From David Hassan, Gombe
As 2015 general elections draw nearer, the opposition party in Gombe state has vowed not to allow the present administration get re-elected into office for second term as they argue that Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo has failed to deliver the dividends of democracy.
But, his supporters are of the opinion that the re-election of the incumbent governor in 2015 has become necessary based on his developmental strides insisting that he has touched the lives of common man in the state.
Though the opposition party came out with its policy to ensure that the present administration should not be allowed to be re-elected in the forth coming general elections, the fate of the governor could only be determined by the electorates.
Situation reports indicated that the present administration under the leadership of Dankwambo has done well in terms of infrastructure development as he has been able to transform Gombe into a modern city.
In the Education sector, school children who had been denied access to education for years in the state have started enjoying the dividends of democracy with each of the three senatorial districts in the state having modern primary schools for their children to acquire education.
Recently, the governor laid a foundation stone of Snake Bite Hospital in Kaltungo which is expected to take care of snake bite victims not only in Gombe but in the entire nation. The Snake-Bite Hospital in Kaltungo is the only specialized hospital in the country built to benefit victims in the country and other neighbouring countries in the sub Saharan Africa.
But, Dankwambo had been criticized by the opposition for doing nothing about human development and that the electorates who voted him into power are equally complaining bitterly for the
inability of his government to listen to their plights. But Dankwambo’s supporters argued that those complaining wanted the government to abandon its legitimate responsibilities and focus only on human development. They posited that infrastructural development is one of the priorities of any government in the world adding that any responsive government must think of infrastructural development before any other thing.
In fact, since the assumption of the incumbent governor in May 29, 2011, a lot of development had taken place in the state, some stakeholders in the state can affirm.
According to them, considering the development in the state, it would be a Herculean task for the opposition APC to dislodge the ruling PDP in Gombe in the 2015 genera elections.
The division in the opposition APC is further accentuated by the outcome of its recently concluded ward congresses across the state with some aggrived members of the party already threatening to open factional offices.
For instance, a member of the House of Representatives representing Gombe, Funakaye and Kwami Federal constituency on the platform of the opposition APC, Hon. Hamisu Mailantarke, has derided the leadership of his party in the state for its inability to conduct common ward congress.
When contacted, the interim chairman of APC in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Bakas denied the
allegation made by the lawmaker just as he accused him of working for the ruling party in the state. He equally alleged that Mailantarke had concluded plans to join the PDP.
