APC

By Usama Abdullahi

I’m not actually driven by religious extremism, nor do I consider politicians based on their religious leanings. One’s religion or region shouldn’t determine their politics. When we look at politics through the prism of faith, we do ourselves no justice. I understand that the APC’s presidential nominee, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is conflicted with the idea of picking a running mate. 

Because Nigeria is a multi-religious nation, people suggest that the slot of the Vice-President for the APC presidential candidate be given to a northern Christian. According to them, a Muslim-Muslim ticket is abominable in Nigerian politics. And some people are endorsing Plateau State’s Governor Simon Lalong for the VP slot.

People are unaware of something. It’s easy for people to say who should the APC pick as running mate to Tinubu. But do we deem our favourite candidates suitable for such a seat because of the blind love we have for them? Or should we only nominate a person because of his ethno-religious affiliation? These are critical questions which need not be left unanswered. However, we all know these aren’t the criteria for selecting a genuine leader. 

Leaders are best chosen by how competent they are. Competence goes beyond our myopic views. Another big blunder we should avoid is choosing a leader because of his background. Now back to the equation. Is Lalong suitable for the vice-presidential seat? Well, I don’t think so. 

One thing people ought to acknowledge before they consider Lalong fit is his performance so far in the state he runs. What has he done remarkably to attract public attention? His performances are all that must be examined before we leap to a conclusion. Honestly, Simon Lalong hasn’t done that much that will earn him such a high position.

I’m not trying to de-market him, but for fairness’ sake, Lalong isn’t the right man for the job. A person whose tribal bigots administer the Local Government Council (LGC) doesn’t merit the title of a Governor, let alone aim for a much higher position. If you aren’t from his tribe, you lose the chance of winning an election for credible offices in his LGC.

I come from the same LGC as him, yet I can’t risk getting a mere indigene form. This is so because I’m not from his tribe. So to even have myself appointed by the local authorities, I must renounce my pedigree.

He knows all this. As an incumbent governor entrusted with the care of  people of diverse beliefs and ethnicities, he should have done something different. But, worst still, he chooses to go mum over such unfair treatment. He never talks about it. His silence isn’t golden. It either suggests his approval or his lackadaisical attitude towards that. 

However, before his ascent to power, he had sworn to install a village head in Yelwa during his campaign. Yelwa is a very popular village that contributed massively to his votes which saw his ascension from a dethroned speaker to a governor. The town is thrice the size of his hamlet and is within a shouting distance from his. Unfortunately, his first tenure ended without him making everything alright in that village. So my people decided to trust him again by voting for him for the second term, thinking he would redeem their precarious state. And now, we are just a few months away from the expiration of his tenure. Yet, he remains uncommunicative and insufficiently active.

Lalong has failed the people who helped his rise to power. So, how would you wish a ruling governor who silently fuels tribal prejudices among his people to be singled out as a running mate for the party with high chances of winning?

I won’t be worried about any other person that will be cherry-picked as a running mate to Tinubu as long as he is capable and has good track records. It isn’t that I seem purely envious of Lalong. On the contrary, I fear having a VP who has been speechless for the past seven years over the growing ethno-religious bigotry in the state he governs.

Usama Abdullahi can be reached via usamagayyi@gmail.com.

By Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani

All political parties’ primary elections have come and gone, leaving a slew of gladiators in the political arena plotting to sway the electorate into their camp to win the general elections.

From the return of democracy after a long military rule, Bauchi State had Adamu Mu’azu from 1999 to 2007. There was massive infrastructure in every nook and cranny of the state with little human development. However, many of these capital projects were concentrated in Bauchi, the state capital. When Isa Yuguda came on board from 2007 to 2015, he shifted to human development. Nevertheless, there was some infrastructure that would stand the test of time, like the Bauchi State University Gadau and the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport.

Indeed, there appears to be no better time when the good people of Bauchi State seek a governor who will serve them all than now. Certainly, there is a leadership vacuum regarding equal opportunities and the distribution of meagre resources. Not only that, I bet you, anything that leadership entails is comatose.

Nonetheless, there is still time for the current administration to make amends, and it is up to the people to decide their fate on who will take the mantle of leadership. As the election of 2023 approaches, who is the best candidate for the job?

What’s at stake is the ambiguity surrounding the payment of civil servants’ salaries. Unfortunately, no one on the state government payroll can be guaranteed that they will not be “deliberately omitted”. As a result, people have families under their control, and their only source of income is routinely squandered.

For instance, a credible report was that a particular ministry lodged their complaints to the state Accountant General. He bluntly told them it was beyond his power to make amends for the simple fact that the number one citizen is the architect of the lingering crisis. Shall we continue this way? It is left for the civil servants to seal their signatures if they are comfortable with the recent developments.

We’re not calling for people to vote based on primordial sentiments but rather to look for a competent hand who will never joke with workers and pensioners that have expended their energy on the development of Bauchi State. Yet, ironically, the end of their reward is to deny them their entitlements while the leadership is living flamboyantly with taxpayers’ money.

However, we will consider changing the narrative. The state is more significant than any individual to have a mindset of doing as he so wishes to the detriment of the larger society. Indeed, our people are waiting for the appropriate time to give him a dose of his own medicine.

Recall that Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar was unceremoniously voted out for the same offence that the current administration deliberately neglects or refuses to tackle.

There are insinuations that some power blocks or powerful forces are fighting the government of PDP in Bauchi. This fictitious or imaginary claim is far from the truth and can’t hold water. When a leader does the right thing, no one can stop or sabotage him. Therefore, I can boldly affirm that we are good at speaking the “language they understand”.

We hope that the good people of Bauchi will resolve to vote for a candidate who will treat all segments of the states as his constituency rather than focus on working for a single local government as if it were the only one that gave him votes. Even other sectors such as health and commerce are not receiving the attention they deserve. Thus, the internally generated revenue is not healthy, and our industries are left unattended. We need a governor who has the competence to address these issues head-on. The ball is in our court to take us out of the wounds or retrogress in the party of failure.

Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani writes from Galadima Mahmoud, Kasuwar Kaji, Azare, Bauchi state.

By Prof. Abdussamad Umar Jibia

The All Progressive Congress (APC) is undoubtedly a party that brings together some of the most outstanding politicians in Nigeria. However, what makes the APC most attractive is the fact that it is in power. It seized this power from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a party that ruled Nigeria for 16 years and was also adjudged a failure by the majority of Nigerians. That is why many people do not see PDP as the solution despite all the shortcomings of the APC-led government and the economic and security challenges confronting Nigerians.

One manifestation of the interest Nigerians have in the APC is the occupation of social media discussions, radio and television programmes and interpersonal group discussions by the APC Presidential ticket. Last week, Asiwaju Bola Ahmad Tinubu, a devout Muslim from Lagos, won the APC Presidential primary election with a landslide to qualify as the party flag bearer in the 2023 presidential election. As is the tradition, Alhaji Tinubu, a southerner, is expected to pick a Northerner as his running mate.

But there is also another tradition. Christian flagbearers usually pick Muslim running mates, and Muslim flagbearers choose Christian running mates. The examples are many. In fact, since Nigeria’s return to party politics, that has been the case. First it was Obasanjo/Atiku, then Yaradua/Jonathan followed by Jonathan/Sambo and now Buhari/Osinbajo. But in all these examples, the Muslims are Northerners, and the Christians are southerners. There is no problem since it can be said with a reasonable degree of accuracy that Christians are the majority in the South and a negligible minority in the North.

Now, should Asiwaju pick a Northern Nigerian Christian as his running mate? I listened to many arguments. The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, for example, said religion does not matter in the choice of a running mate. What matters, according to him, is competence. This argument is faulty because democracy is about the choice of the majority, a choice characteristically influenced by many factors, including ethnicity, religion, gratifications, etc., in our country. If it is just about merit, candidates would be selected based on their performance in a standard examination on governance organized by my colleagues in Political Sciences Department.

The position of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is the most uncouth and uncivilized. CAN thinks they have a monopoly for violence and always use threats instead of valid logic. Suppose their position was backed by sound logic. In that case, all they have to do is present their arguments to Nigerians including Christians and non-Christians like every other individual and group does. The rest shall be for Nigerians to judge. Again, in politics, threat is the language of someone who has no one to influence, and it is obvious that peace-loving Nigerian Christians have lost faith in CAN and are no longer controlled by its rantings.

The fact is, any step taken by a political party preparing for an election is carefully handled to attract majority votes from the electorates. This includes the choice of its flagbearer and their running mate, its manifesto, which, unfortunately, most Nigerian voters do not read, its campaign strategy, etc.

Now, who are the majority voters in Northern Nigeria and what is their relationship with the minority? What would happen to the chances of APC if this majority realizes that the party is succumbing to threats like that of CAN to select its running mate? Is it by force to vote for the ruling party after all? Can’t they look and vote for an alternative?

Religion was not captured in the 2006 census. Still, we can have a good idea of the Muslim: Christian ratio in the North by considering the ratio of elected politicians in the North. Of the 19 elected governors in the North, 16 are Muslims representing 84.2 %, while three are Christians representing 15.8 % in the North and 8 % nationwide. Of the 58 senators from the North, nine are Christians representing 15.5 % in the North and 9 % in the entire country. In the North Central geopolitical zones, there are more Muslims than Christians. Four of the North Central elected governors are Muslims, with the other two being Christians.

These figures mean Northern Christians are a tiny minority compared to their Northern Muslim compatriots. Their number is even smaller when the country is considered as a whole and much smaller if we remember that most Christians in the North would not vote for APC regardless of its flagbearer or his running mate. You may wish to look at the voting pattern of Benue, Taraba and Southern Kaduna.

Over the years, activities of groups like CAN have set the Northern Christian minority against the Muslim majority. It is so bad that in any Northern Nigerian community where Christians are the majority, the story is about hate and violence against Muslims. The examples are many.

For example, as I am writing this piece, there is no single Muslim left in Tafawa Balewa, the hometown of the first Nigerian prime minister. The few Muslims who have not been killed have migrated to Bauchi and other places. Incidentally, that is the constituency of Yakubu Dogara, one of the Northern Christians being mentioned in the selection of a running mate for the APC flagbearer. In the event Dogara becomes the running mate of Asiwaju, the question every Northern Nigerian Muslim would ask is, is it compulsory for me to vote for my killer?

Other examples of Christian communities known for their violence against Muslims are Plateau State and Southern Kaduna. Over the last several decades, whole Muslim communities have been attacked and nearly wiped out in these places. Yet, when commissions of enquiry are set up, the grievances of the Northern Christians have always been that emirs dominate them, their great grandparents were enslaved, they are not given opportunities, etc.

Muslims have made many overtures in states where they have the majority in order to take Christians along and make them feel at home. An example of this is Kaduna state. It has always been ensured that the Deputy Governor of Kaduna is a Christian even though a Muslim-Muslim ticket can win with a landslide, as demonstrated in 2019. In their efforts to give Christians maximum opportunity, Muslim politicians were once suppressed to allow a Christian to become the governor. Where in the whole of the Christian world has this ever happened?

Moreover, chiefdoms were created for them by the Ahmed Makarfi administration to address Christians’ complaints of being traditionally ruled by emirs. After all these overtures, the same people killed over 1000 Muslims on one day in Zonkwa. Those who are saying that appointing a Christian as the running mate of Asiwaju would bring Christians and Muslims closer are probably not aware of this.

Compare the case of Kaduna with that of Plateau. Plateau has a population of Muslims equivalent to the population of Christians in Kaduna State. Yet, a Muslim has never been a Deputy Governor, much less a Governor. Attacks on Muslim communities in Plateau and Southern Kaduna only ceased because of the Fulani herders who, unlike the Hausa, would always take revenge when attacked. When the intolerant Christians realized it was a war they could not win, they had to declare peace.

That does not mean Muslim travellers are not intercepted in Plateau and massacred. We are very much aware of the murder of General Idris Alkali by Lafendeg non-Muslims. Yet, somehow, all the suspects arrested have been released due to the influence of the Governor, Simon Bako Lalong. We saw how he was running up and down between the state house and the Defence Headquarters to ensure that the culprits were not punished. Today, not even a fly of Plateau state has been convicted due to the murder of General Idris, a high-profile Muslim Army General.

Those pushing for Lalong to become Asiwaju’s running mate are probably ignorant of this. Suppose Lalong, who is only a Governor can successfully follow up to ensure that murderers of Muslims are not punished. What would happen if, tomorrow, he sits as the Acting President with full control of the country’s security apparatus and a similar thing happens?

Now take Babachir Lawal and the more charismatic Boss Mustapha. Both are from Adamawa State and were appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari only because he is Buhari, the darling of Northerners. The only question I have here is whether they have the political strength to defeat Atiku in their state. Certainly no. Outside Adamawa, other rules apply.

This write-up is not meant to malign any politician. On the contrary, all the Christian politicians I have mentioned above have APC dear to their hearts and wouldn’t like to see it lose at the polls. That is also the intention here.

Northern Nigerian Christians have not adequately prepared themselves for elections at the National level due to unnecessary inferiority complex and hate towards their Muslim neighbours. Of course, there are outstanding ones among them as no rule exists without exception. However, the collective behaviour of a community is used to assess people anywhere.

For now, Northern Christians may wish to set their house in order and plan for the future. Elections are not won by threats but by careful planning and building bridges.

Professor Abdussamad Jibia can be contacted via aujibia@gmail.com.

By Adamu Hussaini.

Since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, I have followed the politics and its sentiment based on region and religion for about two decades. The organic way it has been going is that whenever a southerner/Christian emerges as the presidential candidate of a particular party, his running mate will automatically be a Muslim from the northern region and vice visa. This has been the practice starting from the days of President Olusegun Obasanjo, a southwestern Christian, to his successor, late Umaru Musa Yar’adua of blessed memory. Who came from a northwestern Muslim family to Dr Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijaw Christian from the south-south Niger Delta region, down to the current President, Muhammadu Buhari of the northern extraction.

 All their running mates are from other regions and religious divides. The only time in Nigerian Democratic history where a Muslim-Muslim ticket was formed was in late MKO Abiola’s June 12, 1993, with his running mate Babagana Kingibe.

If we can recall vividly, after the 2014 presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhamadu Buhari wanted to pick Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as his running mate. But other powerful politicians, like the former senate president and a two-term Governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, stood their ground and vehemently opposed it because of the fear of having a Muslim-Muslim ticket. We left it for history to judge whether they did it based on fairness or selfish political interest.

Suddenly, the political equations are trying to deviate from the known established political norms, which characterized the Nigerian politics of regional and religious sentiments; after the emergence of Senator Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Muslim as the APC presidential candidate and the party’s flag bearer for the 2023 general election. Tinubu was a former Southwestern Lagos State governor. Since Tinubu is a Muslim from the south, Nigerians expect him to pick a northern Christian as his running mate this time. This will be seen as fairness, equity, “JUSTICE,” and the possibility of carrying all the religious beliefs.

But considering a Christian running mate has its political consequences. Because many may argue that northern politics is based on religious sentiments, you may find that there are only three states, Taraba, Benue and Plateau state, out of the 19 northern states that have Christians as both the Governor and their deputy. So, why not the party pick a Muslim from the north as Senator Tinubu’s running mate? Since the primary reason(s) for forming a political party is to win elections.

Many believed that the opposition People Democratic Party, PDP jettisoned its zoning arrangement to field the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate to woo northern votes. Since the northwestern state of Kano has more votes than some five small states in the south, in this case, Tinubu’s running mate should be a Muslim from the northwest, where there are a lot of votes or the northeastern part of the country, where they have never produced a Nigerian president in the last 20 years for equity sake. In my little political observation. PDP gave Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the ticket because religious politics is more pronounced in Arewa than in the southern part of Nigeria.

Lastly, I think the earlier we start looking at who has competence, vision, enviable track record, and pedigree, among other virtues, the better for us as a people. And not electing or supporting candidates because of the region they came from, or their religious beliefs are better for the country. Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world. So anything happening there may affect other black races living on the African continent. as the saying goes, “a stitch in time saves nine.”

Hussaini wrote from Gombe state, Nigeria and can be reached through hadamugombe@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmad Tinubu, has been declared the winner of the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential primary election. 

APC held a special convention between 6 to 8 of June 2022 to elect the ruling party’s presidential candidate.

Tinubu emerged as the APC candidate at the end of the presidential primary after polling about 60% of the 2300 votes. 

He defeated his closest rivals, Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibueke Amaechi, to clinch the ruling party’s ticket.

Tinubu is expected to face the candidate of the country’s major opposition party, Atiku Abubakar, and others in the 2023 general election.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Former Governor of Borno State and Director General of Bola Ahmad Tinubu’s Campaign Organization, Senator Kashim Shettima, has tendered his heartfelt apology to Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan. 

Shettima posted the apology on Facebook on Sunday, June 5, 2022, where he stated that his comments on the VP and Senate President were taken out of context and overblown. 

In an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, Shettima compared the VP’s nice demeanour to an ice-cream seller and Ahmad Lawan’s name to a tomato seller.

“My assessments of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, were well-intentioned. I never set out to subject them to ridicule but, rather, to stir up interest in the contrasting virtues of the cast of aspirants putting up a fight against my preferred aspirant, one most favoured and advantaged to guarantee APC’s victory in the forthcoming presidential election. 

“The interpretations of my remarks on Professor Osinbajo and Senator Lawan are, thus, being done literally and overblown. My words weren’t woven to portray them as unworthy aspirants but merely to qualify them as non-threatening contenders.

“I, however, take full responsibility for my utterances and wish to appeal to our teeming supporters to neither take my words out of their metaphoric contexts nor interpret them as a measure and declaration of hostility towards my dear friends and allies.

“I hereby tender my unreserved apologies to the Vice President and the President of the Senate for the unintended pains my jibes might have caused them and their families and supporters.” The statement reads in part. 

Shettima then urges different All Progressives Congress camps to be united, as the journey to the general election is about to start.

By Ali Tijjani Hassan

One would be amazed while looking at the similarities between the words “Religion and Region.” One will be even more amazed by how these twin factors play an unimaginable role in Nigerian politics.

Nigeria is divided into six geopolitical zones; North-central, Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and South-South. In a nutshell, South and North. In terms of Religious diversity, we have only two major religions: Christianity and Islam. Subsequently, Christianity and Islam dominate South and North, respectively.

As the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, elected Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as its flag-bearer in the forthcoming polls of 2023. On the other hand, the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress, has yet to choose their flag-bearer capable of winning the election against Atiku.

The APC has zoned their presidential quota to the South-West and Vice President to the Northeast. Their front-line aspirants (Tinubu, Osinbajo) are already from the Southwest. Alhaji Ahmad Bola Tinubu was a former governor of Lagos state. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is currently on the echelon of his second-cum-two terms as Vice President of Nigeria.

Religion is another factor we have seen since the birth of Democracy in Nigeria in 1999. How religion plays a role in who would be President or Vice President, the candle of Muslim-Christian or Christian-Muslim tickets is still flaming. We witnessed Obasanjo/Atiku, Yar Adu’a/Jonathan, Jonathan/Namadi, and Buhari/Osinbajo.

The nightmare to the APC is how to relate their zoned system with the emergence of their candidates. Both Tinubu and Osinbajo are competent, but Tinubu, like his counterpart of PDP, is a gigantic gorilla that wouldn’t allow any candidate to win over them.

If Tinubu emerges as a flag-bearer, he has no option but to pick the former speaker of the house of representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, since he is the only influential Christian of the party from the Northeast. Sequel of this, both North and South wouldn’t produce a candidate that is not condign to their religious interest.

Professor Yemi Osinbajo

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is an influential Christian Southerner that was once seen as ready to serve in the eyes of Nigerians. Still, the disregard of the present Buhari-led administration tarnishes his striking image with red.

If Osinbajo gets the ticket, he must pick his running-mate from Northeast. Then Osinbajo’s running-mate must be an influential Muslim and northerner with integrity, accountability and competency. The qualities mentioned above would win the hearts of Northerners to revive the fallen hope that they put into the APC earlier.

It has been in the tradition of Northern politics since 2003, when president Muhammad Buhari stepped his foot into the presidential race arena. There is a constant twelve million votes that were captives in his favour. Therefore, whosoever would be Osinbajo’s running-mate must have the passkeys to open or conquer the twelve million vote bank.

Who will be Osinbajo’s running-mate?

Here in the Northeast, we have only two politically influential actors capable of running with Osinbajo and likely to conquer: The first is Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Borno State.

Prof. Zulum was a legend of fortune. Although he became the governor of Borno when the state was in the sorrow of insurgency, his braveness, doggedness, and justice with fairness made him the messiah of the Borno people then. That fortunate promotion paved Zulum’s way to be loved by many Nigerians.

The second influential Muslim northeasterner that could win the hearts of northerners and retain or succeed the Buhari’s twelve million votes is the minister of communication and digital economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. Due to his Islamic religious sacerdotalism, the Sunnis sect fanatic would vote for him. Mainly, northern Muslims are Sunni. Therefore, a Pastor/Sheikh ticket is also possible.

Ipso-facto, we should say that the upcoming 2023 will be a “religion and region” war.

Ali Tijjani Hassan writes from Potiskum, Yobe state.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Northern governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have backed the transfer of power to Southern Nigeria.

The governors made this known in Abuja on Saturday, June 4, 2022, after a meeting.

The eleven governors who voted in favour of the decision include: Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina, Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger, Abdullahi A. Sule of Nasarawa, Prof B.G Umara Zulum of Borno, Mal. Nasir Elrufai of Kaduna, Muhammad Inuwa Yahya of Gombe, Bello B. Matawalle of Zamfara State, Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau, Dr A.U Ganduje of Kano, Senator Abubakar Atiku Baguda of Kebi State and the former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aliyu Wammako.

The governors believed the decision was taken in the best interest of the country.

“APC governors and political leaders from the northern states of Nigeria today met to review the political situation and to further support our party in providing progressive leadership amidst our national challenges.

“During our discussions, we welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari’s invitation to governors and other stakeholders to contribute to the emergence of a strong presidential candidate for the APC.

“After careful deliberation, we wish to state our firm conviction that after eight years in office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC for the 2023 elections should be one of our teeming members from the southern states of Nigeria.

“It is a question of honour for the APC, an obligation that is not in anyway affected by the decisions taken by another political party. We affirm that upholding this principle is in the best interest of building a stronger, more united and more progressive country,” the communique reads in part.

They also urged presidential aspirants from North to withdraw from the race on the ruling party’s platform. Consequent of their decision, Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru has withdrawn from the race.

By Zayyad I. Muhammad

The May 27th 2022 Adamawa State All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial primary election was hotly contested, very transparent, free, and fair.

Six contestants participated in the election — Former Governor Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindow, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Nuhu Ribadu, Member House of Representatives representing Ganye, Jada, Toungo and Mayo Belwa Federal Constituency, Abdul Razak Namdas, Former Chairman of the   Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) Wafari Theman and  Umar Mustapha Otumba, a business tycoon.

Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani won the primaries with 430 votes, while Nuhu Ribadu came second with 288 votes, former governor Bindow got 103 votes, and Abdul Razak Namdas scored 94 votes while Wafari and Mustapha got 21 and 39 votes respectively.

Wafari came to the contest unprepared — firstly, his tactics failed to work for him. Wafari solely relied on the strategy that, being the only Christian in the contest, he will get all the Christians’ votes. In fact, Wafari painstakingly took the statistic of all the Christian delegates throughout the state. However, he failed to understand that, in such a contest, this kind of approach doesn’t work.  Secondly, and most importantly, Wafari suffered cash flow problems. He wasn’t able to tour most parts of the state nor meet the delegates. Wafari couldn’t even win his local government area – Hong.

Abdulrazak Namdas is the only aspirant that toured the entire state and spent heavily early in the campaigning period. In fact, this writer criticized Namdas’s behaviour as a candidate instead of as an aspirant.  However, Namdas’s behaviour of acting like a candidate is borne out of the contentment that he is the only aspirant from Adamawa southern zone- the zone has 9 local government councils. Furthermore, Namdas so much believe, that he already has the over 200 votes from Toungo, Jada, Ganye and Mayo Belwa LGAs. Namdas heavily relied on votes from the Adamawa Minority Forum, but he was shocked. Namdas’s errors were that he spent too much, and too early in the wrong ways. He also relied on votes that he had really not secured and lacked a robust campaign team.

Former Governor Muhammdu Umaru Jirilla Bindow is one of the most likeable aspirants in the contest. Since he lost to Fintiri in the 2019 governorship election, Bindow has remained the leader of the APC in the state. Most of the stakeholders’ meetings were held at his residence in Abuja until the time he asked Boss Mustapha to takeover. Though, Boss never called such a meeting at his residence. The reason is that Boss always tries to avoid controversy and he appears comfortable with his SGF position. Bindow came to the race with a strong war chest but poor strategy.  Bindow was convinced that the APC structure would work for him. After all, he erected it. However, he failed to secure the votes of Mubi North, Mubi South, and Maiha LGAs combined. Bindow and his team found it hard to believe he came third, because, on paper, Nuhu and Binani shouldn’t have beaten him.  

Umar Mustapha Otumba came to the race with a very poor understanding of real local politics. No doubt that Otumba understands the politics of the first world, he is in the know of how to analyze development, but those are not the languages the delegates understand. Otumba was aggressive and overconfident. He was the first to buy the APC governorship form. What ‘killed’ Otumba’s ambition was, that the delegate and in fact, the ‘politics; saw his approach as too artificial. What he did,  was just like, he spoke in Chinese while addressing the French- Nigerian local politics don’t understand his kind of approach.   

Nuhu Ribadu operated his game as the true policeman that he is. His entire approach was covert. Nuhu didn’t open an official campaign office nor set up the traditional campaign team with a DG, he only formed a small committee two weeks before the primaries. What Nuhu did was; that he spent a good time working on his weak point- grassroots link. He avoided controversies, he never underrated anybody, built friendships, and tried to localize himself. Nuhu has been silently assisting the APC financially and otherwise. His 288 votes were not a coincidence- he earned it – through constant engagement, mobilization, and support from all the APC executives at the LGA level. He supported the creation of an environment to discuss Adamawa APC’s problems at local government levels and proffer solutions. These were the major factors that facilitated the 288 votes secured by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. Nuhu’s biggest error was poor logistics and war chest utilization and over-centralization. He could have segmented the state into its 8 federal constituencies with coordinators to handle each.

Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani came to the race with assured votes in her ‘handbag’- women constitute nearly 40% of the delegates.   When Binani entered the voting arena, the entire women among the delegates welcomed her with a melody ( Guda). That was a big signal to her opponents that she was ready for the game. Local empowerment,  smart political calculations, and enormous & clever application of war chest including grassroots base were Binnani’s weapons, and they worked for her. Most of her votes came outside her zone. She found that Abdul Razak Namdas was ‘sleeping’, she chunked away the majority of the Ganye chiefdom votes.

In fact, that zone’s votes were the turning point. She also realized that Former Governor Bindow has underrated them and was carried away by his ‘past glory’- she grabbed good votes that were supposed to go to Bindow. Furthermore, her team realized that Wafari doesn’t know the game and had weak resources- she ‘won over’ a good number of his would-be delegates. Binani didn’t in any way made any attempt at Nuhu Ribadu’s, thus she smartly allowed the Nuhu team to be comfortable in their comfort zone while she carried her operations somewhere else.

Binani has a sweet victory but is coated with a bitter problem. There are allegations of over-voting and financial inducement. The EFCC has already arrested some of the accused while 2 people have been arraigned in a court. If the allegations of overvoting is established-  from the anomaly of accredited voters 1009, while total vote cast was  1011. The APC has no option but to cancel the primaries and organized a new one. The APC guidelines say: “no member shall vote for more than one aspirant, and where the number of votes cast exceeds the number of accredited voters the election shall be declared void”.

If the APC has to conduct a new gubernatorial primary election in the state   – the party has three options; conduct direct primaries, conduct indirect primaries or produce a consensus candidate.   Some pundits are of the view that due to the expensive nature of indirect primaries; some of the contestants may avoid another contest with Binani, secondly if indirect primaries are to be conducted – Binani may attract sympathy votes from many members of the APC and a revolt votes from the women folk. If a consensus candidate is to be carried, and Binani was not chosen, the ticket will come weightless.

 The Adamawa APC gubernatorial primary election was an interesting and unique one- apart from producing a woman as the party’s flag bearer for the 2023 governorship election, the ticket is laden with an intricate legal problem. Furthermore, the result of the contest has sent an important message to the Adamawa people- religious and ethnic politics is just an elites’ thing; the individuals that came first and second are Fulani, while the lone Christian aspirant didn’t secure even a fraction of the votes from delegates who share the same faith with him.

Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja via zaymohd@yahoo.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The All Progressives Congress, APC, screening committee has disqualified ten aspirants vying for the presidency on the party’s platform. 

The Chairman of the Committee, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, disclosed this on Friday, June 3, 2022, while submitting the committee reports to the ruling party’s Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, in Abuja. 

The names of the affected candidates are yet to be disclosed, but 23 aspirants participated in the screening, and only 13 were reportedly successful. 

The successful candidates are expected to participate in the primary election scheduled to hold between 6 to June 8.