…Ardo, Fintiri, Jameel, Tahir target party ticket
Like in other states of the federation, the race for the Adamawa State Government House is gathering momentum on a daily basis, as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party is making serious preparations ahead of the 2015 general elections.
The party, it would seem, is leaving no stone unturned as it is poised to take power from the incumbent Governor, Sen. Jibrila Bindow, already endorsed by the State Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress as their consensus candidate.
There are four key contenders for the PDP ticket in the state. These are: Dr. Umar Ardo Kojoli, Hon. Ahmed Umar Fintiri, Ambassador Mohammed Jameel, and Hon. Sa’ad MC Tahiru.
UMAR ARDO
No doubt, Ardo Kojoli is a household name in Adamawa politics for about ten years now. Known for his unbending principles towards strict adherence to rule of law and constitutionalism, Ardo is a political hero of a sort in the state. A dogged political fighter with a strong character and personality, he is generally feared by most establishment politicians of the state, who see him as too radical for comfort.
He came into the political limelight of Adamawa State in 1999, when he was appointed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as Special Assistant on States and Local Government Affairs, where he succeeded in initiating and seeing to the formation of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, aimed at giving elected local government councils some measure of autonomy. While working with Atiku, Ardo was believed to be one of the big brains behind strategies that led to the killing of Obasanjo’s third term agenda and initiated the lead memo that led to the enactment into law, of a federal border community development agency in 2003, as amended in 2006, among many other achievements to his credit at the presidency.
He later parted ways with Atiku on principles and so resigned his appointment in 2004. Subsequently, he initiated the Peter Odili presidential campaign and became its director of research and strategy. Ardo continued to play active role in Adamawa and Nigeria’s politics and he refused to follow Atiku to Action Congress when the latter defected from the PDP.
AHMADU FINTIRI
Hon. Ahmadu umaru Fintiri is the former speaker and two-time acting governor of the state. He is also an aspirant to watch. Fintiri’s major support lies with the Adamawa civil servants whom he succeeded to endear to himself during the short time he served as the state acting governor. Besides, he seems to enjoy the support of most of the current state’s PDP executives. He thus played a significant role in the emergence of the present state executive who will likely work for him.
Fintiri, a graduate of History from the University of Maiduguri, came to political limelight in 2007 when he contested and won the House of Assembly seat of Madagali on the platform of the defunct Action Congress and was elected by his colleagues as deputy minority Chief Whip of the House. Through the instrumentality of Governor Murtala Nyako, Fintiri later defected to the PDP and was elected the majority leader. In 2011, Governor Nyako again got him the party’s ticket for his constituency in a controversial circumstance, and after winning the general election, Nyako practically made him to emerge as the Speaker following the impeachment of the then speaker, Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin, and his deputy, Hon. Wale Fwa, by the lawmakers.
The PDP, it would seem, is leaving no stone unturned as it is poised to take power from the incumbent governor, Sen. Jibrila Bindow, already endorsed by the State Working Committee of All Progressives Congress as their consensus candidate
As Acting Governor of Adamawa, especially in his second coming, he was believed to have performed well to the admiration of many people in the state, especially in the areas of infrastructural drive, township road rehabilitation and street lightening, among other efforts, and left behind commendable marks within that short time he served. Within just less than three months in office, he was able to settle the unpaid salaries of civil servants in the state, among other welfare packages, which made them to nickname him “ATM machine.” Adamawa being basically a civil service state, he immediately became a darling leader. His critics, however, accuse him of deliberately ‘bribing’ civil servants to court their support for his election. Despite all these achievements, it was doubtful if he would have defeated Sen. Bindow of the APC had the general election taken place in September, 2014. But the election did not hold as a Court Order came two days to the by-election directing for the immediate swearing in of Nyako’s deputy, Hon. Bala Ngillari, as the substantive governor of the state.
MOHAMMED JAMEEL
He is a new name in Adamawa political landscape. He is former State Chief of Protocol under former President Goodluck Jonathan. He recently accepted an offer by some PDP stakeholders in Adamawa to vie for the 2019 gubernatorial poll. He was wooed by some stakeholders with campaign office and vehicles, with a promise to purchase his nomination form for him “to liberate the masses of the state.” Jameel, while presenting appointment letters to volunteer members of his campaign organisation in Yola, said he was overwhelmed by calls and commitment of some stakeholders in the PDP to work for the success of his governorship project, and promised not to disappoint them. To him, politics is not a do or die affair, as he continue serving his people in any capacity.
But to Barrister Sunday Wugira and Tina Thomas, “Jameel’s project is based on popular demand as his campaign office and 10 vehicles were donated by PDP members who believe in him to deliver the state.”
SA’AD MC TAHIR
He is a former member of House of Representatives under former All Nigerian Peoples Party representing Yola North/South, and Girei Federal constituency. He is also a former deputy governor, hailing from central senatorial district of the state. He has been moving from one political party to another since he joined politics, before he finally joined the PDP. He is counting on former Vice President Abubakar to endorse his candidature, but some observers believe that he does not have the political wherewithal to govern
a state.
But to some of his supporters, he is the best candidate to transform Adamawa, a quality they base on his business acumen. “Nobody can take it away from him that he is really successful business man,” said a party member.
Another advantage that Tahiru has over other aspirants is that, he belongs to the Fulani majority, hailing from the Central senatorial district of the state. Invariably, if power is to be rotated to the zone since it has not produced governor since the creation of the state, he is likely to be one of the contestants to watch.
