By Abdullahi Adamu
Since the return of democracy in 1999, many members of the House of Representatives have become governors of their states after serving in the federal parliament. A couple of them have also served as deputy governors. Hon.(Senator) Gabriel Suswam of Benue state was the first member of the National Assembly to become the governor of a state after serving for two terms in the House of Representatives. Suswam, who is now representing Benue North-East Senatorial District had represented Katsina-Ala/Logo/Ukum federal constituency between 1999 and 2007. He became a governor in 2007. Senator Seriake Dickson was elected governor of Bayelsa state while serving as a member of the House. He is also in the senate today. Similarly, Hon. Abdulaziz Yari former governor of Zamfara state also became governor from the House.
Others who became governors from the House include Sokoto state governor, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Emeka Ihedioha of Imo state. They were both speaker and deputy speaker respectively. Although, Ihedoha was later removed by the Supreme Court. Katsina state governor Aminu Bello Masari was also a former speaker of the House of Representatives, although he became governor some years after he left the House. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state also became a governor straight from the House of Representatives after serving for three terms in the green chamber. Hon. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara is also a former member of the House of Representatives.
So, the House of Representatives has a penchant for producing state governors. Today, a couple of the lawmakers in the lower chamber are gearing up to contest for governorship in their states come 2023. One of such gubernatorial hopefuls is the chairman of the House Committee on the Army, Hon. Abdulazak Sa’ad Namdas representing Jada/Ganye/Mayo Belwa/Toungo federal constituency of Adamawa state. Namdas, who is the House spokesperson in the 8th Assembly is not leaving anything to chance and has commenced full consultations and lobbying across the three senatorial districts of the state to achieve his ambition. Namdas, to many, is one of the shining stars of the 9th House and indeed had performed excellently in the 8th Assembly and has been doing well for his constituents. Perhaps, he has been caught in the web of the gods of the House of Representatives, which prepares governorship candidates for the various states’ Government House and may well be on his way to the Dougeri House in Yola.
Analysts who are familiar with the political environment in Adamawa state contend that the battle will not be an easy one as the All Progressives Congress (APC) on whose platform Namdas intends to pursue his ambition is loaded with quality and highly qualified aspirants that are battle-ready. Some of these aspirants include the immediate past governor, Senator Jibrilla Bindow, former EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Senator Abdulaziz Murtala Nyako, Senator Abbo, Senator Aisha Dahiru Ahmed and younger brother to the first lady, Dr. Mahmoud Halilu Ahmed (Modi) and a host of others. The primaries to pick the party’s candidate to square up with the PDP candidate who will certainly be the sitting governor, Hon. Ahmadu Fintiri promises to be an explosive one.
Of course, the main battle is going to be the general elections, where the APC will have an uphill task in unseating Fintiri. Some analysts have argued that Fintiri’s removal may not be as difficult as people believe judging by how the PDP was able to dethrone the APC in 2019. The point, however, remains that the APC in Adamawa has resolved to put the misfortune of 2019 behind it and work in harmony to reclaim the state at the next elections. At present, Namdas is said to be the rallying point for the opposition APC in the state. He is widely believed to be the man of the moment, who since 2021 has been shouldering the burden of repositioning the APC ahead of the herculean task of unseating the PDP. Coincidentally, Namdas, a second-timer in the House is the Representative of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the House of Representatives. How he was able to win the election on the ticket of APC to represent Atiku in the House despite the fact that the former vice president was the presidential candidate of the PDP is one of the key reasons giving people the confidence to line behind him to cause a major upset for the PDP in 2023.
The belief is that with Namdas as APC Candidate deploying the strategy he used in demobilizing Atiku in his constituency, will ground the PDP hence the safest route for the APC to reclaim the state is to support the two-term House of Representatives member. His intention to seek APC’s governorship ticket and contest the 2023 elections is said to have already sent shivers down the spine of the incumbent administration of Governor Fintiri and the PDP generally. Some political analysts are of the view that the threat of a Namdas candidature has become obvious that the governor’s camp is trying to cajole him into jettisoning his gubernatorial ambition. Namdas has already opened campaign offices in Ganye and Numan and is planning to replicate this throughout the state in the next few weeks ahead of the primaries, which may take place between May and July.
At Namdas’ campaign opening ceremony in Numan, a former Legal Adviser of APC in the state, Barr. Pwamaddi Shagnah, “ I am from Numan Federation and my people who are even in PDP are saying if you bring Namdas as the candidate we will vote for him”
Addressing the crowd at the occasion, Namdas said “I am the son of the soil; I am the son of the downtrodden. I started from scratch to the top. I have gone through the leadership processes. I haven’t said I was born at the top, rather I started from the ground and God is lifting me up, so I know all the challenges the poor man is facing in Adamawa, I have seen them all”.
On his capacity to deliver, Namdas said, “I am highly experienced in governance. I have been in. government from 1999 till date. I have gained experience from working in the executive arm in Adamawa state to the National Assembly where I even served as a member of the international parliament. I will deliver the dividends of democracy”.
While commissioning another campaign office in the ancient city of Mubi recently, Namdas said: “You can see right from the gate of Mubi to the palace of the emir and up to this place the youths are enthusiastic. I didn’t come for a rally but just to open my campaign office. If it was a rally it is a different thing but you can see that they came in their multitudes. They want to have a young man as the governor of the state, of course, the governor of the state is also a young person but I’m younger, I have the contacts and I have the experience and I know how to talk to the people and I know what they want,” he said.
Speaking on Namdas efforts in reconciling APC members and his chances, a former commissioner for women affairs in Governor Murtala Nyako’s administration and the coordinator of the Women for Namdas Organisation, Hajiya Halima Mohammed-Hayatu said “Our party is strong and standing firm; we will continue with the reconciliation. We will continue to support Hon. Namdas to promote cohesion in the party. We actually know that we are better off prepared for elections. Team Namdas is not only reconciling APC members we have even convinced others to join the party like Adamawa ADC, which collapsed its entire structure into APC. APC is getting stronger by the day and this means PDP is getting weaker also. We have achieved about eighty percent of reconciliation and this is a good mark.
A staunch member of APC and former commissioner for justice and Attorney General of Adamawa state, Barr. Ibrahim Tahir said “Namdas has done so much and he is incomparable to all others in the state in a similar position. He is serious-minded with the interest of the people at heart. He is willing and prepared to serve the state and with his educational background and political experience and credibility, the APC has someone to dislodge PDP”
Also speaking in the same vein, a former member of the House of Representatives that represented Mubi north/Mubi South Federal constituency, Hon. Abdurrahman Shaibu said “When the APC lost the governorship in 2019, some of our members defected to PDP. But with Hon. Namdas carrying the party on his shoulders, we have been able to create awareness, reignite people’s interest and as a result, the APC is getting stronger in the state. Because of Namdas, even though the PDP is the ruling party in the state, it is as if it does not exist in Adamawa”
….Adamu, a public affairs analyst writes from Jimeta, Yola.
