A chieftain of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa, Umar Bello Jada aka Calculate has disclosed that the PDP Gubernatorial primaries is a walk over as Ambassador Jamilu Waziri who is the sole aspirant contending for the party’s ticket against governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri is a political minion and no match for Fintiri in every ramification.
Jada who made the position during a session with newsmen in Yola on Wednesday said going by the woeful outing of Waziri in the 2019 PDP primaries, despite spending a fortune on the delegates, one can say with absolute certainty that there will be no contest between Fintiri and Waziri in the coming PDP gubernatorial primaries.
“In the build up to the 2019 primaries, Ambassador Jamilu Waziri spent more than four times the amount spent by governor Fintiri but despite that what Jamilu got was an infinitesimal fraction of the votes as Fintiri coasted to victory with an exponential margin.
“Even the remnants of the votes he got on top of the thousands of votes have eclipsed all what his opponents got in the primaries.
“If Fintiri got such overwhelming victory which saw him dwarfing all his opponents, how do you think Waziri will stand a chance against the people’s governor after the monumental dividends of democracy he brought to the people in the last three years?
“For me it amounts to a waste of precious and resources for Jamilu to contest against Fintiri as any discerning Adamawa citizen knows there won’t be any contest between the dou,” he said.
When asked whether the ambition of Waziri is an indication of the silent rift between governor Fintiri and Atiku Abubakar as Amb. Jamilu Waziri is a protege of the former vice president coupled with the insinuation that Fintiri is not doing the bidding of Atiku, Jada said, Fintiri cannot do the bidding of Atiku against the wishes of the generality of the populace.
“Fintiri was voted by Adamawa electorates and he swore to uphold their welfare and bring democratic dividends to them which he has fulfilled beyond the stretch of the imagination.
“If the failure of Fintiri to hand over the Adamawa coffers to Fintiri is responsible for Waziri’s contest then the aspirant should come out openly to tell the delegates that he is in the race only to satisfy the whims and caprices of his benefactor Atiku.
“If he campaigns on that turf and people voted him, fine he can surrender the state Treasury to the former vice president.
“I must say that if the interest of Atiku is in the emancipation of his people, then in the history of Adamawa State nobody has served him like Fintiri. Let’s examine what Fintiri did for Jada the home town of Atiku.
“In the history of Jada local government, no administration has brought the massive developmental strides brought by Fintiri. He constructed a number of township roads, rehabilitated and expanded the cottage hospital of Jada, he also rehabilitated primary schools and is planning to rejuvenate and modernize the government secondary school in Jada.
“This is in sharp contrast to what happened to Jada when Atiku held sway as the vice president for eight years as the local government virtually got no developmental projects at all.
“In the same vein, Fintiri has also carried massive developmental drives never done before in all areas of human endeavor in Jimeta and Yola where Ambassador Jamilu Waziri hailed from. Fintiri has turned around the fortunes to the admiration of even his staunchest critics. If Jamilu Waziri is interested in the welfare and development of his people, then he should have sided with Fintiri,” Jada said.
When asked whether Fintiri is in support of the presidential ambition of Atiku in view of the forgoing tension elicited by Jamilu Waziri’s ambition, Jada said Fintiri is hundred percent behind the presidential ambition of Atiku Abubakar.
“Fintiri has through his actions and utterances did not leave anyone in doubt about his preference in the presidential contest.
“Among all the PDP governors, Fintiri was the only one who graced the declaration of Atiku in Abuja. While there he reiterated his unequivocal support to Atiku’s presidential bid to the extent of saying that he is 100 percent behind it.
“In Nigeria, only the Adamawa PDP exco openly indicated that there willingness to vote Atiku in the next presidential contest. Fintiri has not left anyone in doubt about where he stands as far as Atiku’s presidential bid is concerned. If that did not satisfy the yearnings of Atiku’s supporters then I will say nothing will satisfy them,” he said.
