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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Adamawa State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Maurice Vunobolki, has said his party would defeat the African Democratic Congress (ADC), even with the influence of the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2027 polls.
Speaking at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, he recalled how Atiku and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, lost elections in the state in the past.
He said: “In 2014, during the build up to the 2015 general election, Atiku Abubakar contested against Muhammadu Buhari and Rabiu Kwankwaso in the APC presidential primary. Kwankwaso won Adamawa State against Atiku because the Adamawa voters believe that they’re independent people, so they don’t believe in any godfatherism.
“In fact, Kwankwaso won Kano and Adamawa states. And Atiku, who is from Adamawa State, lost the votes of Adamawa delegates. The same thing happened to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the NSA. He was a candidate of the PDP in Adamawa State in 2015 and he also lost. He also tried, like, two times again, to run for the primary nomination, he lost those nominations. So, godfathers don’t have their way in Adamawa State.”
On why he left the All Progressives Congress (APC), he said the fear of imposition of candidates made him retrace his steps from the ruling party.
He said that as a victim of imposition in the past, he did not want to face another disappointment in the ruling party, noting that the average voter in Adamawa State does not respect the interest of political godfathers when casting their ballots.
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He disclosed that the stipulation in the Electoral Act that no aspirant would leave a particular party for another after purchasing its nomination forms compelled him to return to his party, the PDP.
While expressing confidence that PDP will win back the governorship of Adamawa State, the Chartered Accountant-turned politician pointed out that the outgoing governor, Ahmadu Fintiri was able to deliver huge democracy dividends in the state due to his vision and freedom from godfathers.
Pointing to the inability of the incumbent governor to ensure that his preferred candidate secured the APC governorship ticket for the 2027 polls, Vunobolki said he was vindicated that he did not stay back to face the APC’s gamble.
He said having enjoyed many democratic dividends under the Fintiri administration, Adamawa people would not want to support political godsons to become governor, adding that he was confident of winning the state because he has no godfather.
“Adamawa people know that I don’t have a godfather. They know that I’ve been going around; I recently went around to campaign with my local government candidates. No political party did that during the buildup to the local government elections,” he said.
He praised Governor Fintiri’s achievements in office, stressing that it was due to the governor’s ingenious use of hunters and community vigilantes that his administration was able to address the insecurity that was troubling the state.
