A retired Army General, Aminu Bande, on Monday declared his interest to contest the governor’s seat of Kebbi State under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that until his retirement, Maj-Gen. Bande was the substantive General Officer Commanding (GOC) 8 Division, Sokoto.
Speaking with journalists shortly after a visit to the state party secretariat in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, the ex-General said he was not contesting for personal aggrandisement, but in the interest of liberating the masses.
He said: “I am Major-General Aminu Bande. I am a retired officer and after retirement there is life. Certainly, as a retired senior officer, I felt there is room for me to contribute my quota to the development of my people, my state and my country.
“Hence, I am back home, and for me to contribute better, I feel I must join the current democratic process. My party, the PDP, is there available for me to aspire to whatever position I desire.
“Only recently, I was in the state party office to tell them that I have joined the PDP right from ward level to local government to state level. And, as a matter of fact, I am making consultations beginning from the ward. Today is an opportunity for me to be at the state headquarters of the party.”
On his plans for the state, Bande described Kebbi as more of a rural state in view of minimal development recorded by the present APC administration, promising that if elected he would ensure rapid transformation across the state.
The ex-general argued that incumbency factor would never be a threat to his ambition, recalling that the PDP was in power in 2015 when Buhari and many other governors, Kebbi inclusive, won their elections.
“I think 2023 will be different. If incumbency factor is anything to go by, the present administration wouldn’t have come to power at different levels. PDP was in power in 2015, but President Buhari and other governors came onboard.
“People will decide on what is good for them. I am not in politics to grab power at all cost, I am in politics to contribute my own quota either in the office, in the opposition, or in whatever capacity. I don’t have to be there by force.
“It is the people who will determine who will be there. The people have the power. The vote is there and it is up to them to choose who is the best candidate to lead them at whatever level and in whatever capacity,” he noted.
On sources of funds to effectively transform the state, Bande said he would first of all regulate and reinvigorate the internally generated revenue (IGR) to complement statutory allocation from the federation account apart from blocking leakages therein.
He explained that the present political scenario in the country indicated that the hitherto godfatherism in politics had become a thing of the past.
Earlier, receiving the aspirant, the PDP Chairman in Kebbi State, Alhaji Usman Bello-Suru, had lauded Bande for choosing to pitch his tent with the PDP and assured him of a level-playing ground.
He said: “PDP is a party that believes in Justice and giving equal level playing ground to all. Evidently, everybody now knows that PDP is on top of all other political parties in Kebbi State, going by what we saw in the just concluded local government council elections.
“We are certain that this recent election is a litmus test to 2023 general elections and, of course, we have seen the light.” (NAN)
