Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
Ahead of the February presidential election, Fulani communities in Taraba Central senatorial zone have promised to deliver over 600,000 votes to ensure the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on behalf of the leaders of the ethnic group, Alh Sani Danladi Shayibu Shaukani, who recently defected to the APC from the People’s Democratic Party PDP, made the pledge at the weekend when some members of the Contact and Mobilisation Group of Aisha Buhari’s ‘Women and Youth Presidential Campaign team visited Fulani communities in Taraba Central Senatorial zone.
A chieftain of the APC in Taraba and member of the campaign team, Mohammed Mustapha, who spoke at the rally in Bali Local Government Area of the central zone, said the party had entered into an accord with the herders for victory in the state.
He said “statistics of registered voters of Fulani herders in the state alone is about 682,000 and they have promised us that none of their votes will go to the PDP.
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“We are also taking this assurance back to the president and all APC candidates for various political positions in Taraba State.”
A former chieftain of the PDP and ex special adviser to Governor Darius Ishaku on Project Matters, Shayibu Shaukani, who recently defected to the APC, also said his ten years investment in the PDP was a waste of time and resources.
According to him, “I decided to stay that long in the PDP to see if my ideology was in tandem with that of the party but realised that I was only wasting my time and resources.”
Our correspondent recalled that the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), which is the umbrella body for Fulani herdsmen in the state had earlier endorsed the president and candidate of the APC in the state for the February general elections while another section of the herdsmen endorsed candidates of the PDP in a contradictory move.
