ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
Some elders under the auspices of Bauchi Elders for Sustainable Development have called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately suspend the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, over alleged vote-buying in favour of her husband, the ruling All Progressives Congress in Bauchi state.
Speaking at a press conference on behalf of the Forum at the NUJ Secretariat in Bauchi on Sunday, Yahaya Idris Sulaiman, said the call on the President was necessary in order to check the Minister’s activities which was capable of causing disaffection and breach of peace among people of the State.
He added that such an urgent move would create a peaceful atmosphere for the general elections to hold, otherwise, the conduct of the 2023 general election in Bauchi state is being threatened by the action of the Minister.”
“Part of the resolutions we arrived at is to remind Mr President of the roles we played in his election the two terms he spent as President. We felt that he should not pay us back by trying to impose someone upon the people of the state as Governor.
“We know that President Muhammadu Buhari is a person who cannot be associated with any corruption allegation. But, as it is now, there is an issue which requires his urgent attention and action before it escalates, we are sure that he is not aware of it or he has been shielded by a few people.
“We salute his courage for the rebranding of the Naira notes to curb vote buying but something is happening now, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development is going on with its activities despite the ongoing development in the country.
“The officials of the Ministry are going about collecting data of people with the hope of making money transfers to their accounts at this period of election. This can amount to vote buying which may sway the attention of the electorate away from what they may have in mind to do,” Suleiman alleged.
He claimed that they got information about what is happening at the Ministry through some of the officials, adding that the Ministry is getting its allocation from the federal purse but using it on some sections of the state under the pretence of helping women and other vulnerable people.
According to him, “what is happening can be likened to vote buying with the intention of swaying votes in favour of the APC gubernatorial candidate, Amb Saddique Baba Abubakar.”
He emphasized that the activities of the Ministry and the Minister should be suspended for now until after the elections, saying that such will further endear the President to the people of the state who have created a bond of love for him over the years since he joined partisan politics.
Challenged to justify the issues he raised considering the growing popularity of the APC gubernatorial candidate in the state, Suleiman said that: “What we are saying is not about partisan politics, we are talking about fairness and equity. Let the people be allowed to elect their favourite candidate without buying their votes and consciences.”
“We are speaking on behalf of the people of the state demanding for the suspension of all activities of the Ministry in the state. If that is not done, then we will be forced to agree that there is an ulterior motive by the President, that was the reason for calling you, Journalists, to hear our voices. We are not alleging any misappropriation in the Ministry but in fairness, the activities should be suspended for now,” he added.
But in a swift reaction in a telephone interview with our Correspondent, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Nneka Anibieze, who dismissed the allegations as false and a misrepresentation, laughed and said: “because it’s Bauchi and her husband is contesting, that makes it vote-buying.”
According to her, the action of the Minister was not new but something that she inherited when she came into office, explaining that the Conditional Cash Transfers was being done in all states of the federation, “so, what is this vote-buying? Is it because elections are fast approaching?”
Anibieze added: “We have these programmes in all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, it’s not just Bauchi. We have the N-Power, we have the Homegrown School Feeding, we have Cash Grants for rural women that is now Cash Grants for Vulnerable Groups. We also have uplifting households where every household is receiving N5,009 monthly, N10,000 bi-monthly. Then the cash grants for vulnerable groups is N50,000 as a one-off thing.
“So, is it because now they’re putting it in their accounts? Before, these people were complaining that we were carrying cahys up and down; now all these beneficiaries have been digitized, they’ve open accounts for them, which will be easier for them to receive money.”
When asked if the Ministry ought not to have suspended the disbursement of the money till after the election to avoid suspicion, she said: “it’s a continuous thing. Whether we are there or not, this thing will continue.”
She added that: “It was there before the Minister came in, it was there under the office of the Vice President, Prof. Osinbajo. She came in and inherited it, it is not as if she has added any new name, it is still the same register that she is using. And remember, this money is paid by the World Bank directly into their accounts. So, what’s vote-buying in this? I think there’s a misrepresentation there if anybody is scared of something, it’s their problem. But it is far from vote-buying and elections.”
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