HON. PETER YOHANNA USHAFA'S SCORE CARD IN BWARI AREA COUNCIL.

There is no doubt that Bwari Area Council witnessed a lot of storm in the run-up to the Area Council elections in FCT; arising from what political experts termed, Peter Yohanna/Musa Dikko political tango. It could be recalled that Peter Yohanna had won the primary election of his party, Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], just as he was celebrating his victory, some elements within the party, supposedly his political enemies, threw spanner on his victory wheel.

The position of Peter’s detractors was that he did not resign his appointment where he was last employed before contesting the primary election of his party. The mischief crafted by Peter’s few political opponents saw Musa Dikko parading himself as the authentic candidate of the party in Bwari Area Council. The confusion created by the splinter group within the party, meant that the party had two [2] candidates for the Area Council election.

As Peter Yohanna went on with his campaign as the authentic candidate of PDP on account of having won the primary election; Musa Dikko was also canvassing for the votes of the people of Bwari Area Council. The National leadership of PDP intervened on the crisis authored by desperate splinter group, when it ruled that Peter Yohanna remained the authentic candidate of the party in Bwari Area Council election.

The decision to back Peter Yohanna was based on the clean sheet given to him after the investigation of the allegation against him, which they found to be baseless. In a nutshell, he was not indicted by the party of any wrong doing. The clean bill of health given to Peter Ushafa effectively cleared the path for intensification of his campaign. Not done with the decision of PDP on the issue, Peter’s detractors headed to the court to stop him. The court, after looking at the accusation critically, dismissed the case brought against Peter Yohanna. In the election proper, Peter Yohanna defeated other contestants from other political parties.

In the third week of May 2011 he was sworn in as the executive Chairman of Bwari Area Council. After taken over from Isah Dara, many had feared he would not be able to provide effective leadership in Bwari Area Council because of the distractions from his political opponent. The success story being told in the Council in terms of democracy dividend has silenced his critics. Today, almost all the project started by his predecessor, Isah Dara, had been completed by Peter Yohanna Ushafa. Unlike many other leaders, who will prefer to abandon the projects started by their predecessor, Peter elected to do first thing first- completing ongoing projects for the benefit of the people of Bwari Area Council. Reports have it that the Education Sector has attracted deserved attention by the administration of Peter Yohanna.

Health sector has also attracted attention of the Hon Chairman. This report in Daily Trust on Tuesday, June 28, 2010, at a press briefing on “Sustaining Free Family Planning Commodities Through Prompt Budget Approval and Continuing Funding” organized by the Nigeria Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NUHRI) in Abuja, Hon. Peter Yohanna Ushafa’s succently captured his administration’s giant strides in this important sector, ---.

The Chairman has this to say, “This programme is barely two years in Bwari Area Council, we spent a total of N1,450,000 in 2010, and so far this year, we have spent another N1,476,000” . “The Bwari Area Council has done a lot on this issue because for us, healthcare is a priority. It’s important to inform this gathering that to demonstrate our commitment to this cause; we have increased our budgetary allocation, with community mobilization/sensitization by (N700, 000), training of personnel (N1million) and family planning consumable (3.6m) receiving the largest allocation” . “Obama” as the Chairman is popularly called announced that “health is wealth. If we concentrate on ensuring that our citizens are in good health, then we can sure of sustainable wealth creation”. There is no doubt that the Peter Yohanna Ushafa’s administration in Bwari Area Council places a high premium on health sector and this is commendable.

Bwari Area Council had since commissioned its newly completed legislative house and office complex located in the area council secretariat respectively; this is in line with Peter Yohanna administration’s commitment to completing those projects that are of benefits to the council. It could be recalled that the expensive two-story building legislative house and office complex was inherited from the previous administration but on assumption of office, council accelerated its completion.

In the Educational sector, report has it that Bwari Area Council of the FCT awarded scholarships to 1,649 students in the area in the 2011 academic year. The report further stated that council spent about N17.6 million on the scholarship scheme. Apart from the scholarship award, the Chairman informed that public libraries, orphanages, health centres and many construction projects were also completed in the area in 2011. The chairman promised to embark on repair of rural roads in the first quarter of 2012, to create access routes for socio-economic development in the area. He expressed optimism that a housing scheme for people of the area would be made a priority in 2012 to ease accommodation problems facing residents. The chairman’s statement here has shown that the council is committed to infrastructural development. Clearly, Bwari Area Council under the leadership of Peter Yohanna Ushafa has provided democracy dividend in the area council.

Written By Emeka Oraetoka
oramekllis@lycos.com