According to Lalong, who was also the Director General of Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign organisation, their push for a southern presidency was rather in order to promote the unity, peace and stability of Nigeria within the spirit of fairness, equity and justice which the late Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, stood for.

Lalong was speaking at the 9th Annual Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Lecture on Leadership and Good Governance held in Lafia, Nasarawa State, a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Macham Makut, said on Saturday

The Governor said, “When I led my colleagues – the Northern Governors – to push for power shift to the South, it was not because we wanted Asiwaju to be President. Rather, we wanted to ensure that justice and fairness prevail in our nation for unity, peace and harmony. That is what we believe our revered father of blessed memory, Sir Ahmadu Bello, would do in such circumstances. Fortunately, the party delegates chose Asiwaju who was eventually accepted by Nigerians as he was unanimously elected”.

Lalong urged all Nigerians, both in the North and across the country, to support Tinubu as he takes on the mantle of leadership.

The governor noted that, because the late Sardauna lived a life of accommodation, tolerance, justice and fairness, his legacies have endured long after his demise and continue to inspire leadership in the region and country at large. According to him, the North is an important stakeholder in the Nigerian project and its contributions towards his election cannot be over emphasized.

“The Northern region needs serious attention in various sectors ranging from security, education, infrastructure, agriculture, economic revival and restoration of law and order in various areas that have been ravaged by insecurity.

“It is heartening to note that the Northern Governors Forum, under my leadership, has done a great deal of work on bringing our people together as one people with a common destiny,” Lalong added.

Nasarawa State Governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, said it was a privilege for his state to host the very important event, which reminds the region and the nation about the values that Sardauna lived and died for.

He said, although there have been challenges in the country after the demise of Sir Ahmadu Bello, some progress has been made which can be built upon to make the Northern region and Nigeria a better place.

Speaking on the topic “2023 Elections as Panacea for Search for Quality Leadership in Nigeria,” Kenyan Law Professor and pan Africanist, Patrick Lumumba, said the late Sardauna left behind several lessons for politicians which include his selflessness and sacrifice for the general good.

He said the question of unity and cohesion in Nigeria particularly after the 2023 general elections cannot be over emphasized because Nigeria plays a very key role in the stability of Africa being a giant in all ramifications.

Lumumba stressed that the sacrifices of founding fathers like Sardauna, who paid the supreme price, should not be left to go in vain but built upon for a greater Nigeria and Africa.

President Muhammadu Buhari in a message delivered by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, said it is important that Nigerians devote more attention to recruiting quality leaders who are capable of steering the nation in the right direction.

He also said the process of elections should also be looked at, and continuously improved upon to ensure that those who serve the people have their mandate and also enjoy their support.

Emir of Lafia, HRH Sidi Bage, said the lecture series is an opportunity to reflect on the dreams of Sardauna but also a way of putting critical national and regional issues on the front burner.

He thanked Governor Lalong, who as Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, worked hard to ensure that the traditional Institution is given a place in the governance of Nigeria much as it was during the time of the Sardauna.

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In a chat with journalists in Lafia, the state capital, to mark his first anniversary in office, the governor said he was grateful to God for giving him a four-year mandate; a period he deems long enough for him to contribute his quota to the development of the state.

The governor, who was responding to a question on the speculation around the state that the people might not be ready to re-elect him in 2023, said he was ready to return to the US or Saudi Arabia to enjoy his life after his four-year mandate.

According to him, “one thing I have never been threatened about in life is my second term as governor. Let me tell you, in 1998, while working in the US, I felt I was bored. I took my early retirement package from an oil company, I went and set up our small company and we were running our business.

“I thought that was it. I never knew I was going to return to Nigeria as a whole, not to talk of coming to Nigeria to set up a company and become MD African Petroleum and later become GMD in Dangote company.

“That was even when I started enjoying life; not today. So I went through all these as extra to me in life; things I never thought would happen, but because God has blessed me that it will happen and it actually happened.

“Then out of the blues, from nowhere, I’m now a governor, and somebody is saying one term, and then I will cry, sleep and die? To hell with him!

“One term, yes, it’s fine. That is how I look at it. One term is good enough. Almighty Allah, I thank you very much for giving me one term. So it has never shaken me, it has never scared me, and it will never do. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

“If I do one term, walahi talahi, walahi talahi, I will go and retire either in America or in Saudi Arabia and live my life peacefully. And I know that no EFCC will call me, because I am not stealing government’s money.

“So one term, then so what? To hell with one term! Let me tell you, I’m happy to take it, so I will never have sleeping problem because somebody says one term. I never and I think I will never have a problem,” he said.

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It was learnt that the governor collapsed at the Government House during official hours and was driven out of the state enroute to Abuja without the normal long convoy last week Tuesday.

Impeccable sources, who did not want their names in print, told our correspondent that the governor was diagnosed with a kidney-related ailment.

On Monday, rumours of Al-Makura’s death pervaded the state capital.

Our correspondent who went round Lafia, the state capital, observed that residents were discussing the rumoured death in groups, while some were making phone calls to senior government workers to confirm the rumour.

When contacted on the development, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Yakubu Lamai, handed our correspondent a statement that dismissed the rumour.

The statement partly read, “Our attention has been drawn to rumours being peddled mostly online and by the word of mouth that the health of His Excellency, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, is at risk or in question.

“We wish to use this medium to assure the citizens of Nasarawa State and confirm with clarity that Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura is alive, hale and hearty and in excellent health.

“We recognised that this is election campaign period and publicity strategists are likely to use every available tool to gain attention including peddling unfounded rumours about His Excellency’s health.

“But Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who is not a stranger to political campaigns, appeals to all and sundry to concentrate on making the ongoing campaigns and the forthcoming elections issue-based.’’

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The governor spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Abdulhamid Yakubu Kwarra said: “The Federal Government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are on a mission to kill all opposition parties before 2015 election in a desperate move to win election in 2015.

“With the rising political profile of APC, the chances of PDP and President Jonathan in 2015 is getting slimmer each day, it is obvious PDP or President Jonathan has no chance at all, hence they have launched a persecution of the major opposition party APC to achieve their aims.

“They are now instigating Members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly to impeach Governor Tanko Al-Makura, just as they did in Adamawa State.

“But, I want to assure them, they will not succeed in the case of Nasarawa State because the people who elected Al-Makura are going to come out to resist this impunity. Nigerians should know that this is the ninth impeachment move on Governor Al-Makura. They have tried it eight other times, but this is the first time they are making move to serve impeachment notice on the governor.

“If the move is borne out of malice, it will definitely fail, but if it is based on genuine cause, that is only way it will succeed. But in doing so, the law makers should make sure they do not abuse the procedures. What we saw happened in Adamawa State in the name of impeachment will not stand. I see the judiciary reversing the whole thing because it was done in clear abuse of legal procedures.”

Kwarra, who is former Majority Leader of Nasarawa State House of Assembly, said that “The relationship between the Executive and the legislature in Nasararwa State has been mutual in the last three years,” stressing that the current impeachment move is based on external factor; “it is all about 2015 election. PDP is just desperate to take Nasarawa State from the grip of APC.”

“The authority in Abuja wants it by all means and at all cost. They are threatened by the formidable opposition party in this country and they are doing everything to retain power, despite the fact that they are a collateral failure with all the challenges and parts of their master plan is to destabilise APC control states.

“What PDP is doing amounts to a declaration of the war on the people of Nigeria and they way they are going about it, the thing may consume all of us if care is not taken,” he said.

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The development followed a motion of public interest raised by the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Yahaya Usman (PDP-Umaisha/Ugya) during plenary in Lafia.

Usman presented a document signed by 20 of the 24 members of the Assembly which contained the allegations of gross misconduct against the governor.

He said: “I am on my feet to raise a motion under matters of public interest and I will go directly to read the document I have in my hand.

“This is a notice of impeachment for Gov. Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa state for gross misconduct.

“For violating the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, today being the 14th day of July, 2014, the 20 members of the 24 members of this house unanimously endorsed to serve Gov. Tanko Al-Makura notice of impeachment,” he said.

The Chief Whip Mohammed Okpede, (PDP-Doma North) seconded the motion.

The speaker, (PDP-Nasarawa Central), who officially received the impeachment notice, said the House had complied with the provision of the constitution to serve the governor with impeachment notice.

He directed the clerk to immediately serve the notice on Al-Makura on July 14.

He said: “In the event his excellency, Gov.Tanko Al-Makura could not be reached for service, the clerk is directed to serve him with the impeachment notice through the media.

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Governor Al-Makura stated that granting amnesty to the occult group would amount to preempting the work of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the state government to ascertain the remote causes of the killing of security personnel in Alakyo, Lafia Local Government Area of the state.

The governor who spoke with journalists in Abuja was reacting to what he described as misrepresentations credited to him during his lecture at the Institute for Security Studies in Bwari.

“As a matter of fact, I feel very worried by this misrepresentation because nothing can be farther from my views which I said and what was credited to me. In fact, myself and my administration are bent on bringing to book criminals and perpetrators of the dastardly act in Alakyo which resulted in the killing of security operatives during the operation.

“It is very unfair on me and my government for anybody to insinuate the fact that my government is rooting the idea of amnesty. That is farthest from the truth; we will not have anything to do with amnesty for now because the Judicial Commission of Inquiry is still sitting.

“We are waiting for the commission to conclude its exercise so that we will bring to book the people involved. At no time in the course of my presentation did I ever mention anything to do with the issue of amnesty.

“I insist that these criminals must be fished out and they must not be left unpunished. We are waiting for the commission of inquiry to finalise its sittings. I will like to assure all and sundry that this government is focused and consistent on our search for peace and justice; justice must be done for people who have been offended.”

Al-Makura said what was even more disheartening was the fact that the misrepresentation came when government was interested in finding the root of the problem to be able to identify who are the culprits, their sponsors and financiers.

“We have gone all the way to constitute a Judicial Commission of Inquiry, do what we can to bring justice and bring the perpetrators to book”, he said.

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