Adamawa immediate past Governor, Senator Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindo, an All Progressives Congress (APC) ardent supporter in 2015 won the election with a landslide and in grand’s style against the PDP. This is an indelible record in the history of the State, that he came and left with a performance credited to his government as one of the best performing Governors. But that is not news, anyway and neither is it the crux of this piece woven on my very personal thoughts, reflections, and observations vis-à-vis the current happenings of the Party in Adamawa and Nigeria at large.
I’m a keen watcher and a diligent follower of happenings and developments in the APC family, most especially in Adamawa where I stayed for over two decades. The party in Adamawa state is being in dire need of a sincere consensus builders who they would first and foremost shoulder the responsibility of unifying the Party and save it not only from further cracks but also from tethering to the precipice. There must be an internal and external true sense of peace building in the structural system of the party be it internal or external.
There is no gainsaying the fact that flowing from certain actions, reactions, and counter-reactions, the internal rancors within Adamawa APC Its elites are mainly driven by ambition on the part of the political class who are more in a hurry to position their loyalists to lead the Party rather than quench the fire first. The grooving interest who becomes the next Governor of Adamawa state is what I tentatively gathered will result in making the party gain relevance in the gubernatorial seat of the state. Getting it wrong at this stage will lead to great adverse effects of a failure to adhere to a wise counsel. A stitch in time they said safe nine.
However, from a deeply analytical viewpoint, the conflicts bedeviling the main opposition, APC in the state are not uncommon in a political or social system where there are conflicts of interests. In politics interest is the end thing, it is the beauty that is engraving the forces of democracy to play among people with divergent views.
This is what makes one ask rhetorical questions that what is the fate of Adamawa APC in 2023 amidst a deep sense of disunity? Who is the best contender among many politicians who have openly displayed their interest in becoming the next Governor of the state in 2023? Will Adamawa APC win 2023 gubernatorial polls with any person having the gubernatorial ticket? What are the chances, the possibilities that APC in Adamawa state will win the 2023 elections with dominating votes seeing the outcome of Local Government, Ward Congresses resulted to complaints in many parts?
In all these, I can say Adamawa APC is in the frail pasture of a failing party system. It’s unquestionably a party without fail if stakeholders will all discard their genuine interest and bend to have a winning force that can take over the party from PDP, the ruling party in the state. I mean, APC under a round table must agree to save the party for the coming 2023 General Elections. They must have a close door meeting, in truth talk to themselves and inwardly and passionately allow forgiveness to spur out the moment.
If it is about the APC winning governorship election in Adamawa state, the candidacy of the party at this point must reconsider the SENATOR MUHAMMADU UMARU JIBRILLA BINDOW’S candidature. Else the party may struggle to give PDP a stress less second tenure.
Bindow who has consistently harped on unity in his Press assertions that, “The APC is greater than our ambitions. We have to consolidate the Party first in unity and clear view of purpose to win all elections in the political atmosphere of peace.”
With this, his many attributes, consolidating the party’s winning elections lies on him for several quite a few of germane reasons I postulated in my early opinion last week.
Bindow hails from Mubi with an ancestral roots of Maiha, Nzinyi Man by origin, Adamawa Northern Senatorial zone who still has the dominant political structures and alignments across the twenty-one local government areas council. A former Senator to have represented the zone and immediate past Governor of the state. Considering especially the misgivings of many Adamawa indigenous on the failed promises of the PDP in the state, an office APC stakeholders used their hands in bringing the PDP to power to be because of internal party’s wrangling. A melee that was unreasonable ended him out of the office with slim marginal votes APC pundits said was rigged in 2019.
He is therefore now most positioned to lead the APC back to power come 2023 especially if the Party’s political leaders look beyond selfish considerations and focus chiefly on returning Adamawa people to yet another good moment of massive developments.
Another good reason to consider the candidature of Jibrilla is his cognate experiences in wealth creation and economy-building, he has done that while a Senator and Governor of Adamawa state. Going for him especially at this critical time in Adamawa’s history where the state’s economic woes have deepened under the current leadership with policymakers keener on deliberately throwing up figures in ongoing projects which are not in tandem with economic realities of the state into the polity. Come 2023, Adamawa needs a leader who has managed and sustained wealth and not an individual who is after personal gains to the detriment of the overwhelming majority.
The strides of physical infrastructural development in terms of road alone is on record Umaru had built 637 kilometers, 337 roads networks across the state. His projects are solidified in the current realities of what is happening in the state.
Checking and placing the administration of Jibrilla site by site with the current administration, it’s without gainsaying that the Man has truly worked well in many sectors of Adamawa state’s economy. The records are there of his works in the health sector, Education, Agriculture, and community rural development etc.
Reiterating that the man Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindow has also shown himself a Governor for all in Adamawa who understands the in-depth heterogeneity of a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state like Adamawa.
His high sense of humility made him wisdom personified personality, a bosom buddy with alter egos of making no enemies. His love and respect for all made him a man with a single-out ability to take the state on another journey of development. Bindow is no mincing words, a man with the contacts, can get the contacts, the links, to link up the leakages that are running down the state in terms of development. These are both within and outside the shores of Nigeria. He has it all to augment backwardness and stagnation for growth, development in the state. Else it a grave consequences to the opposition and survive another four years not in power in the state the party will amount nothing more than an orphan where members with no political ideologies will look elsewhere for anyone (party) to be there mother.
With the present level of APC in Adamawa state where unity in cohesion is seen to elude the entire party system, with a perceived ace enmity brewing and building in the heart of perceived marginalized party supporters who are hurt for one reason or the other. With the way things are going despite chunks of good politicians cross carpeting into the party, despite the political bigwigs taking center stage in the politics of the nation and the state scenes of the party. APC stands at nothing more than winning few state lawmakers, few National Assembly members-may be two Senators and three House of Representatives members.
This is when the party failed to get the rallying figure, if they fail to get the factors of winning elections in the interest of the part,y, not individuals I see APC heading for doom. They will certainly have a direct head collision with PDP armour of war.
The party at this juncture must tow the unity line, and the only undying option or figure that will take the party to a winning battle line, having the momentum of greater chances of winning is in SENATOR MUHAMMADU UMARU JIBRILLA BINDIW. If it’s not him APC should forget about Adamawa state in 2023.
My opinion is not therefore disdaining any hopeful aspirant or undermining anyone aspiring the number seat of Adamawa government. Anybody can be if the unity of purpose is all galvanize among party critical stakeholders. Besides in politics you can’t under rate or over rule the impossible, anyone can be anything in the game of politics.
Tom Garba, FIMC, FMBD
Yola-Adamawa State
08030525759
tomgarba5@gmail.com