The immediate past Executive Chairman of Toto Local Government Area, Hon. Aliyu Abdullahi Tashas, has withdrawn from the race for the Toto/Gadabuke State Assembly seat.

This he said was necessary because some stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Toto LG are heading for high level political mistakes that can lead to the downfall of the party.

Hon. Tashas who spoke on Tuesday after attending a stakeholders’ meeting alongside four other aspirants at the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in Lafia, lamented that hypocrisy, insincerity and selfishness by some political leaders and government officials from the LG is highly unacceptable and unaccomodative hence the need for him and his people to take a collective decision and withdraw from the contest to allow them do whatever they intend to do.

According to Tasha’s when we went to the SSG’s office, discussions were held on building consensus ahead of the party primaries.

“I insisted that, in the interest of equity and fairness, the Assembly ticket should be zoned to Gadabuke district, because Toto district had dominated political positions in the area for decades”

“Toto district had occupied the Assembly seat for 20 years now, while Gadabuke district had only 4 years”

He argued that relying solely on APC membership strength in Toto town to determine the party’s candidate might produce a flagbearer for the primaries but not necessarily a winner in the general election.

“You can use APC membership cards to determine who gets the Assembly ticket, but that cannot guarantee victory at the general election,” he said.

Tashas disclosed that the meeting at the SSG’s office was aimed at reaching a consensus among the aspirants, but efforts failed despite additional time granted for consultations.

“I was among the five Assembly aspirants invited to the SSG’s office mainly to build consensus. We were given some minutes to resolve among ourselves for one person, but we later informed them that we could not arrive at a consensus even with more time,” he stated.

He further revealed that a committee was constituted to interface with the aspirants, comprising the Toto Local Government Chairman, a retired Army officer, former Toto LG Chairman Zakari O. Sani, former Director-General of the Pension Board Usman Adams, and Murtala Danmadami among others.

Tasha’s, a former Special Adviser to the State Governor lamented what he described as the political marginalisation of the Gade people and the Gadabuke District in the current political arrangement, stressing the need for balance in the distribution of elective and appointive positions.

“My point at the meeting was that the Gade people are not represented in this government. There is a need for balance since Toto district already has the SSG, the Executive Chairman, Permanent Secretaries, and now the senatorial ticket,” he said.

Tashas criticised the method adopted by the committee in assessing aspirants, describing it as inappropriate and lacking political depth.

“The committee ended up scoring aspirants like it was a football competition, instead of asking each aspirant why they want to contest and what plans they have for the people” he added.

He maintained that even if he was not considered for the ticket, the seat should still be zoned to Gadabuke district in the spirit of justice and fairness.

Announcing his withdrawal from the contest, Tashas wished the remaining aspirants success in the APC primaries.

He also appreciated notable political figures from Toto district, including Dr. Shuaib Faisal, Arc. Abu Seze, and Alhaji Musa Muhammed Maikaya, for supporting equitable distribution of political offices across the area.

“The Gade Nation will not forget those who stood for fairness and justice above partisan interests, the GADE people will equally not going to forget those who do not have their interest, those who said we should loss all, it is time that will tell, every good deeds, just like bad deeds has it pay back time, and time shall tell” he said.

“These same individuals did same during the last party Exco where over 20 from the LG GADE people were giving only 2 Exco, and GADE is one of the 3 major tribes in this LG and at the moment we did not have any single elective or appointive position apart from Councilor and the recent Administrator of Gadabuke, time shall tell ” He added.