespread and you should expect some kind of combustion. It’s natural because psychologists say no two persons are the same. We should expect many more ambitious ideas and aspirations. I believe given the size of the party, we should not develop goose pimples by the different ways people are scheming or working hard to attain any position.

I am very optimistic that Ahmed Bola Tinubu the president elect and the entire APC will surprise Nigerians. That at the end of the May 29th, the party will become stronger, more united and more confident and by the grace of God, the winning streak we had, will be more than double.

The APC has responsible leadership in the party. It derive its inspiration from the steadfastness of Mr President and for sure they will have a very successful transition because everything will go positively, and in the next administration justice will be done.

The administration will give a level playing field. if adhered to, and the guidance of the president who is known for his values, and attributes, the administration will be rancour-free, successful and will be the beginning of the winning streak and strength of the Party.

Some people believe that President Buhari is the rallying point of the APC. Do you think APC will survive beyond Buhari in 2023?
Sen. Almakura said, that is why those of us that are his political sons, who have been shaped by his ideas and steadfastness want to be part of the system that will ensure a smooth transition. I believe that those qualities of the president have been imbibed by many political leaders in this country; ministers, governors, senators members of the House of Representatives. If today the president goes, I believe he has left a substantial amount of chaperoning that we can safely say that those values that he has worked hard to establish within the political space will be sustained and if possible improved upon. And I want to assure you that most of the people that you will find as leaders of the party among any of these politicians have great passion, admirations respect for Mr President and with that, some of us are sure that even after he leaves, we will be guided by those values, those attributes. By 2023, even if Buhari would have transited, he will be right within the system. This is because by the special grace of God, some of them he gave positions will be within the scheme of things and it will be like Buhari has gone, Buhari has come back.

People should not crucify people who have these views. People can have views that are personal and with certain reasons, but as far as I am concerned, the party constitution does not talk about zoning, whether north or south or whatever. If you are talking about experience or what has gone by, one can look at the reasons for selection for a presidential position. It might be guided by the constitution does not make any categorical statement, even if I have a personal view, I will not be able to express it.

I do not see anyone as any threat with due respect. They are the party that has been fast nose-diving right from the time we took over from them in 2015 because you can see that even as early as just last year, very prominent stakeholders, public officials that occupy very important positions in the PDP were trooping to the APC. The APC is daily gaining ground. How do you have any fear about a party that is losing membership almost daily? Secondly, we are doing the best we can as an incumbent government to facilitate the dividends of democracy in various forms. I think everything is going positively for us to trounce the PDP in 2023. We have all the signs that come 2023, the number of losses PDP suffered in 2019 will nearly double in 2023.

ESV Salihu Abdullahi Osuko
(Garkuwan Giza), Is a
Media Aide To Distinguish People’s Senator Umar Tanko Almakura.