...electorate turn out in large number as he defects to APC
Member representing Gumi/Bukkuyyum Federal Constituency of Zamfara State, Hon. Suleiman Abubakar Gumi has advised politicians not to distance themselves from their people.
He particularly tasked them not only to be kind but also just to their constituents while carrying out their official engagements.
The lawmaker spoke on the sideline of his defection, last Thursday, from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, where his constituents, loyalists, friends, and associates held over a five-hour citywide rally in his honour.
Expressing happiness over the large number of people that attended the event, he said the action of the people showed that he was carrying out people-oriented projects in his constituency and advised other elected representatives to do the same.
He said:"The large number of people here shows there is something that I'm doing right and I know that this is what every politician aspires to have. What we witnessed today is just remarkable. I was also taken by surprise by the good gesture of my people because if you decamp from another party ,I think you always leave some people behind, but in this case, you see the whole town decamped with me from PDP to APC, which is just a joyous moment.
"The message I will pass to politicians here is that politics is about people, it's about representing people and doing what is right for the people, and offering justice and fairness to everyone. That is the message I have passed across to all the politicians in my zone. The way forward is not waiting till election time before you give out money, but be kind to the people, be just to them as you execute your official engagement, and by doing so, people will always align with you."
Asked if the large number of people at the event would encourage him to think towards the 2027 election, Hon. Gumi said: "No, 2027 is far away, we are not thinking about 2027. What we are thinking about is how do we bring development to your people. Bringing development is the way forward, that is why you are there. You are there to represent them properly and bring the goodness of politics to them. When they vote for you, you return by being kind and being a good representative for them. The message is, we should be responsible to our people."
When equally asked what he thinks could be responsible for the massive turnout of party stalwarts at the rally, the legislator said:"It's just a rare occasion where you see the executive of one party merging with another executive of another party under one umbrella.
"I think it was a remarkable sight to see, where the whole structure of local government is coming together to work for one individual towards achieving dividends of democracy. So, today was a very good event and I'm hopeful that when the time comes, there won't be any much struggle to get re-elected or for you to get the support of your people."
On what informed his decision to make some donations to his constituents during the rally, he explained: "Today's donation is one of the things we do, we get items for them as much as we can from the federal level. Today was for the distribution of irrigation equipment so that we can empower our youths to go back to the farm. That is one way we can take teeming youths out of joblessness to being gainfully employed through agriculture and that is what we are trying to promote. Apart from the solar pumping machines, we are trying to encourage the youths to go back to farm."
The legislator said he has other developmental projects he intends to pursue for his constituents in no distant future.
Hear him:"I announced the commencement of the construction of a major road that is leading to the farms in Gummi Local Government. The reason is that if we are encouraging people to go to farm, we should pave the way for them to go to farm and bring out their produce with ease, that is why we launched that and it will be constructed in the shortest possible time.
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"Secondly, there is another ward called Zonma in Bukkuyyum Local Government. The road in the town has a lot of water crossing, a particular point where there is a dam. Unfortunately, the dam gave way during the rainy season and the road is really not motorable and very difficult terrain for them to pass through. So, we think it's better to create a permanent solution by constructing a steel bridge for them so that they can access their homes and coming to town to do their normal day-to-day business. That is also ongoing right now.
"Every member is entitled to a certain threshold in the annual budget, at this moment, what our people are suffering from is insecurity. Because of insecurity, they cannot go to farm to get their livelihood because farming is what we do here in my region. So, I will focus on a lot of empowerment for them so that they can get some succour. "
