From Umar Dankano, Yola
The 2015 aspiration of Governor Bala James Ngilari of Adamawa state, at the weekend received a major boost as traditional rulers, religious leaders and other stakeholders, led by the Lamidon Adamawa, Barkindo Mustapha Aliyu, met and told President Goodluck Jonathan that they would prefer to support the Governor than any other aspirant in the state.
They therefore declared their support towards Ngilari’s governorship aspiration, saying that equity and fairness dictate that the governor, like other PDP first-term governors, deserves the right of First Refusal, in line with the policy of the party.
This was just as it was gathered that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih and former Minister of Defence, General T.Y. Danjuma, are massing support for the governor.
Accordingly, the duo are believed to be pushing for a reversal of the decision of the Adamu Mu’azu-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, which zoned the governorship position to Adamawa Central without taking into consideration all indices and variables that are required in winning elections in the state.
Danjuma was quoted as having said “The party already has too much crises in its hands and the leadership of the party must not allow itself or been seen to be creating more crisis to worsen the situation at hand.”
This was just as it was also gathered that at a meeting of stakeholders of the party at the weekend in Yola, it was clearly pointed out that in 2007, when Professor Jibril Aminu was leader of the party in the state, he brought former Governor Murtala Nyako into the party and made him the governorship candidate, during which he told party members that since former Governor Boni Haruna, a Christian, served for eight years, a Muslim should also be allowed to go for eight years too.
“Prof Aminu’s position was complied with and adopted as party policy in the state. So, why the sudden change of position without recourse to earlier agreements?” a member of the state executive committee of the PDP, who does not want his name in print asked.
The development is believed to have seriously rattled the Principal Private Secretary to the President, Alhaji Hassan Tukur and the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, that are believed to have skewed the zoning arrangement to favour the aspiration of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, who defected from the All Progressive Congress (APC) to the PDP for the sole purpose of contesting the governorship position of Adamawa state.
