By Samuel Ogidan
Abuja
Adamawa state governorship election scheduled for October 11 yesterday witnessed a twist, as the fear of Ahmed Modibbo and Nuhu Ribadu gripped other aspirants, who sent a petition to the leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to disallow them from contesting the election.
The petition was submitted yesterday as the news broke that the leaders of the party had concluded works on the request for waivers by some of the aspirants and would make the result public today.
Besides Modibbo and Ribadu, the other aspirants the petitioners asked to be denied waiver are Engr. Marcus Gundiri, Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd) and Gen. Aliyu Kama (rtd).
The seven aspirants, who signed the petition are Dr. Umar Ardo, Barr. Ahmed Gulak, Hon. James Barka, Sen. Andrawus Sawa, Sen. Abubakar Halilu Girei, Dr. Idi Hong and Hon. Awwal Tukur.
The petitioners argued that Ribadu, Gunduri and Modibbo joined the PDP for the first time only recently, while Marwa and Kama returned to the PDP only recently after earlier defecting from PDP to other political parties.
However, in their separate reaction, Modibbo and Ribadu described the aspirants claim as “baseless.”
Modibbo, in a statement by his Media Assistant, Julius Toba, said “much as Dr Ahmed Mohammed Modibbo would not like to join issues with any politician or fellow aspirants in this race, we cannot afford to watch and allow a few un-serious elements to have a field day running him down.”
“Since 2009 till date, we have documentary evidences indicating that my principal is a key financial member of PDP both at the state and national levels.”
Ribadu, in his reaction, said: “Those huffing and buffing over the entrance of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu into this race portray themselves as empty shells that they are.
“The attempt to truncate a legitimate process is totally condemnable and uncalled for. There is no basis for opposition to granting of the waiver. We don’t seek for advantage over any aspirant. What we advocate for is for everybody to be allowed to participate in an open and transparent manner. No party member is superior to another.”
