2023 guber race: SGF Boss, Babachir, others to lobby for shift of power to Adamawa central

The secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, his immediate predecessor, Babachir Lawal, Professor Alkasum Abbah, Sen Abubakar Girei, Dr. Idi Hong as well as other notable personalities have been selected to lobby for shift of power to Adamawa central senatorial zone.

Since the creation of Adamawa State in 1991, the zone has never produced a governor despite having eminent sons and daughters and despite its numerical strength, necessitating a renewed strategy by stakeholders from the zone to ask other regions to concede power to it in the build up to the 2023 gubernatorial election.

Boss Mustapha, Babachir and others were today inaugurated to serve as council members of Central Zone Advocacy Initiative, (CZAI), a vehicle on whose crest the zone intends to ride to power come 2023.

Findings by this paper indicated that the central zone, consisting of seven local governments, has the highest population in Adamawa State.

A data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated that out of the 4,284,400 people in the state, the zone has a cumulative population of 1,666,800 representing 40 percent of the population.

Stating the rationale behind the renewed move, chairman of the contact and mobilization committee of CZAI, Usman Iya Abbas said the group’s aim is to seek democratic and peaceful means of attaining power.

He noted that in the past, Adamawa central has made sacrifices to ensure both the northern and southern parts of the state have produced governors adding that in that spirit, the zone also seeks the support of other zones to rule the state.

Abbas noted that in order to realize the noble objective, the group has since moved into action and has been paying visitations, making consultations and advocacies to other zones.

He said the group has also produced personality profile of many sons and daughters in order to simplify its activities.

Identifying some of the underlying challenges behind the failure of the zone to secure political power, Professor Alkasum Abbah, a historian, noted that the major factors preventing the zone from getting power are lack of unity, cohesion and religious sentiments.

He noted that the zone more than the other two has the best potentials in terms of population and human capital needed to lead the state calling on the stakeholders to go back to the drawing board and re-strategize for them have a headway.

Speakers during the event harped on the need for unity and cooperation amongst all the contenders, noting that the region lost in the past because of its failure to come as a united block.

Former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, former Adamawa State lawmaker, Wafarniyi Theman, Aisha Buhari’s brother, Modi Halilu and Dan Maje Adamawa, Ahmadu Hamman Nasara are some of the front line contenders for the plum office from the area.