The late Special Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak is well known for the political quotes and landmarks.
Gatekeepers News reports that Ahmed Gulak became the speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly in the nineties. He was appointed Special Adviser by former President Goodluck Jonathan in November 2011.
As a card-carrying member of the PDP, Gulak in 2016 stormed the party’s headquarters and declared himself as the National Chairman of the party. He stated that Prince Uche Secondus had ceased to be acting National Chairman of the Party.
In 2018, Gulak left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined the ruling party, the All Progressives Party (APC).
He stated his reason for leaving the PDP in the following words “The reason for my leaving PDP for APC is that, in every politics, you must take into account your local environment. I am from Adamawa State, the North-East geopolitical zone. The people of the North-East geopolitical zone have come to realise that at least the administration of the APC has liberated them from the insurgency that has been holding their territory for over the past year.
“I and my supporters tried to pick up the pieces and rebuild PDP until it fell apart. The second reason is that some governors and officials of the PDP came out clearly to vehemently oppose the approval of $1bn to fight insurgency in the North East. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back and I had to leave. Because they were so insensitive to the war going on in my zone and to the plight of my people. That is not a party that my people will belong to. That is why I left. And the APC at the highest and local level received me warmly, gave me accolades and honour, and all the warm welcome that they could. I and my retinue of supporters have discovered that APC both at the local level of the North East and my state Adamawa State, and my local government is best suited for my people because of the realities of our time…”
“I believe very strongly that APC is best suited for my people in my unit, ward, state, and my geopolitical zone…”
“APC is best suited for my people, my community, my region, and by and large Nigeria.”
Gatekeepers News gathered that he was appointed as the Chairman, APC governorship primary committee of Imo State.
In, October 2018, Gulak on arriving in the state for the exercise was declared missing. The APC chieftain later said he was “kidnapped” alongside members of the panel, adding that he was offered $2 million to influence the outcome of the primaries.
He also alleged that the then presiding governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha, authorised the members of the electoral panel to declare his favourite candidate, Uche Nwosu, as the winner of the primary.
The APC National Working Committee (NWC) however, cancelled the exercise after Nwosu was announced the winner.
Gatekeepers News also gathered that Uzodinma later won the primaries which led to a cold war between Okorocha and Gulak.
The Senator rejected the results and insisted that his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu was the party’s candidate, whereas Nwosu victory had been cancelled by the party’s NWC.
Gulak while recounting his kidnapped experience had reiterated that Hope Uzodinma was the chosen one, adding that his victory followed due process.
Gulak said, “The governor himself came to take everybody in the hotel but before he arrived, about four of us escaped and he moved other members including the secretary. He took them to the government House and they read a prepared speech declaring his son-in-law the winner of that exercise. But I had already left Owerri for Abuja where I submitted my result.
“As I speak today, there is no single petition against our report and against the result. Let us not forget, Rochas in-law was not the only aspirant, Hope Uzodinma was not the only aspirant. They were other seven aspirants including the Deputy Governor of Imo state. All the other aspirants, nine of them, there is no single petition against the conduct of the election.”
While dismissing any form of crisis in the party, he had maintained that he is not an enemy of Okorocha.
Gulak, while expressing 90% optimism that APC will win the 2019 election, revealed the deadly mistake the Presidential Candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar, made in his bid to win the election.
According to him, Abubakar failed to move the political gatekeepers in his State.
He said, “Of course, it is a political mistake. He knows that. Atiku is a veteran. Adamawa State is his home state. If for nothing, at least, all the political gatekeepers would have been with him. But if you begin to mention the political gatekeepers who are with Atiku in Adamawa State today as I speak, I have not seen any known figure that is with him from Adamawa State.”
“You know this politics is not a rocket science. You know politics is local; from the unit, voting unit, to the ward, local government, and the state. For example, I have made it a point of duty notwithstanding the insecurity challenges.
“I visit my community every month. At times, twice a month! Whatever little I have, we go there, we gather together, we drink water, we discuss our human challenges, and that is what politics is all about. And when the time comes for voting, they expect that I am the person close to them. I will go to them and give them directives.
“That is why I said there are always political gatekeepers in the political terrain in Nigeria. People trust you, people believe in you because you are always with them.
“They have never seen Buhari live. Our communities, our people, only see Buhari on television, or radio or they are told what he is doing for the country. They have never shook hands with Buhari, but we are the people that shake hands with Buhari in Abuja and they believe and trust whatever we tell them. So, by the time you assemble those political gatekeepers in Adamawa State, the aggregate is, 90 percent of us are in APC.”
