Over the weekend, two different emissaries were said to have reached out to key Christian leaders in the zone while there are reports that a Middle Belt professor who is the field man of the ruling party to the Christian elders is said to have come under criticisms for losing grip of his beat.
The don who is also a former minister is said to have failed to deliver on some key demands of the middle belt Christians including some issues reportedly raised by a former defence minister from the region.
The sudden inroads into the zone by the opposition is said to have led to a new initiative by the presidency to seek a replacement for the fieldman in addition to what a source called possible direct involvement of the president in striking a new deal with the middel belt.
An impeccable source specifically told the Nigerian Tribune that a strategy meeting is likely to hold before the end of the month between key operatives in the ruling party and some leaders of the northern elders Christian forum.
A source within the Middle Belt Forum stated that the PDP federal administration appears to have taken the zone for granted, citing the non-payment of compensation to indigenous Christians in the north who are victims of the Boko Haram insurgency.
“From 1999 to date, we always voted PDP. The president is our man but we are not happy,” the politician from Plateau state stated.
Meanwhile, the opposition APC is said to be going ahead with its push for a base in the Middle Belt. An official of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change explained that “South West and core north are our base, but we need the Middle Belt.
“We are a party of christians and muslims and even animists. So why should North Central remain PDP territory,” he querried.
Religion should not be determinant in 2015 election —Aliyu
In a related development, Niger State Governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu has warned the country’s political class, particularly members of the PDP and their counterparts in the APC as well as other party members across the country to be very careful not to allow religious issues to be the main determinant in the run off to 2015 general elections.
He gave the warning on Sunday after he hosted some members of the state’s council of traditional rulers led by its chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, the Etsu Nupe who paid him Sallah homage at his private residence in Minna, the state capital, adding that what should be the focus of the two dominant parties and other parties participating in the forthcoming elections in the country must be politics of issues, politics of development and not based on personalities.
“In the area of politics , it is very important that both the Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress are now on and I believe that now we should be very, very careful and make sure that we do not allow religious issues to be the main determinant of our politics. We should be very careful about that. And the two parties or the other parties taking part in the transition to another civil rule in 2015 must really be careful to base their campaign on politics of issues, politics of development and not simply personalities and issues that will divide us, no,” he said.
He pointed out that after a hundred years of living together as Nigerians, the citizenry must now be talking about development and not individual differences, adding that what he knew about himself and four other northern states PDP governors that were making consultations was when the tension was high in the country and they thought they needed some issues to be resolved in the polity.
“And I am happy that part of the consultations is already yielding results. The result is that we are meeting as PDP governors with other outsiders and some of our past elders as a group, as a result of this consultation,” he stated.
Aliyu, who fielded questions from newsmen however expressed delight that the consultations embarked upon by him and four other governors from the north would likely yield fruitful results at the end of the day, stressing that he was very happy that all the consultations was not limited to the five governors.
According to him, “we have had series of meetings with other people, the President met with us to understand the issues that we were talking about, just as he argued that this consultation must continue as he further highlighted that it may not be limited to himself and four of his other colleagues from the northern parts of the country.”
He said anybody who feels he can contribute to the peace, progress and development of Nigeria should be able to consult, adding that lack of communication usually was the cause of many of the nation’s protracting problems.
Source: Tribune
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