From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Taraba State governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 general elections, Colonel Kefas Agbu (retd), has said that he will bring his wealth of experience as an Intelligence military officer to tackle the security challenges confronting parts of the state when elected as the governor.
Agbu said this while interacting with media influencers in Jalingo to intimate them of his policies and to give clarifications on some grey areas of his candidature.
He said that with the foundation laid by the current administration in the state and bringing to bear his experience especially in resolving the more serious security challenges of the Niger-Delta region that led to the amnesty regime under the late President Musa Ya’ardua, he was certain to bring the situation in the state under total control very quickly.
The retired colonel said that those who cry of injustice in his emergence as the candidate of the party are not fair to him as he had earlier taken a stand in support of power rotation but had to give in when his emergence became expedient.
He urged all stakeholders to join hands and work with him for the success of the party and the good of the state as he is a project ordained by God to salvage the state.
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“Let me once again appreciate you all and indeed the entire PDP family and good people of Taraba for the mandate to fly the flag of our great party for the number one seat of the state cone 2023. It is really an honour. You will recall that, as the then state Chairman of the party, I took a public stance in support of power rotation to the North in line with the existing arrangement. However, just like what happened at the National level, it became expedient for me to step in and I had to, for the success of our party and our dear state.
“Now, that phase has come and gone. The next task ahead of us all is to win the general elections. In politics, you don’t undermine your opponent and so we must assume that we have a serious task ahead of us and work assiduously to overcome that task, which is to win the general elections, both at the state and national levels.
“I understand that we are facing major challenges as a state including insecurity. You all know my background in the military and the role I played in returning sanity to the Niger-Delta region. If I can achieve that in a far-off region, you can rest assured that I will deploy that experience to end our challenge here, building on the foundation that the current administration is already laying. The challenges may differ and manner of approach but by and large, it is the same.
“I also intend to take our youths off the streets. I’m not looking at creating white-collar jobs. No. Of course, we will create those but our priority will be to make the youths and women employers of labour. I am not talking about buying Keke Napep or a motorcycle for them in the name of empowerment. We would explore their natural passions and build them by supporting them and creating an enabling environment for them to operate.
“We would focus so much on ensuring security and because that is the only way we can attract investment in various sections of our economy that are literally wasting away. We hope that our revolution in agriculture and tourism to bring about a major boost in our IGR such that our dependence on federal allocation will be drastically reduced,” he said.
He urged aggrieved members of the party to shield their swords and embrace peace as he will operate an all-inclusive government for the good of the people and bring dividends of democracy to all the nooks and crannies of the state if elected.