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Citizens of Lere
Local Government of Kaduna State have called on the state chapter of
the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to discourage the present chairman
of the council, Ibrahim Nuhu Kayarda, from his ambition of contesting
the House of Representatives seat in the constituency. The chairman of
the citizens council for the area, Isa Adamu Lere, said people such as
Mr Kayarda who have been tainted by corruption allegations should not
represent their people at any other level.

“It is important to
bear in mind the determination of all and sundry to rid this great
country of corruption,” said Mr Lere. “The government, politicians and
the civil society groups have all agreed that corruption, as a
cancerous virus, is not only pandemic but endemic in our political
continuum and therefore, the desire to bring politicians vying for the
2011 elective positions on a clean slate. It is on this premise that
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) vowed not to allow
corrupt politicians to contest any elective post in the forthcoming
2011 general elections and that is why politicians such as Nuhu Ibrahim
Kayarda will not be allowed to contest election in this country.”

Once bitten…

The group traced
its opposition to Mr Kayarda to an event in 2005, when the state
government directed council chairmen to buy official cars. They alleged
that the Lere council chairman, instead of purchasing a new motor
vehicle, deceitfully refurbished his personal car, a Peugeot 406 car
which he purchased and had been using since 2003, at the cost of
N3million.

“This association
forwarded a petition to the state House of Assembly, which mandated its
Public and Anti-corruption Committee to investigate the allegation of
impropriety against the executive chairman — wherein the said Committee
confirmed to be true the allegations of the petitioners,” according to
Mr Lere. “In compliance with the above House Resolution No.23, on the
10th day of October, 2005, the Ministry for Local Government, Kaduna
State suspended him for six (6) months with effect from 20th September
2005. He also refunded the embezzled money to the treasury of the Lere
Local Government Council. Why again will this man be allowed to
represent [the] common man in his constituency?”

Efforts to speak with Mr Kayarda did not succeed as the former
council chairman did not answer his phone or respond to a text message
sent to him.