‘They’re aiding vote buying’ — Fintiri suspends operations of Adamawa NGOs

Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa, says he has suspended the operations of all non-governmental organisatons (NGOs) in the state over alleged involvement in vote-buying during elections.

Fintiri spoke on Tuesday while addressing journalists in the state

He said NGOs have derailed from their humanitarian mandate and are now involved in politics to deceive people of the state.

“It has been discovered that most non-governmental organisations have swallowed the bug and are dabbling into politics in the name of providing humanitarian assistance to the people,” he said during a broadcast.

“Government cannot fold its arms and watch such so-called NGOs mislead the people and inject divisive tendencies into their psyche.

“In view of the foregoing and in furtherance of our desire to reorder the electoral behaviour of our people and remove the influence of the NGOs who have reduced the statutory mandate to that one of a vote buying machine, government has decided to suspend the activities of local and international non-governmental organisations throughout the state until 15th of March, 2023, when the elections are done.

“This is done in good faith and in furtherance of our desire to deepen our democracy and protect the humanitarian mandate of the NGOs. Let us learn to put the interest of the country above any other primordial interest.”

He said the government will not tolerate any activity capable of undermining the security in the state, adding that any NGO that flouts the order will be punished

“There is no time to waste. We all know the threats that further hesitation will bring,” he added.

“The presidential and national assembly elections have come and gone but I must thank all our citizens for trooping out en masse to exercise their civic responsibility.”

He commended residents of the state for maintaining proper conduct during the recently concluded elections and urged them to do the same in the upcoming governorship polls.