Rejoinder: Gombe South Group warns against “political opportunism”, seeks Tinubu’s intervention

Rejoinder: Gombe South Group warns against “political opportunism”, seeks Tinubu’s intervention

First and foremost, we wonder why a supposedly “concerned group” that labels itself as Concerned Citizens of Gombe South will not be bold enough to list their names as signatories to their open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which was carried on some prominent national newspapers, commencing from their online editions of Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in which they cowardly betrayed their sense of political self-defeat by being mischievously hostile to the recent defection of Rt Hon Ali Isa JC, PhD, from the PDP to the APC.

The fact that they couldn’t even summon the courage to pen their names as signatories to their letter beneath the amorphous identity of Concerned Citizens of Gombe South is sufficient proof that they are simply being opportunistically mischievous and would rather hide their identities behind an unknown group that guarantees them the anonymity that cowards always covet.

If Hon Ali Isa JC is such a lightweight politician or an opportunistic politician who “seeks to exploit the system for personal gain” as they claimed, then their convictions should have given them the strength of character to reveal their true identities so that the great people of Gombe South can know who these so-called champions of their interests are, and to also find out whether any of them has a culvert or even a community borehole to their name.

Therefore, since they are scared of telling the people of Gombe South who they really are, it has become easy for us to surmise that the group is made up of failed politicians who have no achievements to show to the people of Gombe South as proof of their love and service to them in politics and public service, and among them are possibly those whom Hon Ali Isa JC has defeated previously and who are still afraid that he will defeat them again in the forthcoming elections because of his very intimidating record of achievements as the representative of Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency. Ordinarily, aren’t they supposed to compete with him based on their own records rather than resorting to cheap, worn-out strategies of blackmail and fear-mongering?

In their twisted logic, the so-called Concerned Citizens of Gombe South claim that the defection of Hon Ali Isa JC to the APC and his well-reported engagements with national stakeholders of the party as well as stakeholders of the party in Gombe State is a desperate effort by the distinguished politician to secure the party’s automatic ticket for the 2027 elections at the expense of those “who have, over the years, dedicated their time, resources, and energy to building and strengthening the party across Gombe South” without providing any scintilla of proof on how they built or strengthened the APC in Gombe South, because, what we all saw happen during the defection of Rt Hon Ali Isa JC to the APC on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, was what can be truly defined as the rebirth and strengthening of the APC in Gombe South.

For the first time, the Gombe South Zonal chairman of the APC was given a brand new luxury car, and the Chairmen of the party for Balanga and Billiri Local Government Areas were also given brand new cars while all the Ward Chairmen of the party in both LGAs were given a brand new motorcycle each by Hon Ali Isa JC during the ceremony of his defection.

So, in what ways were these so-called stakeholders spending their time, resources, and energy to build the APC in Gombe South when they left the party in a state of neglect until Hon. Ali Isa JC came and gave it fresh breath and energy?

Moreover, if these so-called Concerned Citizens of Gombe South really care about the interests and development of Gombe South, they would have applauded and welcomed the entry of Hon Ali Isa JC, PhD, into the party because he didn’t join the party as a liability but as an asset, and that’s because, with all sense of modesty and objectivity, it is extremely difficult to find a politician in Gombe South with his impeccable record of achievements in infrastructural projects and human development across Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency, which he dutifully represents at the National Assembly.

If they currently have such a politician with his pedigree, let them show him to the public and let us have a debate about achievements that bear direct positive impact on the people.

For example, in the history of Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency, Rt Hon Ali Isa JC is the only representative who thought and considered it expedient to construct high calibre, well-paved roads for some major communities in the constituency in order to ease transportation for the people as well as boost socioeconomic activities.

In under 3 years, he constructed the Billiri – Laushi Daji Road; Talasse – Bangu Road; Yolde – Nyuwar Road; Bambam – Dadiya Road, and the Bambam – Hospital Road. And within the same period, he was also able to construct more than 40 schools, installed solar streetlights in various communities, did several motorised boreholes, built shops for traders, constructed worship centres for both Christians and Muslims, including many other infrastructural projects.

And if they claim to be more concerned about the interests of Gombe South more than Hon. Ali Isa JC or anyone else, are they now pretending to be unaware of the recent establishment of a Federal Orthopaedic Hospital in Billiri, which will serve a large swathe of the entire Northeast, and which was birthed by his determined efforts through a Bill, which he followed through till it was passed by both Chambers of the National Assembly and eventually got the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to sign it into law?

Time and space will not allow us to go into details of just 5 percent of the achievements of this great politician who has not only elevated Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency in Gombe State to Nigeria’s national map of reckoning and recognition but Gombe South as a whole. But let it be established that in a democracy such as ours, all political parties, including their leaders and stakeholders, are always eager to have result-oriented people like Rt. Hon. Ali Isa JC, PhD, in their midst.

Therefore, it is childish as much as it is ridiculous to blackmail the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Tajudeen Abbas (the Iyan Zazzau) and accuse him of committing any crime against the APC for his patriotic role in the defection of Hon. Ali Isa JC into the APC.