The aftermath of the Adamawa people’s Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders meeting held in Yola, Wednesday is rising much political dust and cloud of crisis gathering within the family members of the ruling party in the state.
Senator Grace Jackson Bent, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) over the stakeholders meeting accused Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of killing the party in the state with lack of good leadership qualities.
Bent who represented Adamawa Southern Senatorial District from 2007-2011 said the Governor has destroyed PDP in Adamawa, saying that it is not the party they know and are spending their huge resources, their lives, and everything to make it a people’s party.
Jackson alongside Dr. Umar Ardo condemned the yesterday’s (Wednesday) stakeholders meeting to be a gathering of political appointees and cohorts of the Governor.
“How can he call for a stakeholders meeting that was attended only by his political appointees? Stakeholders are not yes men and women of the Governor, they are not government appointees, they are foundation members, BOTs members, Former and Serving Governors, Former and serving senators.
“Stakeholders are not commissioners, political appointees are not stakeholders and Fintiri has consciously decided to marginalized us, he want to chase us out of the party. He is doing anything possible to chase me out of that party by all means. Nobody calls me or Dan Suleiman for any stakeholders meeting.
“He goes about saying he wants to retire us from politics, but I tell you one billion of him cannot have what it takes to do that.” She said
She continued to say that Fintiri deliberately wants to alienate her even though she formed part of the structure that brought him to be Governor.
According to her She is among the first three that made him what he is. Haven, nominated the likes of Barr A T Shehu, Abdullahi Prambe to the present status of their PDP party officials.
She accused Fintiri of pocketing the party and run by Hamza Madagali, and Basi, his staunch political loyalists as organizing and Financial Secretary respectively and she was the one that nominated them.
The former lawmaker in the national Assembly said she worked In her Demsa local government where Fintiri got the highest votes being the highest stakeholder coming from southern zone.
“A stakeholder of my caliber the Governor formed the government we all played a vital role and i was never consulted for suggestion? For the sake of our party I spent my money without receiving a dime from him to deliver Demsa. This is not our tradition in PDP.
“For two years since his inauguration as a Governor he has never called us for any stakeholders meeting. Because of the rubbish he organised yesterday, former Governor Boni Haruna didn’t attend the meeting in person and i believe he would not want to be part of such gathering.
“Who are the people at the meeting? Most people have left the party because of him. Bala Ngilari has gone, Senator Ishaku Abbo has gone, the party is in disarray because a lot of people have gone. Ardo have said my mind and I stand by what he said because it was not the stakeholders meeting that we use to have or know.
The PDP that we fought, we struggle to have over the years has been distorted by the Governor. Fintiri was in ACN he came back to meet us. The whole of the Southern zone, the nine local governments were mobilized by me and Dr Ardo, Fintiri was nowhere to be found then.
” As a BOT member I have laid this complaints to the National chairman, Ardo wrote many petitions to the National officials, Dan Suleiman has repeatedly made so many complaints about how Fintiri is killing the party in Adamawa state.
“Is killing the party with his anti-people actions. If he thinks because of power incumbency is behaving this way, he should go and ask how others were sent out packing as government officials.
“He has humiliated me, he has alienated me, I must say this that he is an ingrate. You cannot throw away the ladder you used to climb up, in Demsa I was the only stakeholder who stood by him to be the governor, that time Felix Tangwami is in APC as Bindow’s DG campaign but he is now the senior stakeholder when he decamped to PDP.
” I tell you nobody so important in Adamawa politics that is with him now, all of us that formed the present executive, how many people are with him? They have all gone because the way is handling the party.” Grace said
Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ahmadu, Mr. Humwashi Wonosikou when contacted by our correspondent reacted that all stakeholders were invited, and Boni Haruna sent his representative.
He said Mrs. Jackson has a personal problem that she needs to work on herself to be relevant in Adamawa political system.
He advised the former Senator to mend fences with her Demsa politicians and stop attacking the Governor innocently because he is far apart from her thinking, he is focused on serving the people of the state who entrusted him with the power to govern.
“This is a person we read over the media that she is decamping to APC, I think she is fighting for baseless reasons since she cannot be more stakeholder than Joel Madaki.
” She should go back to her people to settle her political scores, she should count the Governor out of her political woes. ” He said
