The Gubernatorial Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Mr. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, has encouraged the people of Gombe State to support the party for the desired economic development in the state.
Speaking with journalists in Gombe, Mr. Mailantarki said before now, the electorate in the state had only had two options of choosing the All Progressives Congress, APC or the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, but that they now had a better option being presented to them by his party.
He said the NNPP had many plans for a better Gombe State, urging voters to put Gombe first during voting.
Recounting his antecedence during his outing in 2011 as a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Mailantarki said then, under the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, his major strength was from the people on the streets of Gombe, where he enlightened them of the benefits of voting for the development they needed.
“If you look at our history, right from the onset, my first contest, I ran for the House of Representatives. My main target and my main hub was the common man in Gombe. I ran through the streets. I went to Churches, I went to Mosques, I went to markets, I went everywhere, telling people why we are better people than even the ruling party and the people of Gombe agreed. They reason with us, they gave us an opportunity; they came out en masse, and elected me to represent them, Gombe-Kwami-Funakaye. That was in 2011,” said Mr. Mailantarki.
He said a similar scenario was being unfolded before the people of Gombe State, as a large number of politicians were defecting to join the NNPP in Gombe State, because of the confidence they had in the party to do what was right.
“That is why you see people trouping now from all the political parties coming to join us in NNPP because they believe we can do the right thing. And they believe when we come together, we will form a government that understands the needs of the common man or a government that understands how to solve issues,” said the NNPP Gubernatorial Candidate in Gombe State.
He said records available showed that he had been supporting youths in Gombe State, despite not being in government, but that through his foundation, Mailantarki Football Academy, he had been able to get them busy through sports, which had taken their attention being thugs.
According to him, his interest has over time been in the interest of youths and women in the state, because of their vulnerability to bad governance in any society.
“My interest in contesting is to continue what I have been doing for women and youth. Under my sports academy, I have taken a lot of youths to European clubs to further their careers. I believe in helping talented lads to achieve their dreams. In Nigeria, we have the Ronaldos, Messis, Ahmed Musas, and others in our population but the opportunity to differentiate them remained the problem,” he said.
Equally so, Mr. Mailantarki urged them to remain peaceful before, during, and after campaigns.
He called on politicians in Gombe State to play “decent” politics, which would subsequently give rise to peace and ensure issues-based campaigns.
Mr. Mailantarki promised that when allowed to serve the people of the state, he would do more to empower the people economically, because he had one of the largest fish farms in the country, where he trained thousands to acquire skills in that sector, promising to even do more.
“I believe in peace because it remained the bedrock of development and growth, especially in a democracy. It is in this regard that I again call on the youth of Gombe State to know that there is life after the election. We must practice politics without hatred, bitterness, and violence. Irrespective of our religious, tribal, and ethnic differences, Gombe is home to all of us and we have to live peacefully and play politics like the brothers that we are,” said Mr. Mailantarki.
The former House of Representative member encouraged the youths to resist the temptation of being used as tools to cause chaos and electoral malpractices in the state, while at the same time calling on political parties and their candidates not to use youths as tools for any acts that would create violence in the build-up to the election.
Dominica Nwabufo
