Group Defends Ex-Nasarawa Speaker Balarabe, Lists Eight Years of Constituency Projects in Response to Critic Ayuba Umar
A group loyal to former Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi, has responded to public criticism by renowned commentator, Dr. Umar Ayuba, presenting what it described as the former Speaker’s eight-year stewardship and achievements while representing Umaisha/Ugya State Constituency.
The response followed a Facebook post by Dr. Ayuba titled “Where Is Former Speaker Alhaji Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi?”, which generated widespread reactions across social media.
Leading the response on Saturday, media practitioner and publisher, Yahaya Idris Toto, released a detailed account of projects, interventions and empowerment programmes undertaken by the former Speaker between 2015 and 2023
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According to the statement, Balarabe Abdullahi commenced his legislative journey on June 9, 2015, when he was inaugurated into the Fifth Nasarawa State House of Assembly before later emerging as Speaker.
The group stated that within his first 100 days in office, the lawmaker donated six vehicles to APC ward chairmen, six motorcycles to ward secretaries and facilitated the drilling of ten boreholes across the six electoral wards in the constituency.
It further recalled that during his first anniversary in office, the former Speaker executed empowerment programmes valued at about ₦14 million, including the donation of two speedboats to riverine communities, six Sharon buses to religious and community organisations, and educational grants to indigent students.
The statement also highlighted his second anniversary interventions, which reportedly exceeded ₦16 million, including scholarships, cash grants to women, sewing machines, wrappers, refrigerators and generators distributed across the constituency.
Beyond empowerment, the group credited the former Speaker with facilitating the rehabilitation of the 48-kilometre Toto–Umaisha road, installation of transformers, establishment of the Mobile Police Command in Toto and construction of several classroom blocks across primary schools in Umaisha/Ugya.
It also claimed that over 345 youths secured employment in the civil service, education, health and security sectors through his interventions.
The response further noted that one of Balarabe Abdullahi’s major legislative legacies was the actualisation of the Ogye Chiefdom, ending over 14 years without a paramount traditional ruler in the area and paving the way for the appointment of several district and village heads.
The group maintained that the projects and interventions demonstrated the former Speaker’s commitment to grassroots development and urged critics to assess his tenure based on documented records rather than political narratives.
