Nigeria Newspapers Online

G-5 govs not in absolute control of states – Adamawa PDP Chairman

Must Read

With regards to security, as I am talking to you, Adamawa State is highly secure. Before this government came into power, there were some areas that were not reachable because of the insurgency problems, but now, there is no nook and cranny of the state that you cannot go to.

We are safe, the governor is on top of the security matter, and he has got the backing of the presidential candidate in the person of Atiku Abubakar. They engaged the services of the local vigilante groups. That is why they have been supporting them (vigilante groups) financially and engaging them seriously.  They distributed security vehicles to all 21 local governments as well. The heads of the vigilante groups get incentives on monthly basis, and they have been given vehicles and maintenance allowances that will sustain them.

Adamawa State is not one of the states where elections can be postponed because in terms of security, we are sure that the nooks and crannies of the state, including the local government areas that were hot areas at a time; they are peaceful now. I am talking about Madagali LG. As I am talking to you now, you can go there and come out without any fear of attack.

By the grace of God, Atiku can comfortably win not only the North-East, he can also win the North-West. We are hopeful that Atiku can control that place.

Kwankwaso has no place in Adamawa State, and he has no place in the North-East, but he is influential in the North-West. His target in the North-West is for him to capture Kano. The essence of his desire to capture Kano is for him to remain relevant in our political landscape, that is my thinking and that is how it is.

In Adamawa State, very many people do not even know who Peter Obi is. I am telling you; I know what I am saying. So, those that are campaigning for Obi have every right to do so, but the majority are with Atiku. This is because even Obi knows that in terms of politics and exposure to the world, knowledge of the economy, cannot compare himself to Atiku, that was why Atiku even picked him as his running mate in the 2019 general elections. I am not running him out, Obi is very relevant as well, but he is not to be compared with Atiku. He cannot be compared with Atiku.

So far, so good, we have even compelled our party supporters and our stakeholders to go back to their various wards and units, to ensure that a substantial number of the PVCs have been collected. Thank God, the INEC people are cooperating with them, and they have been mobilising our people to go and collect their PVCs regardless of their inclination to any political party.

Far from the truth, politically, Mr Crowther Seth is more inclined to the grassroots, than the sitting governor. The deputy had started politics earlier than the governor and he is a grassroots politician. As I am talking to you, there is a cordial walking relationship between them up till today.

To my mind, maybe because our governor is inclined to gender sensitivity, and you know very well as a journalist that our constitution, that is the constitution of the party, has given 35 per cent Women Affirmative Action in all the elective positions, and as a political scientist, and a historian, I think that informed him (Fintiri) to pick a female running mate. It is to give the female gender a sense of belonging.

Well, let me take you back the history lane a little bit. In the recent past, the PDP did not have any members; we did not even have a member of the state Assembly. The PDP has no single development area administrators out of the 50 in Adamawa State, and the PDP had no single commissioner.

We are not unmindful of the fact that Adamawa State had the incumbent and the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation. It also has the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and it is also the home state of the First Lady (Aisha Buhari), and her younger brother is a powerful man, a very influential personality in the state. You are also aware that Sariki Abba, an aide to the President is also from this state, talk less of the three senators, and eight members of the House of Assembly, 25 members of the state House of Assembly; they all belonged to the All Progressives Congress at that material time.

Notwithstanding all these factors, at the top, it was the APC that was controlling. Adamawa State was zero in terms of having the PDP in power, but because of the vibrant supporters of the PDP, we were able to remove the government in power at the time. It did not matter that the APC had support from the top because of the influential people I mentioned to you, yet we defeated them gallantly. We booted out the APC governor even though they had a President at the top.

Now that we are in control of our state, and we have performed in terms of infrastructural development. Even at the time, the President, not from our party, gave our governor an award of excellence in terms of infrastructural development in the state. So, we are not afraid of confronting anybody and Adamawa State is a 100 per cent PDP state.

This is the first time I have heard this. I am telling you as a lawyer that no document has come to me concerning this, and I cannot act on hearsay. There was never a time that such several people that you are mentioning have issued complaints to me.

To God and man, I don’t know, and I just heard his name for the first time. I don’t know him, I don’t know the local government area he comes from, and I don’t even know his ward, talk less of being a member of the party. I just don’t know, and I have never come across any complaint from such as an individual and as a party chairman.

Well, I am not a government worker, and I am not a staff of the governor. So, I am not in a position to say that this is what he did or whether he resolved them or not. I am just the chairman of the party in the state.

Well, I am not a member of the APC and if they accused him, I am not aware, and maybe that question should be channelled to the governor or his staff.

In as much as G-5 governors are PDP governors, I will not say a governor is not relevant in his state, but they have limitations. As a journalist, you have seen that limit too. If you witness some of the campaigns, like in Oyo State, when Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State went to flag off the campaign rally of Governor Seyi Makinde, if you were there as a witness, you can vindicate me that it is trending on the social media, that when they (politicians) chanted, people were shouting, saying, “say Atiku, say Atiku”. I believe that you can bear me witness that you have seen or heard that, meaning that the G-5 are not in absolute control of their states. Yes, they are important and relevant, but they cannot determine the direction of the entire state in terms of who to vote for.

Let me tell you, as a Muslim, I believe that it is only God that gives power, and he can give it to whomever he gives it to without consultations with anybody. If you are a Christian, I know that the Bible says something about the fact that it is God that gives power. All the major religions believe that power comes from God. But there are signals and indications; from all indications Atiku has wider acceptability in the entire country and that is what gives me hope that by God’s grace, he will win this election.

My governor has every right to make that accusation because he is in a position to know what the Federal Government has done. For me, I will not have any right to tell you or to accuse anybody because I don’t have access to the source of (information about the resources accruing to) the Federal Government, but as a governor, I believe he has that knowledge, and he knows the resources getting to the Federal Government. So, he has every right to make that accusation. Don’t forget that in 2019, with the Tinubu factor, the gap was only 2 million.

The state of our local governments as of today compared to the time of the APC is better. The local governments are functioning 100 per cent because in my state, I believe the local government councils are receiving their allocation directly.

Nigeria Newspapers Telelgram
Nigerian Gospel Radio
Nigerian Gospel Radio

You may 've missed...

Latest Updates

See More Stories Like This