By Edward John Auta
“As governor, Sen. Makarfi was never a religious bigot, an ethnic chauvinist or a greedy politician. He chose equity, justice and fairness over every other personal or sectional consideration.” Auta.
Since the devastating blow to the PDP in 2015 across northern Nigeria and a few southern states, there have emerged, ever since, a plethora of conspiracy theories and sponsored blackmails mostly against politicians of northern extraction.
Sen. Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, former Bauchi State governor and National Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Mu’azu, Alh. Isa Yuguda, the present governor of Bauchi State, Sen. Bala Mohammed, and a host of other notable politicians who were either governors or appointees in the Jonathan-led administration were specifically fingered for their alleged complicity in the downfall of the PDP in that election.
In Kaduna State, in particular, Sen. Makarfi has continued to come under fire for the misfortunes of the PDP in every election cycle since 2015 with accusations against him ranging from indifference to outright anti-party activities, no matter how unverifiable. Those who make those ridiculous accusations have always hinged their excuse on “the failure to win his Ward, LGA or Zone.” For a man who has been a finance commissioner, governor, senator, and national chairman of the PDP, one can understand why so much is expected from him, but such expectations must be within both realistic and common “sensical” bounds.
The truth, however, is that the the dismal performance of the PDP in 2015 was NEVER unexpected. The boko haram conundrum, failure of Jonathan to honour his one term commitment after completing Yar’Adu’a’s term and serving another which rightfully should have gone to the north (and the internal party crisis that naturally followed it), the fall-out of the governorship forum election, the Buhari factor (especially in the north), and the refusal by governor Ramalan Yero to continue with his predecessor’s (Yakowa’s) legacy projects all combined to sink the PDP at both national and state (Kaduna state) levels. For better perspective, even Makarfi lost his third-term senatorial bid in that election.
Similarly, in the 2019 elections, it is on record that the PDP won both the presidential and governorship elections (in Kaduna State) but the mandates were stolen. It is also on record that some of the people who cry foul today were the same characters who either left the PDP immediately after the PDP was announced to have lost the presidential election or absconded with campaign funds meant for their zones or local governments with a view to aiding and abetting the rigging of the elections.
It is therefore ridiculous for one disgraced colonel or some other frustrated politicians for that matter to continue to allege complicity by Makarfi in the PDP election losses or cast aspersions on his person for cheap political gains or merely giving a dog a bad name just to hang it.
It must be noted that Sen. Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi has been the single most important factor in the PDP in the state and is largely responsible for why Kaduna State has remained the strongest hold of the PDP in the entire northwestern zone since that political tsunami that swept away the PDP at both national and majority of northern and southwestern states in 2015. His unmatched and excellent record as governor; equitable distribution of projects, fairness in appointments, and unparalleled mentorship; his calm and stabilizing influence, nationalistic outlook, clear-headedness and straightforwardness while he held sway as National Chairman of the PDP were some of the oxygen that resuscitated the PDP and kept it afloat since 2015.
As governor, Sen. Makarfi was never a religious bigot, an ethnic chauvinist or a greedy politician. He chose equity, justice and fairness over every other personal or sectional consideration. He resisted the temptation to become a champion of his ward, local government, zone or religion and was widely criticised by his people for this stance, some even nicknaming him Joseph for his fairness to the people of the other faith.
He raised the bar of governance to such heights that have remained unmatched by any of his successors so far in the state. His work in education, health care, agriculture, rural infrastructure, human capital development, security management, and entrenchment of unity, among others, have remained some of the best in the history of the state. To say the least, more than 80% of what the PDP parades today as its legacies in the state are mainly achievements of the Makarfi-led administration in the state: 28 new chiefdoms, one general hospital in each LGA and PHCs across wards; road projects in each LGA, rural electrification projects, subsidised fertiliser and farming inputs, thousands of primary/secondary schools and the Kaduna State University, not forgetting mass employment and the appointment of a commissioner each from every LGA, to mention but few. He ran an inclusive government in the state and that formed the standard for subsequent PDP administrations after him.
Similarly, majority of those known and referred to as the PDP elites today were by and large raised and mentored by Makarfi. His biggest political projects in this regard are H.E Arc. Mohammed Namadi Sambo who rose from a mere Commissioner in the Makarfi cabinet to become Governor and later Vice President, following the demise of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua; H.E, the Late Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa; Rt. Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru, Hon. Felix Hassan Hyat, Alh. Abubakar Mustapha, Sen. Nenadi Usman, Barr. Jacob Mark, Hon. Patrick Maigari, among others, whom Makarfi left indelible marks in their political history.
As national Chairman of the PDP, Sen. Makarfi remains one of the best things that have happened to the PDP. His emergence as the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party at a time the party was facing existential threat is a testament to his democratic credentials, and also the trust and confidence that people have in him across the country. He was sought after and practically begged to sail the party through a sticky situation, and he did not disappoint at all. Makarfi soon delivered the party from the dark clouds hovering all over it and rid it of the toxic elements that had hijacked its drivership and were already sliding the ship towards political golgotha.
In addition, there are very few Nigerians of Makarfi’s stature who have remained stuck with the PDP and made sacrifices to sustain it from 1999 to date the way he has done. In spite of glaring betrayals and treachery of monumental proportion by some leaders and politicians against his person and or political interest, he never left the PDP, has never been heard publicly discrediting anyone or threatening the party as the Wikes of this world or some other local politicians have done (and) or are doing. It is therefore quite uncharitable to allude or insinuate that Sen. Makarfi has ever or is planning to work against the victory of the party he has lived and literally laid down his life for.
Sen. Ahmed Makarfi is not perfect; like every other human he too has his flaws. What has remained surprising, however, is the fact that in spite of the consistent attempt to spite and bring him to public ridicule, his place in the hearts of thousands of fair-minded party men and women has continued to be assured. He’s simply the PDP scapegoat that has refused to die.
May the 2023 general elections, therefore, birth us a new governor with the vision, deftness, composure, compassion and fairness of Sen. Makarfi; and Rt. Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru, in this regard, is the man for the job.
~Edward John Auta writes from Narom Village of Zonkwa Ward in Zango Kataf LGA of Kaduna State.
Editor