In the warm up to the 2015 general elections, Saturday’s bye-election in Adamawa provides a test case for leading politicians in the state, writes Editor, Politics/Features, EMEKA ALEX DURU.
Since the release of the timetable for the Adamawa State governorship bye-election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last August, the tempo of political engagement in the state has been on the rise. The contest is scheduled for Saturday, October 11.
The election is as a result of the impeachment and termination of the tenure of Murtala Nyako as governor on July 15.
The House of Assembly had, on Tuesday, July 15, impeached Nyako, following his indictment by the seven-man panel which probed him over a 16-count charge bordering on gross misconduct and financial mismanagement.
His deputy, Bala Ngilari, who was to have been removed with him, had reportedly rushed in a resignation letter, announcing that he was quitting office.
Following the alleged resignation of Ngilari, the Speaker, Umar Fintiri, was sworn in as the acting governor of the state.
The action was in line with Section 191(2) of the 1999 Constitution. The section states: “Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in sub section (1) of this section during a period when the office of deputy governor of the state is also vacant, the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the state shall hold the office of Governor of the State for a period not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new governor of the state who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.”
Strategising for battle
It is in line with the constitutional prescription that INEC has called for the bye-election. On paper, the exercise is open to all the registered political parties in the state. However, there are clear indications that it is a straight race between PDP and APC.
None of the parties is leaving anything to chance in the titanic race. Aside each of the parties seizing the opportunity of the election to stamp authority on the control of Adamawa politics, the contest is, in many ways, seen as dress rehearsal for what to expect in the 2015 general election.
PDP, which has been beating its chest on the decisive move by its foot soldiers in the House of Assembly in undoing Nyako, has been upbeat for the poll. It has even gone further in putting up Fintiri as its candidate for the exercise.
APC has, on its own, equally demonstrated readiness for the encounter. Even when the party had cried blue murder in the manner and circumstances under which Nyako was removed and had threatened court action on the matter, it has expressed desire to participate in the Saturday bye-election.
In a communique issued at the end of the party’s two-day stakeholders’ meeting on Saturday, August 16, APC contended that its participation was “with a view to reclaiming the stolen mandate of the party”.
The party had, in the build-up to the race, picked Senator Bindow Jibrilla, representing Adamawa Central as its candidate.
Jibrilla, Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and Army, was among the lawmakers that crossed from PDP to APC. He had, in declaring his interest for the job, expressed intense passion for the development of the state.
Testing APC, PDP
On the surface, the APC candidate for the encounter may not be one that can easily attract national attention. But considering his stature as a senator and aspiring for a position that is essentially local in character, he cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand.
Besides, until the July 15 impeachment of Nyako, his party had been in the driver’s seat of Adamawa politics, or so it appeared. There were expectations that the APC had, within the time under consideration, established enough structures that it had hoped to draw from in subsequent encounters.
Banking on the Atiku factor
The presence of the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, in its fold is another factor the party can leverage on. In fact, until Atiku and former President Olusegun Obasanjo got entangled in a suffocating feud in the build-up to the 2003 general election, the political clout of the former vice president had loomed large across the country. Drawing immensely from the political craftsmanship and extensive network of the late Shehu Yar’Adua, his mentor, Atiku had, at the onset of the current political dispensation, sent signals of being among the politicians to reckon with in the land. Riding on the wings of the then Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the leadership of which he inherited following the death of Yar’Adua, Atiku had clearly emerged as a strong factor in defining the tempo of PDP politics.
When eventually he left the governorship election that he had easily won in Adamawa for a vice presidential slot, it was seen as an attempt at marketing his intimidating credentials at the national level. Even then, it was taken for granted that he was the undisputed leader of the state’s politics. However, when his battle with Obasanjo began to take turns for the worst, enormous efforts were deployed by the highly vindictive former president to shoot down his towering influence.
Subsequent developments saw Turaki Adamawa shuttling between PDP and the opposition. He is currently a top contender for the presidential ticket of APC.
Keen watchers of Adamawa politics see the Saturday poll as an opportunity for him to bounce back and prove that he remains the lord of the state’s politics. There is also the consideration that the outcome of the election will go a long way in determining his chances in the December 2 presidential primaries of the party.
“This is more or less an election that may determine Atiku’s standing in APC. A win in the contest will greatly boost his chances of winning the party’s presidential ticket. In the same vein, a loss by our party in the state that ordinarily should be his primary constituency will gravely affect his presidential aspiration. That will simply mean that he is not popular even at home,” volunteered a Lagos APC official, who asked not to be mentioned.
The former vice president is not oblivious of the task ahead. He had, early last week, urged the electorate in Adamawa to vote for Jibrilla in the election.
The crown, incidentally, is not what PDP would allow him pick without enormous challenge. In the first instance, Adamawa is a traditional PDP enclave. Most of the leading politicians from the state are known to have had stints with the party or are still in its fold. Even Atiku, Nyako and Jibrilla are products of the platform.
