Supporters of Dr. Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna, who recently set Gombe agog with chants of loyalty, have urged him to quit the ruling All Progressives Congress and contest for governor on the platform of any other party in the state.
Some of them were seen in different spots within Kaltungo town last weekend burning brooms (APC’s symbol) in solidarity with Gwamna.
Gwamna was one of the strongest Peoples Democratic Party aspirants before the 2019 election who switched to the APC after he was denied the PDP ticket in a controversial circumstance.
He dumped the then ruling PDP in the state and joined the opposition APC, combined forces and ensured victory for the APC that produced the current Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya.
The supporters, while giving reasons for their action, alleged that there were plots by the leadership of the ruling APC in the state to unanimously endorse incumbent Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya for a second term.
According to one Isah Kaltungo, in many of the local government areas, including Kaltungo, where the governor visited, the party executives openly declared Inuwa Yahaya as their candidate for 2023.
“The party stakeholders have endorsed Governor Inuwa Yahaya at gatherings in the Local Governments of Kaltungo, Yamaltu-Deba and Gombe,” he alleged.
He said this meant that they were not willing to conduct any primary election.
“They will not provide a fair playing grounds for other aspirants but will only adopt the Governor as their candidate,” he alleged.
Isah Kaltungo also claimed in an interview with journalists that he influenced 200 APC supporters in Kaltungo Local Government Area to dump the ruling party and burn brooms.
Kaltungo said, “We therefore urge Jamilu to leave the ruling party and join any other party. We are ready to follow him even to APGA. I believe that Jamilu is popular among the electorate and can win, if free and fair election holds because of his humanitarian services.
“As Managing Director of a Power Distribution Company, KEDCO, he secured a lot of jobs for Gombe State citizens.”
Kaltungo also berated the APC leadership in the state over alleged maltreatment of Gwamna and humiliation of Senator Danjuma Goje, who allegedly led Yahaya to victory in 2019.
However, in his reaction, on Wednesday, the APC Chairman in Kaltungo Local Government, Comrade Ayuba Hassan, confirmed that some boys, not up to ten, approached the party over their dissatisfaction with what was happening in the ruling APC Government.
He told our correspondent in a telephone interview that they agreed to meet on January 1, 2022, but that their demands were not something that the party could handle.
He said, “Our responsibility is not to them alone; these are boys that don’t have political value. As far as we are concerned, this Jamilu that they are talking about is an APC member; he has not in any way showed that he has switched to PDP. So, they are contradicting themselves by burning brooms while their principal is still in APC.”