Five days after the inauguration of Mr James Bala Ngilari as governor of Adamawa State, fresh intrigues and power play have pervaded the politics of the state over who will be deputy to the newly sworn-in governor. Barring the unforeseen, Ngilari’s deputy will be named this week.
It was gathered that the situation appears to have split the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state along interest lines, even as a strong ethno-religious permutation has been brought to the fore.
Before the Abuja Federal High Court verdict which pronounced Ngilari governor on the strength of the fact that he did not indeed resign as deputy to the impeached governor, Murtala Nyako, the then acting governor, Umaru Fintiri, had emerged as the governorship candidate of the PDP with Barrister Afremu Jingi as his running mate in the botched governorship by-election slated for yesterday, October 11.
Fintiri, a Muslim, is from the northern senatorial district, while Jingi who is a Christian hails from the central, a Muslim-dominated zone that has not produced the governor of the state since it was created.
But Ngilari’s emergence has created a fresh political calculus that will ensure a hitch-free transfer of the reins of governorship power to the central zone come 2015. The emergence of the former acting governor as PDP governorship candidate was predicated on this.
Unconfirmed reports had it that Ngilari, who is from the northern zone like Fintiri had, while his legal battle lasted, promised “in concrete terms”, not to run for the governorship in 2015 to pave way for the central zone. The later was said to have been ambivalent on this commitment not to run in next year’s election.
Expectedly therefore, all eyes are on the central senatorial zone to produce the next deputy governor of the state as such is seen as a precursor to 2015.
But Governor Ngilari has said the choice of his deputy is a matter for the party; this is just as he denied being under pressure over the matter.
Ngilari’s chief press secretary, Maxwell Dukku, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that “the party has the final say on the matter”.
“Well, I am not aware that the governor is under any pressure over who his deputy should be. The man is party man to the core and he believes that the party should play a greater role in this regard. In fact, the party has the final say on the matter; but honestly, the governor is not under any pressure whatsoever,” Dukku said.
Regardless, while some leaders of the PDP led by former national chairman, Bamanga Tukur, are pushing for the nomination of his son, Auwal Tukur, as Ngilari’s deputy, other stakeholders led by former petroleum minister, Senator Jubril Aminu, are pushing for Alhaji Abubakar Hamman Girei.
But the choice of Girei, who was a local council chairman and now a member of the state executive committee of the PDP, has the backing of most members of the state exco, and appears not to have the support of the state chairman, Joel Madaki, whose nominee, Jingi just lost out with Fintiri on the strength of the court verdict. Efforts to reach Madaki were unsuccessful as his mobile line was switched off as at the time of going to the press.
All the same, another calculation points in the direction of a commissioner who served under Fintiri, Felix Tangwami. Curiously, Tangwami is also a Christian like Ngilari. He hails from Demsa local government area in Adamawa South senatorial district.
According to our source, the Tangwami’s option is being pushed by a group of Abuja-based Adamawa stakeholders with the support of a top presidential aide to serve as a check to the emergence of central zone Fulani/Muslim deputy.
The thinking of this group is to avoid a situation whereby no Fulani/Muslim has an edge over other contenders in 2015 when the zone is expected to be given a blanket chance to produce the PDP governorship candidate.
The source said, “Like any other political matter, the choice of the deputy governor has a lot to do with interests and other things. I can tell you confidently that so many angles have been brought into the issue; some are political, while some have to do with the nature of our state which is divided along ethnic and religious lines.
“As things are, I know that Bamanga Tukur is seriously pushing for his son, Auwal, but this is being opposed by another group led by Jubril Aminu which is behind one Abubakar Hamman Girei, and another is working to ensure that in order to avoid any advantage in 2015, no Muslim/Fulani man from the central takes the slot.
“Specifically, what this group is trying to avoid is that, we learnt the same forces that threw up a later-day aspirant in Abuja are of the view that people in the central should just leave it for both the north and south to enjoy briefly, so that they can have their own full term from 2015,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a move aimed at preventing possible distraction within the fold of the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan has invited both Governor Ngilari and Fintiri to an emergency meeting scheduled for the presidential villa, Abuja. The peace parley was expected to start at 10pm last night.
The meeting will have in attendance Senate President David Mark, PDP National Chairman Adamu Mu’azu, and other top leaders of the party, as well as presidential top shots. leadership
