Emerging intrigues in Adamawa politics

An interesting scenario in the APC is in Mubi North and Mubi South LGAs – the place has a former immediate governor – Bindow Umaru Jibrilla, and a sitting Senator, Ishaku Cliff Abbo. Abubakar Jafaru Member Representing Mubi North, Mubi South and Maiha Federal Constituency appeared to have been schemed out. For instance, while the Bindow and Cliff group were at Yazaram Cinema waiting for the election to be conducted, the actual election took place at Yelwa Primary School, with Jafar having the upper hand. What also weakened Bindow 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 Exco at those LGAs, but all her candidates lost woefully. Many people were surprised by Binani’s politics. The Excos Binani wanted to replace were those that assisted her in getting the senatorial ticket by narrowly defeating Aliyu Wakili Boya, Sarki Matasa.

In the APC congresses, 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 made their intelligent 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. Former Governor Murtala Nyako played the role of a stabilizer and elder. The person that called the shots the most was Comrade Mustapha Salihu, 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. In particular, the State Chairmanship position- the big picture will be more precise- the grievances, crises, and contentment from each stakeholder and the group will be more open.

The PDP, being the party in power in the state and having some considerable 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 Chief 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 pulling the string is the Member Representing Numan, Demsa and Lamurde constituency, Kwamoti Laori; he is Fintiri’s right-hand man. It is still a surprise to many that Crowther Seth was made ineffective at Numan Federation. However, some pundits said it shouldn’t be surprised- Seth, as Deputy Governor, still operate from his house, of which the road to the house is not even tarred. Therefore, many people see Numan Federation as the big losers in the Fintiri government, despite being the joker for the PDP in the 2019 governorship election.

To be fair to Governor 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. This is also knit with his political ambition and the Wike connection. It was reported that Governor Wike flew to Yola twice or thrice in a specific week 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.