PDP chairmen’s defection, Fintiri’s strong command and Galadima’s expanding frontiers
By Barr. Danladi Danasabe.
Another political spectacle that has cemented the grip of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State political firmament has just erupted with the wave and intensity of a volcano.
Even the most reticent political observer will not fail to notice the seismic tides and strong ripples the defection of the 21 local government chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alongside the 226 councillors of the party and the development area administrators into the ruling party has generated.
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These LG chairmen and the councillors represent the most dominant grassroot political machinery capable of deciding who gets what across all level of elections in Adamawa State. They are simply the heartbeat and the connecting sinews who determine the pulse of any election.
Their defection from the major opposition political party into the ruling party did not happen in a vacuum or by coincidence. It is the result of a strong political sagacity and an overarching astuteness by governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri to turn the tide of victory to his party.
Upon his entry into the ruling party, governor Fintiri did not mince words in declaring the victory of the party across all levels of elections in 2027. That is no small pledge considering the fact that the presidential candidate of the ADC, Atiku Abubakar, a strong contender, an incorrigible optimist and an indomitable force hails from Adamawa State.
So when the local government election was won by the opposition PDP early this year, many gave the 2027 election to the PDP based on the massive grassroot appeal the LG chairmen and councillors command.
But the spontaneous defection of all the LG chairmen and the 226 councillors has derobed the party of it’s touted clout. It has not only distorted the existing peace in the party but has shattered it’s dreams of making any significant inraod in the 2027 election. And by this feat, Fintiri has shown that he is not only the strongman of Adamawa politics but a centrifugal force around which Adamawa State politics revolve.
It is also apt to urge the defecting local government chairmen and the councillors to double their drive towards mobilizing the electorates to vote APC in all elections so as to shame naysayers and doubting Thomases.
This call is imperative because of the activities of some busy bodies and enemies of progress who have begun to sread rumours and unfounded allegations that the new defectors may not do the bidding of their new party forgetting that Adamawa as a strategic state of interest cannot afford to reamain in opposition in view of its drive to obtain more patronage from the center for the benefit of its people.
But in the ensuing political configuration, one man stands out as the major beneficiary of this development. While the PDP governorship candidate, Maurice Vunobolki may be sulking this monumental political tragedy, his counterpart of the ruling party, Tijjani Galadima is surely enjoying a renewed hope anchored on a soaring political value occasioned by strong grassroot presence and expanding frontiers.
With this development, one can say with an air of authority that the governorship election and other elections in Adamawa State have already been settled, thanks to Fintiri’s strong political network, strategic alliances and broad mindedness. I want to use this platform to congratulate Galadima for already winning the election even before the first vote was cast.
Danasabe the chairman of Adamawa Think tank, writes from Yola.
