Nigeria Content Online

It’s
three years since former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, handed over
power, but the disagreement between his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar
appears unending. The discord between both men is blamed on Mr
Abubakar’s opposition to Mr Obasanjo’s tenure extension plot. Mr
Obasanjo, it appears, is still in contention with his former deputy in
his home state of Adamawa – especially after Mr Abubakar returned to
the PDP, following his sojourn in the Action Congress on whose ticket
he contested the 2007 presidential election.

Although the
state’s chapter of the PDP has refused to recognise the return of Mr
Abubakar, his former associates in the AC have flocked back into the
party.

Murtala Nyako, the
Adamawa State governor has now found himself fighting the outcome of
the return. Mr Nyako’s government has been at the receiving end of
non-salutary comments foisted on the people of the state by Mr
Obasanjo. The fight to oust Mr Nyako is seen perhaps among the opposing
camp, as a fight to undo the handiwork of his sponsor.

The governor has
repeatedly denied his imposition by Obasanjo, although he agreed that
Mr Obasanjo had impressed it on him to obtain the PDP gubernatorial
form despite his unwillingness to run for the office. He reportedly
said his only request was for Nyako to do him the favour of obtaining
the party form, saying that would not conflict with his prerogative not
to run eventually.

Mr Nyako, speaking
recently at the national secretariat of the party during a
reconciliation meeting summoned by the party chairman, Nwodo
Okwesielieze, expressed indifference to a bouquet of allegations
against the state chapter of the party under his watch, choosing only
to respond to allegations of his imposition without properly conducted
primaries. He explained how Obasanjo persuaded him to run and how he
had expressed restraint about the move.

However, the state
PDP chairman, Mijinyawa Kugama, denied the charge that the governor did
not emerge through due process. He said the decision to pick Mr Nyako
came during the party’s North East zonal delegates meeting held at
Bauchi. He said he and the present Minister of State, Aliyu Idi Hong,
were told they had to forward the names of candidates for the various
state and national election offices. An earlier annulment of the result
of the primaries won by Silas Zwingina created a void for the guber
office. Mr Kugama said it was then decided that the party delegates
should vote for a candidate to fly the party’s gubernatorial flag. The
lot, he said, fell on Mr Nyako, who was unanimously elected except for
two delegates who abstained from voting.

“Reports that the governor was imposed on the party without recourse to due process are wicked insinuations,” he said.

The charge of
imposition dogging the party gave impetus to the formation of a rival
splinter faction led by Medan Teneke, which supports the former Vice
president.

What is unsettling
in Adamawa politics is that since Mr Abubakar returned to the PDP, nine
AC members of the State House of Assembly recently renounced their
membership of the party for the PDP. Sajou Gela, member representing
Mubi constituency in the House said they were moving to the PDP because
they have been asked to do so by Mr Abubakar.

This movement has
strengthened the hitherto miniature opposition elements in the party.
There’s now talk of shifting allegiances among groups torn between Mr
Abubakar and Mr Nyako’s groups.

A loyalist of Mr
Nyako, who is also a broadcaster with the state radio station, openly
said on his show, Katakore, named after him, that the change in the
Assembly’s leadership was a prelude to a plot backed by external forces
to impeach the state governor.

However, Gibson
Nathaniel, the new Speaker of Assembly, vehemently denied the charge.
He said the change in leadership in the House was to pave way for a
“new and honest way” of handling issues in the state legislature.

“The change in
House leadership was to remove the House from the pedestal of
stagnation in terms of oversight and support function,” Mr Nathaniel
said.

Although Mr
Nathaniel had assured Mr Nyako of the support of the legislature to
move the state forward, many were stunned by the attack on the state
legislature by some youth calling for the return of the former Speaker,
James Barka. There are also discordant tunes of intra-party allegiance,
which explains why some of the youth caught in the attack on the
legislature allegedly confessed to being sponsored by the youth leader
of PDP in the state.

No divisions

However, Mr Nathaniel said the composition of the new leadership structure was predicated on performance.

“We are now in PDP
for the sake of equity, since equity is acceptable to everyone and we
in the House of Assembly do not measure you from where you come from
since we are one constituency,” he said. “We measure you by the
yardstick of your performance and coexistence and eventually along
those lines, we emerged, and three were former AC and three originally
PDP.” The former Speaker of the Assembly, James Barka, resigned his
office last Monday, but his deputy was not elevated to the office as
members of the state legislature passed a vote of no confidence on him.

“This House of
Assembly was dominated by six people out of 25. Major decisions on key
policy issues were taken by this group of six persons in terms of
running the house and in sourcing for funds. In the course of that, we
discovered that a high level of dishonesty was exhibited, by the
group,” Mr Nathaniel said. “We, therefore, thought that it was unfair,
ungodly and unholy to dominate and mismanage the affairs of this
House.”

He said, for one and a half years, the House did not hold any
leadership meeting – a meeting which was supposedly held at least once
in a month between the Speaker and other appointed leaders of the
House. He also alleged a mismanagement of the running cost meant for
the activities of the house.