The immediate past Governor of Adamawa state, Senator Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindow, set an indelible record in the All Progressives Congress (APC), having won the 2015 gubernatorial election by a landslide against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Indeed, Bindow came and left with a performance credited to his government as one of the best performing governors. But that is not the news, anyway, neither is it the crux of this piece woven on my very personal thoughts, reflections, and observations vis-à-vis the current happenings of the party in Adamawa and Nigeria at large.
I’m a keen observer of happenings in the APC family, particularly, in Adamawa state, my abode for over two decades. The party in Adamawa state is in dire need of a consensus builder who would first and foremost shoulder the responsibility of uniting party members and save it from further cracks. There must be an internal and external true sense of peace building in the structure of the party.
There is no gainsaying the fact that flowing from certain actions, reactions, and counter-reactions, the internal wrangling within Adamawa APC, its stalwarts are bent on positioning their loyalists to lead the party rather than quench the fire. The choice of the next governor of Adamawa state is critical to the party’s victory in the 2023 elections. Getting it wrong at this stage could lead to grave consequences. A stitch in time, it’s said, saves nine.
However, the conflicts bedeviling the main opposition, APC, in the state are not uncommon to a political or social system where there are variegated of interests. In politics, interest is the end thing, it is the beauty that is engraving the forces of democracy to play among people with divergent views.
The questions, therefore, are: What is the fate of Adamawa APC in 2023 amidst a deep sense of disunity? Who is the best among the contenders to become governor in 2023? Can Adamawa APC win 2023 gubernatorial polls with just anyone? What are the chances for APC in Adamawa state in 2023 elections, considering the plethora of complaints that trailed local government, ward congresses in the state?
In all these, I can say Adamawa APC is on the brink of a failed party unless its stakeholders discard their primordial interest and work together as a winning force that can take over power from the PDP. APC, in a round table, must close ranks to save the party in the upcoming 2023 general elections. Truly, for the APC to win governorship election in Adamawa state, the party hierarchy must consider the candidacy of Senator Bindow, otherwise the party would give PDP a stress less second term.
Bindow, who has consistently harped on unity, said, “The APC is greater than our ambitions. We have to consolidate the party first in unity and clear view of purpose to win all elections in the political atmosphere of peace.” Bindow, no doubt, is now best positioned to lead the APC back to power come 2023 especially if the party’s political leaders look beyond selfish considerations and focus on returning Adamawa people to yet another good moment of massive development.
Bindow’s achievements as a governor and senator include wealth creation and economy-building. These strides are currently lacking in Adamawa state as the state’s economic woes have deepened under the present leadership. Come 2023, Adamawa needs a leader who has managed and sustained wealth and not one who is after personal gains to the detriment of the majority.
He recorded giant strides in infrastructure development having constructed 637 road networks across the state. On comparative basis, Bindow performed excellently in many sectors of Adamawa state’s economy – health, education, agriculture, and community/rural development, etc.
With the present state of APC in Adamawa state where unity and cohesion are elusive, APC may just be able to win a few state and national assembly seats – two senators and three members of the House of Representatives. This is even when the party gets the rallying factor. If they fail to get the factors of winning elections in the interest of the party rather than individuals, I see APC heading for doom. They will certainly have a direct head-on collision with PDP’s armour of war.
The party at this juncture must toe the unity line, and the only option or figure that can take the party on a winning spree is Sanator Bindow. It’s either Bindow or APC forgets Adamawa state in 2023. I’m not disparaging or undermining anyone aspiring for the number one seat in Adamawa state. Anybody can aspire if unity of purpose is galvanized by critical stakeholders. Besides, in politics you don’t underrate or dismiss the impossible, anyone can be anything in the game of politics.
Garba, FIMC, FMBD writes from
Yola, Adamawa state via
08030525759
[email protected]
