Kogi Guber: It's Not a Crime Being the Son of former Governor, I have Right to Contest - Abu Ibro
One of the aspirants for Kogi governorship election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abubakar Ibrahim has disclosed that it is not crime for him to be the son of former governor of the state, saying he has constitution right to contest for Kogi governorship election just like others citizens of the state.
Abubakar Ibrahim, the son of former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, said apart from meeting up all constitutional requirements which is the basis for running, he has the capability to lead a state like Kogi especially in its most difficult time like this.
"As a detribalised Nigerian, I have the right to leadership position, I have the ability to heal and unite a thoroughly broken and fragmented and disunited Kogi State. Outside that, as an experienced business man with appreciable knowledge of the workings of the government especially in a country like ours, I think I have the ability to rule over the prosperity, in peace and security of our people particularly in Kogi State and my experience in business management including the requisite administrative skills, I think I should be able to run our state with prudent management of resources.
"Judging from my educational background, my first degree in Agriculture and my second degree in management and also a master in International Affairs and Diplomacy. Having a mix of that and considering the fact that Kogi is a state that has a lot of potentials both in minerals and huge arable land all that mix and then of course, coming from a political family.
"All that put together give me an edge and a drive to be able to steer the state productively from where it is right now to where I visioned it to be after governance", he said.
Commenting on whether it amounts to moral burden to him running for governor as a son former governor of the state, Ibrahim said he is just exercising his constitutional right as a citizen of the federal republic of Nigeria.
"My father was a only governor and why he was governor, I was not in the picture, he was an elected governor and if we go by that, this would have been a moral burden if he was a serving governor. He is a former governor, is my crime now being the son of a former governor and I don't have any moral right to exercise my constitutional franchise?
"If he was an incumbent, they would have say I am using the state machinery to come in, but he is a former governor, he has been out of office more than eight years ago. I think I have level playground with every other Kogites that wants to contest. If he has been out of office for more than eight years, where is the moral justification that I as a Kogites cannot run or stand for an election", he said.
Ibrahim maintained that even in developed countries like United States of America there are political families. "When George Bush senior was the president, George Bush Junior was governor and George Bush the third was a Senator. After George Bush senior finished his tenure as the forty second president of the United States and then came Bill Clinton and George Bush Junior took over as the forty fourth president of the United States, George Bush the third became governor of Texas.
"This happened in a nation as advanced as United States of America and nobody sees it as anything. The question I always ask is why Kogi?", he said.
Ibrahim maintained that he is not banking on his father to clinch PDP ticket, saying his younger brother failed his reelection bid in the House of Repsentatives under the same party his father is a chieftain, explaining that if his father could not influence his younger brother's ambition while would he influence governorship for him.
Ibrahim went further that he is campaigning and meeting all the delegates in the twenty one local government of the state just like any other aspirant and looking forward for a successful primary just like others, adding that there's no thing like banking on his father's influence.
Ibrahim said if given the opportunity to rule Kogi State, he will formulate policy that will usher in public private partnership which he said will encourage small and medium scale industries, by giving tax incentives to investors to encourage them to establish in the state.
"Small end medium scale industries, those are the lifeline for most of our state which are not being properly harnessed.
"Another place that is not properly harnessed is the Agricultural sector where I come from. Take for instance, cash crop like Cashew which is a major cash crop, as at last year, seventy percent of export on cashew was from Kogi State and what usually happens is that the middle men come to Kogi State and buy what is available and they go with it. One thing government hasn't put into consideration is the other value added effects in that cash crop alone which include the washing of the cashew, sorting of the cashew and bringing investors to setup plants they will process the cashew to its final stage.
"In each of these stages, you will find out that for every value added requires labour. Just washing the acidity of the nuts alone increases the price of the cashew.
"It might interest you to know that, washing, sorting is even done in Ghana as we speak, that is employment for the Ghanaians, why not for the Kogites because those nuts are being done here and taken there for processing.
"Every investor look forward for a tax holiday, tax incentives. Those are some of the things that attract investors to the state. You will tell the investors, come in and invest we will give you tax holidays, we will give you tax break but setup an extra scheme where you will tell the investors if you want to enjoy these benefits I will need you to employ our youths and by employing our youths you get this tax incentives. By this you've already added value to the youths they are going to employ, that wouldn't still stop you from generating IGR.
"Your IGR will be generated, literally you've killed three birds with one stone, one the investor is happy he is coming in at a lower tax refund, our teeming youths are happy because employment has been created for them, thirdly, the state still generates revenue.
"By this, you have a tripartite wind, everybody is happy. This is just on cashew, we have palm oil, sesame seeds, cassava, rice sugarcane to mention but a few and that is just in the agricultural sector. If you can replicate what I have said so far on other crops and do the same in tourism sector, and mineral resources, employment will be taken care of and everybody will be happy. I am not saying is going to be an overnight things, but then once you have a focus, in no time you will be amazed at the number of employed youths we would have taken off the street", he said.
Ibrahim, however, said he wouldn't signify himself that he has a quality that nobody else has, adding that he would rather say he is a good team player and that is what he believes makes the difference.
Abubakar Ibrahim, the son of former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, said apart from meeting up all constitutional requirements which is the basis for running, he has the capability to lead a state like Kogi especially in its most difficult time like this.
"As a detribalised Nigerian, I have the right to leadership position, I have the ability to heal and unite a thoroughly broken and fragmented and disunited Kogi State. Outside that, as an experienced business man with appreciable knowledge of the workings of the government especially in a country like ours, I think I have the ability to rule over the prosperity, in peace and security of our people particularly in Kogi State and my experience in business management including the requisite administrative skills, I think I should be able to run our state with prudent management of resources.
"Judging from my educational background, my first degree in Agriculture and my second degree in management and also a master in International Affairs and Diplomacy. Having a mix of that and considering the fact that Kogi is a state that has a lot of potentials both in minerals and huge arable land all that mix and then of course, coming from a political family.
"All that put together give me an edge and a drive to be able to steer the state productively from where it is right now to where I visioned it to be after governance", he said.
Commenting on whether it amounts to moral burden to him running for governor as a son former governor of the state, Ibrahim said he is just exercising his constitutional right as a citizen of the federal republic of Nigeria.
"My father was a only governor and why he was governor, I was not in the picture, he was an elected governor and if we go by that, this would have been a moral burden if he was a serving governor. He is a former governor, is my crime now being the son of a former governor and I don't have any moral right to exercise my constitutional franchise?
"If he was an incumbent, they would have say I am using the state machinery to come in, but he is a former governor, he has been out of office more than eight years ago. I think I have level playground with every other Kogites that wants to contest. If he has been out of office for more than eight years, where is the moral justification that I as a Kogites cannot run or stand for an election", he said.
Ibrahim maintained that even in developed countries like United States of America there are political families. "When George Bush senior was the president, George Bush Junior was governor and George Bush the third was a Senator. After George Bush senior finished his tenure as the forty second president of the United States and then came Bill Clinton and George Bush Junior took over as the forty fourth president of the United States, George Bush the third became governor of Texas.
"This happened in a nation as advanced as United States of America and nobody sees it as anything. The question I always ask is why Kogi?", he said.
Ibrahim maintained that he is not banking on his father to clinch PDP ticket, saying his younger brother failed his reelection bid in the House of Repsentatives under the same party his father is a chieftain, explaining that if his father could not influence his younger brother's ambition while would he influence governorship for him.
Ibrahim went further that he is campaigning and meeting all the delegates in the twenty one local government of the state just like any other aspirant and looking forward for a successful primary just like others, adding that there's no thing like banking on his father's influence.
Ibrahim said if given the opportunity to rule Kogi State, he will formulate policy that will usher in public private partnership which he said will encourage small and medium scale industries, by giving tax incentives to investors to encourage them to establish in the state.
"Small end medium scale industries, those are the lifeline for most of our state which are not being properly harnessed.
"Another place that is not properly harnessed is the Agricultural sector where I come from. Take for instance, cash crop like Cashew which is a major cash crop, as at last year, seventy percent of export on cashew was from Kogi State and what usually happens is that the middle men come to Kogi State and buy what is available and they go with it. One thing government hasn't put into consideration is the other value added effects in that cash crop alone which include the washing of the cashew, sorting of the cashew and bringing investors to setup plants they will process the cashew to its final stage.
"In each of these stages, you will find out that for every value added requires labour. Just washing the acidity of the nuts alone increases the price of the cashew.
"It might interest you to know that, washing, sorting is even done in Ghana as we speak, that is employment for the Ghanaians, why not for the Kogites because those nuts are being done here and taken there for processing.
"Every investor look forward for a tax holiday, tax incentives. Those are some of the things that attract investors to the state. You will tell the investors, come in and invest we will give you tax holidays, we will give you tax break but setup an extra scheme where you will tell the investors if you want to enjoy these benefits I will need you to employ our youths and by employing our youths you get this tax incentives. By this you've already added value to the youths they are going to employ, that wouldn't still stop you from generating IGR.
"Your IGR will be generated, literally you've killed three birds with one stone, one the investor is happy he is coming in at a lower tax refund, our teeming youths are happy because employment has been created for them, thirdly, the state still generates revenue.
"By this, you have a tripartite wind, everybody is happy. This is just on cashew, we have palm oil, sesame seeds, cassava, rice sugarcane to mention but a few and that is just in the agricultural sector. If you can replicate what I have said so far on other crops and do the same in tourism sector, and mineral resources, employment will be taken care of and everybody will be happy. I am not saying is going to be an overnight things, but then once you have a focus, in no time you will be amazed at the number of employed youths we would have taken off the street", he said.
Ibrahim, however, said he wouldn't signify himself that he has a quality that nobody else has, adding that he would rather say he is a good team player and that is what he believes makes the difference.
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