By Al-Amin Ciroma.
Is it surprising that a green snake can always find its way through the greener moister of the grass?
Basheer Garba Lado, who pretends that he has his people’s support, enjoys all the ways of stepping his feet into the corridors of power to mingle with serious-minded personalities, ended up with not a shameful defeat, but left with nothing to take home with him at the senatorial primaries held a few months ago in Kano State.
That is not the story of the day. The man, Lado, who always enjoyed getting money through the back doors without having to work for it, is now in an incoherent mess!
He assumed that solo moves into power could pay, and that gave him the impression that he could live on that alone.
All records available throughout his public service career show that former Senator Lado has never completed a successful project or delivered any appropriate constituency activities.
Some people give him accolades for the bridge at the Gedi-Gedi axis, but just a few years after its commission, the bridge is now an inch from collapsing. The truth of it all is that the bridge was never Lado’s project in the first place. It was a neatly conspired federal government project that he used his dirty ways to grab.
And now, all Nigerians see him as an expert in “criminal” activities, more especially his desperation to be in the senate race, which triggered him to commit a laughable forgery of an appeal document that already favoured his opponent, Alhaji Abdulsalam Abdulkareem Zaura, popularly known as A. A. Zaura, for his truthfulness and decorousness.
This singular offence, and according to Section 467-475, provides the punishment for forgery in general, thus: ” Any person who forges any document, writing, or seal, is guilty of an offence which, unless otherwise stated ,is a felony, and he is liable ,if no other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for seven years.”
Not only that, but Nigerians are now demanding that such a corrupt individual face all wrath and be barred from all public affairs, politics, and public treasury for life.
Recall that ever since before the senatorial primaries held in Kano a few months ago, Lado lost the bid to secure an All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the Senate, he has become so power drunk. And during the exercise, Lado could only secure 77 votes, while A. A. Zaura pulled in 758 votes.
The first step of the defeated aspirant’s resting in oblivion was when the defeated aspirant alleged that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje directed delegates in the senatorial district to vote against him in the primaries. He raised the weighty allegation midway into the senatorial primaries held at the Sani Abacha Indoor Sport Hall amidst large party delegates and party leadership, claiming that the governor directed all the party chairmen to ensure delegates in their domain cast their votes for another aspirant in the contest. He expressed regret that Ganduje failed to fulfill his pledge to ensure fairness and equity.
This is a clear double whammy for Lado since he failed to put his house together to face the race squarely. In his antics, he was initially touted as someone who could be victorious, but the young debutante Zaura floored him mercilessly.
It was reliably gathered that after the primaries, Zaura, as the candidate of the biggest senatorial district in Nigeria, moved on with his political arrangements, but sources say the “wounded” former senator is still weighing other means to brace up himself. But how? He was said to be mounting pressure on every possible opportunity to ensure there was a possible retraction of the exercise.
Analysts say that even if Lado were given a hundred chances to come back to the polls again and again, Alhaji Abdulsalam Zaura would definitely send him parking just like he did in the first round!
Before we go on to the next episode of this interesting tale, it is very important to note that all these shady deals by Lado can never secure him any bid of relevance in society, but rather further continue exposing him as the most irrelevant and corrupt public figure in the well-respected Kano political circle.
Ciroma is the Media Director of A. A. Zaura, and could be reached on 08033225331.
