Stakeholders Meeting: Gov Fintiri has killed PDP in Adamawa- Sen Grace

Tom Garba, Yola

The aftermath of the Adamawa people’s Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders meeting held in Yola, Wednesday is rising much political dust and cloud of crisis gathering within the family members of the ruling party in the state.

Senator Grace Jackson Bent, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) over the stakeholders meeting accused Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of killing the party.

Bent who represented Adamawa Southern Senatorial District from 2007-2011 said the Governor has destroyed PDP in Adamawa saying that it is not the party they know and spent their huge resources, their lives, and everything to make it a people’s party.

Jackson alongside Dr. Umar Ardo condemned the last Wednesday stakeholders meeting to be a gathering of political appointees and cohorts of the Governor.

“How can you call a stakeholders meeting is only your appointees that turn out for the meeting? Stakeholders are not yes men and women of the Governor they are not government appointees, they are foundation members, BOTs members, Former and Serving Governors, Former and serving senators.

“Stakeholders are not commissioners, political appointees are not stakeholders and Fintiri has consciously decided to marginalize us, want to chase us out of the party. He is doing anything possible to chase us out of that party by all means. Nobody calls me or Dan Suleiman for any stakeholders meeting.

“He even goes about saying that he wants to retire us from politics, but I tell you one billion of him does not have what it takes to so do that.” She said

She continued to say that Fintiri deliberately wants to alienate her even though she formed part of the structure that brought him to be Governor. She is among the first three that made him what he is. Haven, nominated the likes of Barr A T Shehu, Abdullahi Prambe to the present status of their PDP party officials.

She accused Fintiri of pocketing the party to be run by him, Hamza Madagali, and Basi his staunch political loyalists as organizing and Financial Secretary respectively as she was the one that nominated them.

The former lawmaker in the national Assembly bragged that she worked round In her local government, Demsa local government Fintiri got the highest votes being the highest stakeholder coming from that zone.

“A stakeholder of my caliber the Governor formed the government we all played a vital was never consulted for the suggestion, for the sake of our party I spent my money without receiving a dime to deliver Demsa. This is not our tradition in PDP.

“For two years since his inauguration as a Governor fiction has never called us for any stakeholders meeting. Because of the rubbish, former Governor Boni Haruna didn’t attend the meeting and he would not want to be part of such gathering.

“Who are the people at the meeting? Most people have left the party because of him. Bala Ngilari has gone, Senator Ishaku Abbo has gone, the party is in disarray because a lot of people have gone. Ardo has said my mind and I stand by what he said because is not stakeholders meeting that we use to have or know.

The PDP that we fought, we struggle to have over the years has been distorted by the Governor. Fintiri was in ACN he came back to meet us. The whole of the Southern zone, the nine local governments were mobilized by me and Fintiri was nowhere to be found then.

” As a BOT member I have laid this complaint to the National chairman, Ardo wrote many petitions to the National officials, Dan Suleiman has repeatedly made so many complaints about how Fintiri is killing the party in Adamawa state.

“Is killing the party with his anti-people actions. If he thinks because of power incumbency he should go and ask Bindow.

“He has humiliated me, he has alienated, I must say this that he is an ingrate. You can throw away the ladder you use to climb up, in Demsa I was the only stakeholder who stood by him to be the governor that time Felix Tangwami is in APC as Bindow’s DG campaign but he is now the senior stakeholder when he decamped to PDP.

” I can tell you nobody so important in Adamawa politics that is with him now, all of us that formed the present executive, how many people are with him? All they have gone because the way is handling the party.” Grace said

Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ahmadu, Mr. Humwashi Wonosikou when contacted by our correspondent said nobody is invited. Boni Haruna was thereby representation.

He said Mrs. Jackson has a personal problem that she needs to work on herself to be relevant in Adamawa political system.

He advised the former Senator to mend fences with her Demsa politicians and stop attacking the Governor innocent as have her time but focused on serving the people of the state who entrusted him with the power to govern.

“This is a person we read over the media that she is decamping to APC, I think her fight for a reason that is baseless since she cannot be more stakeholder than Joel Madaki.

” She should go back to her people to settle her scores, she should count the Governor out of her political woes. ” He said