Adamawa Governor, Bindow, in trouble as 10 candidates step down for Fintiri; APC chieftains decamp

From Solomon Musa ,Yola
Still celebrating his victory at a Federal High Court in Abuja over the veracity of the secondary school leaving certificate he submitted to the Independent , National Electoral commission, the Adamawa state governor, Jibrilla Bindow, has fresh trouble knocking on his door at home with the endorsement given former acting governor and governorship candidate of opposition People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) Alhaji Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, by 10 governorship candidates.
They have stepped down and declared their support for him to enable him win the governorship election slated for Saturday.
Incidentally, fellow homeboy and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, known to have backed Bindow in 2015 is no longer with him, and actually beat President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential election there two Saturdays ago.
Speaking on the occasion of his endorsement on Monday in Yola, Fintiri expressed delight over the decision of the 10 governorship candidates. He said that the coast was now clear for PDP to win the governorship election considering the popularity of the candidates that joined his campaign in the state to restore democracy.
He disclosed that his government will be a government of unity, pointing out that everybody that has good plans to move the state forward will be given opportunity to contribute his quota to the development of Adamawa.
The former acting governor (Fintiri) stated that workers and students welfare will form the cardinal points of his administration, noting that there is no government that can bring development without involvement of civil servants, who he said, are the engine room and the driving force for policy implementation.
Fintiri said that the only way to move the state forward is to vote for PDP, adding that since his party left office in 2015, there has been no durable project undertaken by the government of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) that has direct bearing on the lives of Adamawa people.
The 10 governorship candidates who took turns to speak at the occasion said that their decision was taken in the interest of the people, noting that the only way to wrestle power from the APC government is to join forces with the PDP candidate state.
Mrs. Lami Musa, the governorship candidate of People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN) said that they have to make sacrifices by putting aside their personal interests and work for the interest of the state.
“Fintiri is the best governorship candidate that has the capacity to restore the lost glory of Adamawa state. Whoever wants the state to move forward will have no choice but to vote Fintiri, that is why we joined hands with him to retired bad leadership from Adamawa government ,” she stated.
The governorship candidates are ,Alhaji Danjuma M. Musa (FJP), Alhaji Naziru S. Maiyaki (ZIP), Alhaji Ahmed Hassan (DA), Salihu Danjuma (APM) and Abdullahi Usman (NCP). Others are Alhaji Bappari Umaru (KOWA), Mrs. Lami Musa (PPN), Mrs. Elizabeth Isa (CAP), Mr. Frank Simeon MEGA and Alhaji Sadik Musa Kahlid MRDD.
In a related development, some chieftains of APC and members in Mubi-North and Mubi-South Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow’s home town have decamped to the PDP and vowed to dethrone the governor.
While speaking to journalists during the ceremony in Mubi-North local government at the weekend, the leader of the decamped chieftains, Alhaji Sajoh Gella, said that the failure of APC government under Bindow’s leadership was one of the major reasons for him and other members to join PDP.
He said that their decision was taken to rescue the state from the claws of poor governance and divisive policies he alleged that the present administration introduced to divide the people along religious and ethnic lines.
Gella, a former member of Adamawa State House of Assembly and former commissioner of water resources under former Governor Murtala Nyako said that the desire of his members who are over 45,000, and cutting across Maiha, Mubi-North and Mubi-South local government areas is to deliver the three councils to PDP.
He assured the PDP governorship candidate Alhaji Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, that APC will be buried during the poll, pointing out that Bindow has failed his people woefully and that the people are well prepared to recall him home through the ballot box.
Gella stated that all the senior APC stakeholders in the three local government areas have agreed to work for Fintiri based on his past track record of three months as acting governor, which according to him, were more productive than Bindow’s four years.
He called on other members of APC to vote for the governorship candidate of the PDP, pointing out that politics of ethnicity cannot bring the dividends of democracy to the people, but that only voting of leaders based on merit can bring development to the state.
While receiving the APC chieftains, Fintiri said that if elected his government will be for the people of the state and not for selected sections of people.
Fintiri who was sandwiched by other top PDP members asked the people of the state to judge him based on what he did during his brief three months and form their opinions on his capacity to deliver and restore the lost glory of the state.