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| Gov.Gabriel Suswam |
The battle raging between Governor Gabriel Suswam
of Benue State and Senator Barnabas Gemade over the ticket to represent the
people of Benue South-east senatorial district continued unabated on Sunday
with Suswam declaring that serving senators were blackmailing President
Goodluck Jonathan in their desperate bid to secure automatic tickets back to
the National Assembly in 2015.
This came as the senator representing Kogi
Central senatorial district in the National Assembly, Senator Nurudden
Abatemi-Uman, said the report that President Jonathan had promised automatic senatorial tickets to 40
incumbent senators of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was false. Suswam, who
reacted to media reports that the president had conceded automatic
tickets to the serving PDP senators ahead of the 2015 elections, said his
senatorial aspiration had been ordained by God and would not be stopped by
anybody.
He spoke at Agbeede Gaav in Konshisha Local
Government Area of the state, the home town of Senator Barnabas Gemade, where
his childhood friend, Mr. Julius Atorough, built blocks of classrooms for
his community and also donated seven branded Sport Utility Vehicle SUV’s cars
to his campaign organisation.
Suswam noted that “elections into the senate are
won through the ballot and not by any arrangement, senators should stop
blackmailing the president and seek their reelection through the ballot box. On
the assertion that returning the PDP senators would better enhance the act of
law making, the governor said he had better experience as a federal lawmaker
representing Ukum- Logo-Kastisna/Ala federal constituency, between 1999 and
2007. “The fact of the matter is that at the end of the
day, our constituents are in the better position to determined weather anyone
had performed well and deserved to continue in office and not through blackmail
as it is being done at the moment.”
In his speech, Atorough, while paying tribute to
his late mother, said Suswam had performed well hence should be encouraged to
serve the people of his constituency who had unanimously endorsed him.
In his speech, Dr. Mathias Byuan who
contested against Gemade in 2011, but was asked to step down, stated that the
people of Benue North east senatorial district had unanimously adopted the
governor as their sole candidate and there was no going back on the matter.
“Let all those who are interested in election go
through the ballot as stipulated by the PDP constitution and the Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Does it mean that if anyone performed
poorly at the National Assembly, and his constituents decide to replace him, he
would resorts to blackmailed? It is certainly not an acceptable norm,” Byuan
added.
Meanwhile, Abatemi-Uman, who spoke with
journalists in Abuja, said no deal of such occurred, noting that Jonathan did
not concede automatic tickets to 40 out of 72 PDP senators to return to the
Senate in 2015.
Abatemi-Usman further stressed that the report of
a “harmonised” list of automatic ticket holders was misleading and not true, According to him, the source who fed journalists
with what he described as erroneous report, was a known senator who had been
creating a false impression of being close to the national leadership of
PDP, as well as the presidency.
“My colleague should be careful as he is becoming known as the purveyor of dubious information. I was at the meeting from the beginning to the end and at no point was any list of senators drafted.
“It is unfortunate that a fellow senator would
peddle such rumours and that respected national newspapers would publish the
report without checking the facts.”
“What our national chairman did after some
senators had spoken their minds was to look at the situation in each state, and
he said where there are issues, they will be resolved amicably. If there
was any such list, my name definitely would have
been included because the chairman said he is not aware that I am having any
problem in Kogi Central while speaking on the situation in Kogi State.
“The chairman said the problem in Kogi West would be resolved. That was the manner in which the chairman went through all the states. Neither he, nor the president at any time mentioned names of senators to be granted automatic tickets.
“It seems my colleague behind the purported report is being mischievous in spreading this story and the public should disregard his claims,” the senator concluded.
Source:Thisday Live
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