By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Coalition of Southern Kaduna APC Volunteer Groups (CSKVG), has called on the leadership of All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state to thread with caution and ensure it gets a candidate that will add value to the candidacy of Senator Uba Sani as the running mate in the 2023 governorship election in the state.
According to the group in a statement issued by its convener, Abeku Audi, “We find it expedient to call on the leaders of our party, especially from the Southern part, to thread with caution on the matter and ensure we get a candidate that would add value to the candidacy of Distinguished Senator Sani.”
The group ssid that as APC members and stakeholders in Southern Kaduna, they have resolved to rally support for the victory of their party in next year’s general elections, saying that to attain the electoral success, they are concerned with the choice of who occupies the running mate position.
The statement explained that after their assessment of running mate aspirants from Southern Kaduna, they have chosen Dr. Manzo Daniel Maigari, a former Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce under the first tenure of His Excellency, Malam Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai, stressing that their choice of Dr Manzo as the deputy to the governorship candidate was arrived at after a painstaking assessment of authentic qualities whose headship of the two ministries he served witnessed landmark achievements.
The statement stated, “His leadership in the Ministry for Agriculture led to the support of no fewer than 300 Southern Kaduna youths and women with grants, ranging from N1.3 million to N3.2 million to assist them start Agribusinesses. Apart from establishing three commodities Aggregation Centres to boost Agribusiness in the state, no fewer than 252 Southern Kaduna youth were recruited as Forest Rangers. As Commissioner of Commerce, he upgraded the 24 BATCs to Community Skills Development Centres in Kaduna State and fully equipped them for optimal use.”
It noted that since the emergence of the APC administration in Kaduna State in 2015, there has been no Southern Kaduna politician who has contributed so much in terms of attracting goodwill and popularity to the party than Dr Manzo, saying that the rising technocrat of exemplary character has equipped himself with requisite knowledge of Agribusiness in Business School, Netherland; Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies in Lee Kuan Yew Institute for Public Policy, Singapore; and an MBA Leadership and Sustainability in view from Royal Kennedy College, Switzerland/ University of Cumbria, remains an unbeatable candidate for nomination for the choice of running mate to our APC Governorship Candidate.
According to the statement, Manzo has held many high-profile positions in Kaduna State, including the Chairman, AGRA-Kaduna Policy Advocacy Team for Extension Service Climate Smart Agriculture (2022); Chairman, National stakeholders Committee, Climate Smart Agriculture (2O21) and now Director General, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, NABG since 2019, among dozens of appointments, adding that he is an exceptional political assets that must be deployed to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming general elections in 2023.
It explained that his greatest strength is in his humanist disposition and rallying developing partners for several interventions to the Ginger value chain in which no fewer than 75,000 youths and women in southern Kaduna were supported with credit facilities and inputs, including creating 60,000 jobs under the supervision of his company, AgroLog Limited.
As the Chairman of Greysoft Technologies, the statement stated that the former commissioner has been an advocate of IT skills to confront challenges of the future and has demonstrate his concern for the people, in February 2022, through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of his company, where he donated relief materials to no fewer than 10,000 IDP families in the state, especially in Southern Kaduna, including supporting them with ginger seeds and other inputs for economic recovery.
As a group, it said it did not consulted with Dr Manzo on the need to throw his hat in the ring, but is calling on leaders of APC, especially from Southern Kaduna, to nominate this Veterinary Doctor and accomplished technocrat to be nominated to serve as a running mate as he is an invaluable asset to not only Southern Kaduna but also the state and the country in general.
“There is no doubt that if the Kaduna State APC wants to maintain its song of victory in 2023, the need to nominate Dr. Manzo as deputy to Distinguished Senator Sani is imperative,” the statement explained.
Even out of government, the group stated that the former commissioner has demonstrated loyalty and faithfulness to the APC, believing that nominating him as a running mate would boost the chances for victory for our party.
