By Mohammed Ismail
A political cyclone is currently sweeping across Adamawa State’s effervescent political landscape introducing new power dynamics that are coalescing into a romance between opposing and strange political bedfellows.
On one side of the divide is governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri whose political destiny is currently on the precipice and at a tipping point in the face of the total dismemberment of his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On the other side of the divide are elements who see Fintiri as a political opportunist and an unconscionable voyager who wants to reap from where he did not sow
For Fintiri, the prospects of remaining in PDP to sink with it will come with grave cost and eternal consequences. It is therefore, instructive for the governor to plan ahead to stave off what may turn out to be a political apocalypse and an impending doomsday.
In order to remain politically afloat, secure a soft landing and remained relevant after serving out his two terms of office, hopping into the APC ship, appears to be a sensible foray because the action remains Fintiri’s only survival lifeline after office. And from his actions, Fintiri, known for his witty political and ruthless demeanor is not going to let that golden opportunity to slip away. That is why his defection to the ruling party this morning becomes strategic.
But instead of silently creeping into the party through appeals, mediation and diplomacy, the governor in a fit of rare and grandeur political blunder adopted a grandiloquent dour implying that APC is already a conquered territory ready to be occupied through unwieldy rhetorics and exaggerated show of self worth.
Threatening those who streneoulsy built the party over the years was Fintiri’s major political undoing especially considering that the party itself is a natural bastion of Fintiri’s core political adversaries.
As a prelude to his exit from PDP, the governor embarked on a statewide tour of local governments to intimate his party members and critical stakeholders of his desire to defect. The tour itself gained traction through a new political catch phrase “kafar ka kafar mu” suggesting that the governor’s political move get the imprimatur and endorsement of the PDP establishment in the state.
The tour which itself started on a wrong footing in Ganye where the governor was interjected by heckles of “ba ma yi” meaning we are not with you as he delivered his first pre-defection homily was symptomatic of his low rating even within the corridors of the political party he led for seven years running.
A number of critical stakeholders of the PDP who were left in the coolers throughout Fintiri’s tenure who apparently are in the majority are likely to use the opportunity to avenge the ill-treatment mated to them by the governor who is said to centralize government machinery and patronage around himself and some few allies.
The governor’s defection as expected, has elicited renewed conversation around the topic of leadership between the governor and the legacy members. In fact, the conversation narrowed centrally between the duo of Mallim Nuhu Ribadu and the governor.
Although it appears Ribadu’s camp is not losing sleep and appeared unperturbed about the dynamics of Fintiri’s entry, what remained unsettling to the legacy members was the unapologetic and vitriolic stance of Fintiri who seems to be twisting narratives suggesting that APC will gain more from his defection than he will gain from entering the party.
The governor who did not mince words in projecting his worth, substance and value to his new party has boasted on many occasions during his LG tour that he enjoyed the support of the government war chest and administrative juggernaut, and will come into the party with hordes of supporters and huge political capital including the support of three senators, six house of reps members, sixteen house of assembly members, 21 LG chairmen and hundreds of political appointees. This in the estimation of the governor is by every measure, a huge political capital.
As conversations continue to shape the move, a chorus of indignation punctuated by shrill resistance by a creame of APC stalwarts who vowed to resist any attempt of the governor to annex the party and asserts himself as the leader is building. This resistance if not tackled with tact, may lead to the implosion of the party as many of the legacy members predicted.
A number of them urged the dominant Ribadu establishment to thread softly with Fintiri and deal with him with calculated caution because of his past predilection with infidelity, vengeance and pathological propensity for backstabbing his benefactors citing former governor Murtala Nyako and former vice president Atiku Abubakar as some cases in point.
They noted that the governor’s rhetoric that he is coming with a huge political capital represents a hyped hubris because in 2019 and 2023 elections, the governor did not win on the crest of his popularity but because of the support extended to him by disgruntled APC members who openly worked against the victory of their party.
Amongst those who nurture this posture, is former minister of foreign affairs, Dr. Idi Hong, who became Fintiri’s most prolific supporter in the 2023 highly disputed governorship election in Adamawa State.
Hong noted that as far as APC is concerned, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu remained the leader of the party, a position which is believed to be in line with the thoughts of critical stakeholders of the party who pledged to ensure that Ribadu remains the party leader, not a ranking usurper.
The emerging spectacle and conflict of interest may probe fatal to APC especially in the coming guvernorship election in the state considering the array of heavyweights in the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) who will readily benefit from the impending crisis of confidence that awaits APC following Fintiri’s entry.
Two past events in the state namely; the defeat of PDP in 2015 by APC and the subsequent defeat of APC by PDP in 2019 are not mere happenings, they represent a truism that political parties only endure and win elections on the premise of internal cohesion, loyalty and mutual respect. If Fintiri’s entry amplifies dissent, disloyalty and discontent and exacerbates party’s fissures, then his entry is a bad omen to APC.
Ismail, the Editor-in-chief of FACTCHECKNEWS writes from Yola.
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