Fintiri vs Binani: Between the devil and the deep blue sea?

Fintiri vs Binani: Between the devil and the deep blue sea?

* A critical expose on Adamawa dominant guvernorship candidates

By Yohanna Bitrus

Many electorates in Adamawa State have been thrown into dilemma on account of the emergence of Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri and Sen Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani as the gubernatorial candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) respectively in Adamawa State.

Both Fintiri and Binani have contended with legal battles from their major rivals before the courts asserted them as the standard-bearers of their parties in the forthcoming guvernorship contest.

Fintiri has grappled with a legal suit instituted against him by Ambassador Jamilu Waziri over the action of the party to debar him from partaking in its Gubernatorial primaries last year. Determined to wrestle the party's ticket from Fintiri, Jamilu took the case up to the supreme court where he finally and conclusively lost the battle.

On the other hand, Binani whose election come under heavy scrutiny over alleged massive irregularities including vote buying, over voting and exclusion of some delegates from partaking in the election was also challenged by her arch rival, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Unlike the Fintiri legal suit which dragged up to the supreme court, the suit against Binani terminated at the appealate court as the principal litigant, Malam Nuhu Ribadu declined to pursue the case up to the supreme court in the interest of the party's unity and cohesion.

As the 2023 general election approaches, the candidature of the duo has left electorates with hard choices of electing "the perceived lesser devil" as each of the candidates is believed to be carrying heavy baggage.

Despite his robust achievements in the areas of infrastructure across the state, the ambition of governor Fintiri to succeed himself is seen by many electorates as an uphill task on account of baggages of infraction and failed promises he is carrying which accounted for the low opinion of electorates on his government.

Many electorates including civil servants, traders, pensioners and even politicians claimed that they had it rough in the last three years of Fintiri's leadership as the governor either reneged on the promises he made to them in the build up to the 2019 election or came up with stringent policies which proved counter productive to their well being.

They equally asserted that the economic policies of the government of borrowing to satisfy ravenous consumption has left the state prostrate and gasping under a heavy debt burden.

Although governor Fintiri is one of the  first governors to spearhead the implementation of the minimum wage in the country, civil servants in the state are of the opinion that the implementation of the minimum wage was a mere publicity stunt by the government to gain cheap popularity as what the government did was to only raise the salary of those who hitherto were earning below N30,000 to N30,000.

Upholding this sentiment are civil servants above grade level 7 who said the consequential adjustment of salary was only a mere lip service but does not reflect the realities and intendment of the statutes and even market forces adding that workers in the salary grade levels were worsened off by the so called consequential adjustment in the state.

While some workers were complaining of poor remunerations, some 10,000 workers of the state government employed by governor Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, the immediate past governor of Adamawa State were not so lucky, as the government in a seeming show of vengeance, fired them from service in order to settle political scores against the former governor.

In the same manner, issues that have to do with professionalism, and personnel development according to the civil servants have been relegated to the back seat by the Fintiri led government leading to low morale, low productivity and despair. It is also stated that MDAs in the state are walking a tight rope on account of being underfunded by the government as some of them do not receive a dime as running cost which added to the low productivity and disillusionment in the service.

Many associates of the governor accused him of being haughty, egocentric, high-handed, impulsive, rash and highly temperamental. They also say he lacked the capacity for remediation and self introspection which made his aides, associates and even senior party stakeholders to avoid him like a plague hence deserting him. Based on the foregoing, the governor mainly runs the state like an emperor doing things according or to suit to his whims and caprices.

Because of the above reasons, powerful stakeholders like former governor Boni Haruna, former chairman of the party, Baba Joel Madaki, the current chairman of the party, A.T Shehu as well as a number of party executives are said to said to keep the governor at arms length.

It is also on this account that the Atiku camp perceived the governor as a ranking enemy within and always view him with suspicion. It is believed that a number of Atiku's supporters including the executives of the party in the state, major stakeholders of the party, and even members of the state executive council have sworn never to support the governor in the next election whether Atiku won or lost the presidential election.

This belief is buoyed by the fact that the Atiku's camp rightly or wrongly believed that Fintiri is working in cahoots with CAN to frustrate the presidential ambition of Atiku Abubakar via a  scorched earth arrangement in which CAN will rally its strength behind Fintiri in the Gubernatorial election and then supports Peter Obi in the presidential election in a move to counter the Muslim-Muslim ticket of APC.

It is now alleged that because of the rift and no love lost within the party, the governor has anointed Hamza Madagali, the organizing secretary of PDP as the defacto chairman of the party as he is the one calling the shots on critical matters affecting the party while the chairman has been reduced to a mere ceremonial head.

Another issue that may impinge the success of the governor in the 2023 polls is the fact that Fintiri who accused his predecessors of corruption and plunging the state into debt trap, is himself wading through similar troubled waters. Since his coming, it is estimated that the governor has further plunged the state into the abyss of debt by over N70bn adding to the debt crisis he accused his predecessors of stockpiling for the next generation.

Another undoing of governor Fintiri has to do with his failure to implement stomach infrastructure in the state as promised in 2021. Many in the state including close associates of the governor are of the opinion that his excellency has failed woefully in this regard. His failure to come up with comprehensive empowerment packages archetypal to the ones upheld by former governor Murtala Nyako for the benefit of the teeming populace of the state is believed to be a costly mistake.

Echoing such concerns recently, one of governor Fintiri's associates, Umar Bello Jada, told the governor in black and white that he needs to stop capital projects and engaged in stomach infrastructure to bolster the landmark accomplishments witnessed in the state and to quell the raging poverty afflicting the people.

A number of party faithfuls based on findings have been nurturing such grievances against Fintiri in hushed tones. Some of them who could not stomach the shabby treatment and lack of patronage by the government have since ditched him to other political parties.

Another issue that may prove detrimental to the governor's quest to succeed himself is his perceived anti-Fulani posture. Rightly or wrongly majority of Fulani believed that Fintiri's policies and programs are skewed against them. Many Fulani ethnic nationals will naturally go against Fintiri in 2023 for this singular reason. The perception of Fintiri's hate against Fulani was rooted during the impeachment saga of governor Nyako, a Fulani man by Fintiri. The impeachment took an ethnic dimension when Fintiri, the main character behind the impeachment move during an hate-filled ethnic outburst allegedly claimed that he has broken the Fulani calabash. 

In thIs regard, many Muslims in the state perceived Fintiri despite being a Muslim himself to be working against the interest of Muslims in order to maintain good rapport with the christians who gave him block votes in 2019 general election. 

Another major error of judgement the governor made capable of eroding his victory come 2023 according to bookmakers is his decision to discard his deputy, Crowther Seth, a renowned politician in favour of a woman who hitherto has no political value.

The move according to the bookmakers has inadvertently brought the politics of ethnic identity to bear even within the larger Numan federation, as the minority tribes within the federation see the move as a clear marginalization. It is noteworthy to state that Kwa people the ethic setting of Crowther Seth and other minority tribes within Numan federation because of the development, are moving to form a front to resist the Bachama imperialism and domination and will hence resist the Fintiri second term bid.

On the other hand, the Gubernatorial candidate of APC, Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani is coming into the race with a huge war chest, a can-do-spirit, a larger than life ambition and the masses goodwill.

In addition to that, she also enjoys the support of president Muhammadu Buhari, the national chairman of APC, former governor Murtala Nyako and a host of other APC stalwarts.

While she is currently grooving on the unprecedented popularity offered to her on a platter of gold by her arch rival, governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri for denying her Mahmud Ribadu square for her campaign flag-off, a number of issues which may bar her from achieving her lifetime ambition must be put into proper perspective.

Like governor Fintiri who is contending with rejection by a number of PDP stalwarts and will go the whole hug to sabotage his reelection bid, Binani is also contending with powerful forces in her party.

A number of powerful forces in the party are working seriously with outsiders to truncate the ambition of Binani are not leaving any stone unturned towards achieving their motives. 

It is a well known fact that a number of party stalwarts including Aisha Buhari, Comrade Mustapha Salihu and a large creme of APC state working committee members, stood stoutly against Binani during her legal tussle with Ribadu

Binani is also facing serious integrity questions over her past misdeeds including allegations of financial debauchery involving public funds and perverse immoral acts when she was a student.

The issue of her suitability in the eyes of many Islamic scholars also poses a great threat to her ambition as conservative Muslims in Adamawa and beyond are hell bent at ensuring that a women did not hold executive position in a Muslim dominated state like Adamawa.

Another issue facing the APC candidate is the no love lost between her and the Adamawa State Presidential Campaign Council headed by the former deputy governor of Adamawa State Martins Babale. 

Right now the two sides do not see eye to eye because of this gaping cleavage which snowballed into a media war between Binani's supporters and the members of the PCC.

Another reason for the envisage loss of Binani has to do with allegations of substance abuse which made most of the elites in the state to treat her ambition with a pinch of salt as they believe that if she emerged as governor, Adamawa State is going to loss substantial goodwill on account of electing a substance abuser.

Based on the foregoing, elites in the state are meeting surreptitiously to form a bipartisan front to ensure that the move of Binani to govern Adamawa State is truncated at all cost as that will set the clock of Adamawa's development in the reverse direction as the state will loss both its goodwill and credibility before the committee of states.

Another serious issue that will dog the Binani quest to become Adamawa State governor is her hardline posture against a large creme of members of state working committee of APC whom she has since declared as enemies for taking sides against her during her legal tussle with Ribadu.

Again, the fear of a backlash if she wins the general election will make many amongst the members of the state working committee to resort to anti-party as many are of the opinion that if Binani wins the election, she is going to bring back her man Friday and stooge in the person of Ibrahim Bilal, the former state chairman of the party who was removed over alleged humongous financial malfeasance.

A number of disgruntled party stalwarts including officials of the party at state and national levels have vowed to support governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri to finish his second tenure for the expediency of preventing what they consider as taboo from happening to Adamawa State.

Already some of these people are working seriously behind the clock to ensure Binani's dreams and larger than life ambition is scuttled for its debilitating consequences. While some are working behind the curtains to ensure her ambition did not see the light of day some have openly indicated that they will never support her ambition.

One of the stalwarts that has resolved not to support Binani is the immediate past governor of the state Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow who during a meeting with development area administrators in Mubi has resolved to support Fintiri in the Gubernatorial election.

Another APC stalwart that has towed Bindow's line is his former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Prince Mustpaha Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha who seems by all means and purporses is ready to take sides with his boss.

With the litany of issues dogging the ambitions of Fintiri and Binani, their electoral fortunes getting seemingly insecure by the day, the search for their alternative has become a must compelling reality by Adamawa electorates.

Third Force

The dicey and precarious political situation has made a number of elites from both PDP and APC to start thinking of a third force in order to offer a viable alternative to the two dominant political parties.

Already, the state has an array of other gubernatorial candidates like Dr. Umar Ardo of SDP, Otumba of Ekiti Umar Mustapha of LP and Saadu M.C Tahir of NNPP and a host of others to select from.

Some chieftains of APC who said they will neither support Fintiri nor Binani said they are open to searching for a credible alternative through the instrumentality of the third force.

"As it is now, I and many concerned patriotic stakeholders of Adamawa from across the divide are looking of the feasibility of having a third force as we believe both Fintiri and Binani will are not credible enough for the office.

"In our patriotic zeal to chart a new course, we will enhance our consultations with all stakeholders to fast track the process as time is no more on our side and in no time we shall take a stand," he said.

Mixed reactions greet move for a third force

But a public affairs analyst, Sani Shehu said it will be too late in the day for a third force to be floated as considerable time, energy and resources are needed to make the third force a reality.

He noted that although politics is a game of strategy, he do not see the possibility in which such a strategy could work at the eleventh hour to the general election. 

But disagreeing with Shehu, another commentator Nuhu Nicodemus said considering the fact that all the two major political parties fielded candidates with blights, people can decide to go for a credible alternative adding that such scenarios have played out in other climes.

He called on voters to ensure that their PVCs are handy so as to elect the most credible candidate among the array of those vying to lead the state noting that he fully subscribed to the patriotic move.

He said in a multi party democracy like ours, people have the opportunity of selecting the best as there are a number of options available urging them not to fritter with the golden opportunity.

He added that in the face of the massive failure which APC and PDP have brought to the state, it only sensible for the people to look further inwards and elect progressive candidates not necessarily the richest or the most popular ones.