ADAMAWA GUBER: Why Acting Gov. Fintiri was disqualified By Bankole Jamgbadi on August 31, 2014 The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has explained that allowing the Adamawa State acting governor, Umaru Fintiri, to contest its primary next week, ahead of the state’s governorship poll October, would contravene the Constitution. The acting governor was disqualified yesterday by the the screening committee of the PDP from participating in the PDP primaries scheduled for September 6. This was disclosed by the chairman of the screening committee, former deputy Senate president Ibrahim Mantu, after the five-man committee grilled all 14 aspirants, preparatory to the scheduled party primaries on September 6 and the October 11 governorship by-election. According to reports from Leadership : Addressing newsmen after the committee finished a nine-hour screening exercise for all PDP aspirants, Mantu said the acting governor was disqualified because his candidature violated section 191, subsections (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The section does not allow him to transmute from acting governor to substantive governor. It reads: “The Deputy Governor of a State shall hold the office of Governor of the State if the office of Governor becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal of the governor from office for any other reason in accordance with section 188 or 189 of this constitution. (2) Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) of this section during a period when the office of Deputy Governor of the State is also vacant, the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the State ‘shall’ hold the office of Governor of the State for a period of not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new Governor of the State who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.” Mantu noted that the acting governor was supposed to serve as a referee in the process and not a participatant in the election. Mantu, who described the acting governor as “a child of circumstance”, noted that the committee had “done a very meticulous job, went through all documents critically and ensured that what is submitted is in conformity with the provision of our constitution”. He added that the governor ought to serve as a midwife in the process and “not be the carrier of the baby”. He noted that the governor is entitled to “appeal against our position as there is going to be an appeal”. The aspirants who were cleared by the five-member committee include former presidential candidate of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former political adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan Dr Ahmed Gulak, and former ACN governorship candidate in 2011 Sen. Marcus Gundiri. Others are former executive secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Dr Ahmed Moddibo, former minister of health Dr Aliyu Idi Hong, Dr Umar Ardo, Sen. Abubakar Gerei, Mr James Barka, Mr Jerry Kumdisi, Col. Adrawus Sawa and Alhaji Kama Aliyu. Also screened were son of former PDP national chairman Alhaji Awwal Tukur, former military administrator and Buba Marwa. The committee screened the aspirants to ascertain their commitment and loyalty to the party, their membership card and tax clearance, among other things. However, indication had emerged early on that the acting governor would not be allowed to contest because, after facing the screening committee, Fintiri refused to speak with the press and simply stormed out of the venue. But speaking with newsmen after his screening, Ribadu expressed satisfaction with the screening process and expressed his confidence that the party leadership would ensure transparent primaries. He said, “I pray to God that for the good of the country, for the good people of Adamawa, what is going on today is probably a turning point and a change that is coming in Adamawa State and Nigeria.” On his part, former UBEC executive secretary Moddibo described the screening process as excellent and straightforward, adding that the rest was left for the committee to decide. He however ruled out any intention of stepping down for any other aspirant. Dr Ardo expressed reservations against the waiver granted to Ribadu, Marwa and Gundiri to face the screening ahead of the primaries. He said “I am not satisfied; it did not follow due process. In any case, I will abide by the decision of the party. But I want to tell you that it did not follow due process as it did not emanate from the ward to the other processes.” Dr Ardo alongside five other aspirants had filed a petition to the party leadership asking it not to give a waiver to Ribadu, Marwa and Gundiri who just defected from the APC to the PDP.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 07:24:11 +0000
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