PDP stakeholders commends Bauchi Governor’s laudable achievements as they meet to take stock of successes and challenges in order to chart a way forward.

By Kaka Mohammed Misau

Stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Misau local government area of Bauchi state have commended Governor Bala Mohammed for identifying with the concerns of party members and for putting in place the machinery to address them.

The commendations are coming as the party stakeholders embarked on town hall meetings at its various levels to look at the successes, challenges and how to move the state and the party forward.

The Chairman of the Party in the state, Alhaji Hamza Koshe Akuyam stated this during a town hall meeting with party stakeholders in Misau local government area of the state.

Represented by the former Secretary to the Bauchi State government, Alhaji Aminu Hammayo, the state Chairman of the PDP, said that the town hall meeting was convened at the instance of the Governor and the State Executives of the party.

“The essence of the meeting was to call the stakeholders together to take stock of the successes that have been recorded”, he said.

Other reasons for holding the meeting according to Hammayo was also to look at areas of shortcomings and challenges going forward in order to effectively address them.

He said under the arrangement, the key stakeholders of the party at the ward levels were supposed to meet to also discuss similar issues.

“After the meeting at the ward level, they came up with a communiqué of their observations and those issues they felt the government and the party should address”, Alhaji Koshe added.

He said that the observations made at the ward level were presented at the meeting the party had with key stakeholders of the local government which also included all the chairmen of the party at the ward level.

“That was presented, and then you know, their resolutions were accepted and then one or two more observations were added to that”, he explained.

According to the party Chairman, initially, the idea of holding the meeting came up because of the complaints received from all levels of the party”.

“That was what prompted the Governor and the state chapter of the Party to decide that there was the need to go back to the grassroot. Firstly, let’s go back to each and every ward and get the key stakeholders of the party to discuss and throw up what the problems are at the wards”, Hammayo explained further.

He said that the arrangement was such that after the meeting at the ward levels, the position will be presented at the local government level for consideration. Any additional issues noted could also be brought up at that level.

The PDP chhietain stated that there is also going to be a similar meeting at the zonal level before it will culminate into the final meeting at the state level.

“So what that means is that the party and the government have adopted a bottom up approach in order to identify the problems and address them as they come”, he maintained.

Hammayo opined that there was the need to first of all understand the issues that have been thrown up from the ward level that were also accepted at the local government level.

He added that “part of the communiqué was that, at the ward level they all agreed and were sympathetic to the financial position of the state government. We are all aware that there has been a fall in global oil prices which was exacerbated by the corona virus pandemic all across the year 2020”.

He said although the stakeholders appreciated the financial difficulty the government has had to face, they also acknowledged the fact that inspite of the financial limitations the government had also done a lot in terms of provision of key development projects across the state.

“They were also concerns about one or two key issues particularly on the need for the government to look at making the empowerment of people at the very lower level a priority. You know, it has been a recurring complaint in all the wards and even at the state level”, he said

In addition to that, Hammayo said stakeholders solicited government to support party faithfuls who contributed to its success through the award of contracts no matter how small or low the volume may be. This could indeed give them a sense of belonging and draw greater commitment.

“They also raised the issue of complaints been received here and there about the nonpayment of salaries, pensions and gratuities. They want government to look at that issue so that whatever facts there are, people should be kept informed so that they can understand and appreciate what the problem is because there are a lot of negative comments on that”, he said.

Hammayo explained that the stakeholders also felt that since government has done a lot, there is the need for propaganda to let the people know the tremendous achievements of the government of the day.

“Yes, the government has done a lot of developmental projects but people are not aware. The government and the party need to blow their trumpets so that the people will get to know about what has been done. There is lack of publicity”, he decried.

Hammayo further noted that even some party executives at the ward level are not aware of what the government has done so far.

Hammayo said, “the essence is, as these problems are identified, we will also try to look at them at the zonal level. Perhaps at the zonal level since reports of all the various local governments are to be considered, we may agree on the same issues while some other issues may come up”.