Adamawa politics: The emerging intrigues

BY ZAYYAD I. MUHAMMAD

The ward and local government congresses of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the preparation for the LGA congresses by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have brought to the fore the emerging intrigues in Adamawa politics. The attempt to outweigh each other in the control of both party’s structures among the party stakeholders is very clear.

The APC congresses, in most cases, were conducted based on Abuja’s directives of consensus and that the incumbents offer the right of first refusal, including accommodating newcomers. While for the PDP, if you have held the office for up to 8 years, or in cases of death or resignation, your office is automatically vacant.

An interesting scenario in the APC is Mubi north and Mubi south LGAs, where a former immediate governor, Bindow Umaru Jibrilla, and a sitting senator, Ishaku Cliff Abbo, appear to have been schemed out by Abubakar Jafaru, the member representing Mubi north, Mubi south and Maiha federal constituency. For instance, while the Bindow and Cliff group were at Yazaram Cinema waiting for the election to be conducted, the real election took place at Yelwa Primary School with Jafar having the upper hand. What also weakened Bindow’s active participation was the issue of the leaked audio against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Another place of interest is Yola north, Yola south, Girei, and Song LGAs. Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, Adamawa central, wanted to replace most of the excos at those LGAs, but all her candidates lost woefully. Many people were surprised by Binani’s politics. The excos Binani wanted to replace were, in fact, those that assisted her to get the senatorial ticket by narrowly defeating Aliyu Wakili Boya, Sarki Matasa.

In the APC congresses so far, three governorship hopefuls — Muhammadu Umaru Jibrill Bindow, Senator Cliff Ishaku Abbo and Senator Aishatu Dahiru Binani — were casualties, while three other governorship hopefuls, Modi Halilu, Nuhu Ribadu and Abdul Razak Namadaz, appeared to have done their smart moves silently. Namdas doesn’t have any issues at his constituency. On the other hand, Boss Mustapha was not that enthusiastic – he only showed interest in one or two places in Yola north and Hong LGA, while former governor Murtala Nyako played the role of a stabiliser and elder.

The person that called the shots the most was Comrade Mustapha Salihu, the APC northeast vice-chairman. He doggedly implemented the APC caretaker committee’s instruction of consensus, giving the incumbent the right of first refusal and accommodating newcomers. The big game will be at the state congress and the state chairmanship position in particular. The big picture will be more clearer; the grievances, crises, and contentment from each of the stakeholders and the group will be more open.

For the PDP, being the party in power in the state and having some big interest within it, its replacements at the ward level and preparations for other congresses were unique. Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri made some political attempts. Most of the loyalists of Joe Madaki and former governor Boni Haruna were blocked.

An interesting place is the Numan Federation, where the deputy governor comes from. Crowther Seth was made ineffectual at his base. The person that is pulling the strings is Kwamoti Laori, the member representing Numan, Demsa and Lamurde constituency. He is Fintiri’s right hand man. It is still a surprise to many that Crowther Seth was made ineffective at Numan Federation, but some pundits said it shouldn’t be surprising.

Seth, as deputy governor, still operates from his personal house, and the road to the house is not even tarred. Many people see Numan Federation as the big losers in the Fintiri government, despite it being the joker for the PDP in the 2019 governorship election.

To be fair to Fintiri, a sitting governor often dictates the direction of his party and Fintiri’s politics now goes beyond Adamawa, it has national elements in it, so he must have ‘the home’ in his control. Fintiri has some big PDP national assignments. It was reported that Governor Nyesom Wike flew to Yola twice or thrice in a certain week just to confer with Fintiri and left within some hours. Any political tête-à-tête that cannot be done via a cell phone is a big one.

There is a report that Fintiri will definitely try as much as he can to replace A.T. Shehu as the state chairman of the PDP. That’s why some politicians are of the view that Fintiri has refused to empower Shehu economically.

Fintiri means business, you can’t blame him. Recently, when the move to fill in the vacant position at the PDP board of trustee which was created by the death of former Governor Wilberforce Juta, Fintiri presented the name of Hamza Madagali, Adamawa PDP organising secretary, but former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and PDP former national chairman, Uche Secondus, intervened and presented the name of Boni Haruna, being a former governor like Wilberforce Juta.

As the intrigues in both the Adamawa PDP and the APC further unfold, we will analyse it from the angle of the moment.

Muhammad writes from Abuja, and can be reached via 08036070980, [email protected]