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Tag: Bindow

  • 7 reasons why Bindow lost Adamawa’s gov poll

    Adamawa Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow finally fell to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Umaru Fintiri on Friday at the end of the supplementary poll.

    Bindow’s ouster was evident immediately after the March 9 election when Fintiri went ahead of him by 32,467 votes.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the election inconclusive only because Fintiri’s 32,467 margin of lead was smaller than the number of cancelled votes- 40,948.

    Fintri won at the 44 polling units in 14 LGAs where the supplementary poll held.

    While Fintiri got 9,081 in the rerun to raise his 367,471 in the main election to 375, 552, Bindow could only get 1,391 in the rerun to improve his 334,995 votes to 336,386.

    Here are seven main reasons why the sitting governor was defeated:

    1. Fintiri’s popularity: When Fintiri got the PDP governorship ticket last year, many also expected he could stage an upset. “I knew that Bindow would have a fight in his hands the instant Fintiri got the nomination of his party last year. Fintiri was PDP’s best choice if the mission was to defeat Bindow,” Andah Ibrahim, a political analyst, said.

    Fintiri achieved his popularity with Adamawa people when he rose from being Speaker of the House of Assembly to become acting governor in 2014 between when former Governor Murtala Nyako was impeached and Nyako’s deputy was made governor following a court process.

    In between the times, Fintiri reigned as acting governor for less than three months. But he acquainted himself as an action governor with a heart for workers’ welfare.

    A good number of his 375,000 votes in the just concluded election came from those who want a repeat performance of the ‘ATM governor’, as he became known.
    2. Atiku’s factor: Bindow was also undone by the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, a son of the soil. His people who, in 1999, voted for him as Governor became he became Vice President resisted the otherwise strong wind that blow across the Northeast and Northwest based on President Muhammadu Buhari’s cult-like followership.

    Atiku polled 412, 266 to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari with 377,488 votes in Adamawa during the presidential race to prove he is really the son of the soil. At the governorship poll, it was only normal for Adamawa residents to sustain the trend.

    The Atiku factor in the presidential election appeared to have carried over to the governorship poll to add value to Fintiri’s quest. Bindow’s fallout with Atiku when the latter defected to the PDP also didn’t help matters at all.
    3. PDP’s strong presence: The PDP has always been in power in Adamawa since 1999 until Bindow became governor during the Buhari tsunami that swept through the north-east. Incidentally, the governor and Atiku were in the same party in 2015.

    But since they fell apart, Bindow became disadvantaged. Despite being out of power for four years, the PDP always remained a strong party across the state.

    4. APC’s rancorous primaries: Another factor that worked against Bindow outside his own making has been the internal wrangling within his party. One form of conflict or the other might have existed within the APC but the most telling conflict erupted late last year around the question of who was to bear its flag in the 2019 governorship election.

    Three aspirants were to battle for the party’s ticket in the primary of the party in October. The primary election came and went so it appeared but Bindow was declared winner. He was the only one of the three contenders who agreed that the primary election was duly conducted.

    Ahmed Halilu, better known as Modi, a brother- in- law to

  • Let’s run Adamawa together, Fintiri tells Bindow, others

    The Adamawa State Governor-elect, Rt Hon Umaru Fintiri, has appealed to all those who contested in the just concluded governorship election, including incumbent Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow, to join hands with him in the task of running the state and taking it to higher heights.

    Fintiri was in the early hours of Friday declared winner of the state governorship election after the conclusion of the rerun by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which announced that Fintiri’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 376,552 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Bindow of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who got a total of 336,386 votes.

    Fintiri who addressed the press on his victory Friday afternoon in Yola, said he would need the support and contributions of everyone, including those who contested against him, to discharge his mandate for the good of the state.

    He promised to lead a socially accountable government where the best interests of the people would be the focus.

    The Nation correspondent reports that Friday was for Fintiri a defining one, as a court case challenging the election which produced him was quashed just hours after the declaration of his election by INEC.

    The candidate of the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD), Eric Theman, had approached the state high court to allege that INEC omitted the logo of his party from the ballot paper for the March 9 election, for which reason he asked the court to annul that election and stop the supplementary election announced to correct the ‘inconclusive’ nature of that election.

    While the court immediately granted the injunction which prevented the holding of the supplementary governorship election in Adamawa State until Thursday March 28, the court continued hearing

  • Updated: Court rejects suit seeking to disqualify Bindow

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Apo has dismissed a suit that sought to disqualify Adamawa Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow from contesting Saturday’s governorship election.

    The Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International had, in the suit, marked FCT/CV/518/2018, alleged that Bindow supplied false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his INEC Form CF001 by purporting to have sat for the West African Examination Council (WAEC), in June, 1983 and possess General Certificate of Education (GCE) issued by the examination body.

    The group, while urging the court disqualify Bindow, accused him of falsely declaring his educational qualification and date of birth for the purpose of nomination/election into the office of Governor of Adamawa State for the 2019 general elections.

    In a judgment on Monday, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, partially upheld the preliminary objection raised against the suit by the Governor and declined jurisdiction.

    Justice Adeniyi held that the High Court of the FCT lacked the territorial jurisdiction to inquire into whether or not the information submitted by somebody who seeks to contest election in Adamawa State was false or not.

    Justice Adeniyi said since the information Bindow supplied to INEC were published in Adamawa State, as required under Section 31(3), the cause of action could be said to have accrued in Adamawa, where the plaintiff game about the published information.

    He said it was an abuse of court process and an act of forum shopping for the plaintiff to have travelled all the way to the FCT to challenge an alleged infraction that took place in Adamawa State, where available courts could have safely dealt with issues raised.

    The judge agreed with the plaintiff that it possessed the necessary legal right to institute the suit, although it is a corporate personality.

    He added: “It is therefore my potion that the capacity of the claimant to pursue this case is provided in Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act, which says ‘any person,’but did not define the word ‘any person.’

    Relying on Section18(1) of the Interpretation Act, the judge said: “this court is not in doubt that the claimant (plaintiff) qualifies as a corporate personality,” and proceeded to “hold that the claimant is vested with the legal capacity to institute this suit.”

    He however noted that there was a lacuna in the provision of Section 285(14) of the 4th Alteration to the Constitution, which limits the class of people, who can file pre-election cases to an aspirant and a political party.

    The judge noted that, since Section 31(5) allows any person to sue where it is discovered that a candidate provide false information to INEC, Section 285(14) of the Constitution should be made to include other classes of people or institutions.

    He said the legislature should consider another amendment to Section 285(14) of to extend the category of people to commence pre-election matters to accommodate the right granted any person under section 31(5) of the Electoral Act

    The judge also held that the plaintiff made out a reasonable cause of action to entitle it to be heard by the court.

    Justice Adeniyi however held that the suit was statute barred because it was filed outside the 14 days provided under Section 285(9) of the Constitution.

    The judge noted that, while INEC acknowledged the receipt of Bindow’s Form CF001 on October 25, 2018, the plaintiff filed the suit on December 12, 2018, a length of time which exceeded the 14 days provided under 285(9).

    Justice Adeniyi, having partially upheld the notice of objection and held that the his court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the suit, proceeded to dismiss it.

    He however took time to consider the substantive suit. And after analysing all the evidence provided by the plaintiff, held that it failed to prove it’s allegation of certificate forgery and age falsification made against Bindow.

    The judge said the plaintiff claimed Bindow forged his academic certificate, but failed to lead evidence to support same.

    He also was of the view that the plaintiff failed to show that the alleged age falsification has disqualified Bindow from attaining the 35 years minimum age allowed in the Constitution for a candidate to be qualified to contest the governorship post.

  • Bindow frees workers to travel for polls

    Adamawa State Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow has told civil servants to feel free to travel from their places of work to where they are registered for voting.

    The governor admonished them to vote in a peaceful manner.

    The governor, in a statement yesterday in Yola, the state capital, by the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Ahmad Sajor, stressed the need for the electorate to place peaceful conduct above other actions.

    The statement reads: “The governor is particular about peaceful conduct during and after the elections. Citizens are enjoined to make sure that they obey all lawful instructions issued by the INEC and security agencies during and after the elections.

    Read also: Obi’s candidature is Igbo project’

    “His Excellency reminds Adamawa citizens to always bear in mind that elections are a means to an end and not ends in themselves, and that the most important consideration is the peace, progress and prosperity of Adamawa State.”

     

  • Bindow bars deputy, others from campaign tour

    The Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Martins Babale, has been barred from the reelection campaign tour of Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow, which was flagged off  in Toungo, the home local government area of the deputy governor.

    Bindow who holds the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with Babale as his running mate  allegedly barred Babale from the campaign visit to Toungo, following fear that he could be attacked  because of complaints against him by his people.

    Babale had been booed by Toungo people earlier in the month when he went there as a member of a zonal campaign tour team that prepared grounds for the council area campaign tour.

    Toungo is one of the least developed council area in Adamawa State. It is widely described as the only council headquarters in Nigeria without electricity, and many blame the deputy governor for not having used his office in the past four years to influence electricity to the place.

    An acclaimed godfather of many politicians, Mansur Toungo, had said during one of the APC rallies in Toungo that the APC in the area would be better off without the deputy governor. “We have told the governor that we don’t like his deputy,” he had said.

    The other party chieftains barred from the statewide campaign, because they similarly face rejection by their own people, especially as the campaign team makes the rounds in southern Adamawa, include Sen Ahmed Barata who represented Adamawa South Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly between 2011 and 2015; the state Commissioner of livestock Production, Isah Salihu Barima, and the Chairman of Adamawa State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Abubakar Isa Shelleng.

    The deputy governor’s Director of Press, Samuel Gangwaja, did not respond to request for a comment Thursday. His last reply to repeated telephone calls Thursday afternoon was that he was in Church and might call back after his church programme.

     

  • I’ve no rift with my deputy, says Bindow

    Adamawa State Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow has said he has no problem with his deputy, Martins Babale.

    The governor also said his deputy was not planning to defect to any other party, as some reports insinuated.

    The governor, who responded yesterday to speculations about Babale’s alleged defection plan, also said his deputy governor had not been on his state-wide campaign because the campaign was structured to allow either him or the deputy governor to stay back in office to attend to issues on governance.

    Some reports had alleged that Bindow stopped Babale from his campaign visit to the deputy governor’s local government area, Toungo, because Babale’s did not like him and might react negatively to him.

    One of the reports had added that in frustration over his troubles, the deputy governor was contemplating leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to an opposition party.

    The report was allegedly fuelled by an allegation by one of the deputy governor’s kinsmen that he was involved in anti-party activities.

    But a statement yesterday in Yola, the state capital, by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ahmad Sajor, said: “Our understanding of the issues is that people are having difficulties with our change of style.

    “The governor had decided that his campaign proceeds with ‘Team A’ headed by him; ‘Team B’ headed by the deputy governor, and such other teams as may be necessary. This is an innovation intended to ensure that while the campaigns are ongoing, the governance process is not neglected.”

    The statement stressed that while other governorship candidates were just candidates, Bindow and Babale are candidates and incumbent governor as well as deputy governor with a subsisting mandate to fulfil at all times.

    It added that it was for this reason they deviced means to ensure that governance is not jettisoned.

  • Judge withdraws from certificate forgery suit against Bindow

    The judge of the Yola Division of the Federal High Court assigned to hear an alleged certificate forgery suit against Adamawa State Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow yesterday dropped the case.

    Justice Abdulaziz Anka said he could not continue with the matter for personal reasons.

    The judge said he would return the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja to reassign it.

    “Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done,” Justice Anka said.

    He averred that after hearing from the counsel and reviewing what had become apparent, he was uncomfortable about continuing with the case.

    The suit was first filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja last September by a rights group, Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN).

    It claimed, in its originating summons, that the governor did not complete his secondary education at the Government Secondary School, Miango, yet was using its certificate.

    The rights group prayed the court to determine the qualification or otherwise of the governor for re-election in the forthcoming election.

    Read also: Group: Bindow will win

    The suit was first heard in the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court last October by Justice B. O. Quadiri, who granted the plaintiff’s plea for accelerated hearing.

    But the case was later transferred to Yola, where the first respondent resides.

    Reacting to the judge’s withdrawal, the chief counsel to the governor, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), told reporters that Bindow was ready to follow the case to any part of the country.

    “As we said in the open court, we are ready for the hearing of the case to continue. But the judge recused himself from the case and it is being sent back to Abuja. Wherever they take us, we will go,” he said.

    Also, GICN’s lawyer Edward Omaga said the group was registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to carry out its functions for or against persons and organisations anywhere in the country.

    He said the group cannot be said to lack the locus standi in the suit against the governor.

  • Adamawa: Bindow, SDP deny adopting PDP candidate

    The media team of Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State and the state chapter of the Social Democratic party (SDP) have dismissed claims of the adoption of the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the joint unity candidate for the 2019 general election.

    In a reaction to the report Friday, Bindow’s spokesman, Macauley Hunohashi, said the claim that chieftains of both APC and SDP had adopted the Adamawa State candidate of the PDP, Umar Fintiri, as a unity candidate is false and malicious.

    “In as much as we do not want to be drawn into the foray of mischief makers, we are however compelled to react because of the misleading undercurrent of the said story,” Hunohashi said, adding that the story was aimed at blurring the vision of incumbent governor and candidate of the party for the 2019 election, Mohammed Bindow.

    In its own reaction earlier Friday morning, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said its governorship candidate for the state, Chief Emmanuel Bello, will contest in the general election next year as the party has no intention to support the candidate of any other party.

    The state chairman of the SDP, Mr John K. Muva, said, “I state emphatically that there is no truth in that claim and media report… The SDP has no plan of joining any other party in a joint campaign for the 2019 governorship election.”

    He said a ‘self-appointed spokesman for a non-existent’ Coalition of Political Parties that the media report in question quoted was not known to the SDP and so could not speak for the SDP.

    “At best this claim has no place in the contemplation of the SDP in Adamawa State and should be consigned to the political dustbin of the state,” he added, urging members of the party and supporters to regard the ‘fictitious and malicious’ publication as a desperate move by ‘rejected politicians and parties’ to cause confusion,” he stated.

  • Amosun, Akeredolu, Fayemi, Bindow: no plot against Buhari

    FOUR governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday defended their integrity after being accused by a pro-Buhari Campaign group of working against the President’s re-election and plotting National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole’s ouster.

    The Federation of Buhari Support Group yesterday after a solidarity march in support of Oshiomhole at the nationa secretariat, named the governors as Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Jibrilla Bindow (Adamawa).

    In a statement by its Coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Sikiru and Publicity Secretary Gbenga Bojuwomi, the group said Akredolu had been busy collecting signatures of governors and party chairmen with the intention to generate a vote of no confidence in Oshiomhole.

    The group alleged that Akeredolu was determined to fight Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Oshiomhole and President Buhari, adding that with the way the governor had been going, “it will be a miracle if the President gets 10 per cent votes from Ondo State in the 2019 presidential election”.

    The group said “Federation of Buhari Support Group in its indepth investigations observed that a lot of damage has been done underground by the conservative governors to thwart the bright chances of the party in the forthcoming general elections.

    “Moreover, the group in its previous submission, had raised the alarm on many occasions that Governor Akeredolu was determined to fight three personalities in APC, President Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu and Oshiomhole. Mr. Governor of Ondo State is not happy with all the strategies by APC Chairman to reunite the party with a view to bringing democracy to the door-step of party members by the introduction and adoption of direct primaries for all elections.

    “Instead for this governor to focus on projects that will better the lot of the good people of Ondo State, he is busy running from North to South collecting signatures of governors and party chairmen in states to pass a vote of no confidence in Oshiomhole.

    “Moreso, Akeredolu is not contesting election this time around. It clearly shows that he does not care about the success or victory of the APC in the 2019 elections.

    “ Akeredolu is the leader of the new conservative movement within the APC with the assistance of Fayemi (Ekiti), Amosun (Ogun) El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Bindow (Adamawa)

    “It was gathered at the weekend, that the sudden death of tenure elongation for their preferred man, Chief John Oyegun, and consequent emergence of Oshiomhole as national chairman to restructure the party has not gone down well with these people, most especially Akeredolu, who is a beneficiary of Odigie-Oyegun’s style of impunity and lawlessness.

    “We believe in the leadership of the party ably led by Adams Oshiomhole and his determination to position the party for landslide victory in the forthcoming elections.

    “Our party is greater than any individual or group.Let us come together and face our common goal or remaining the most efficient and trusted party in our clime. Together we can make this happen.”

    However, in separate reactions, the governors faulted the claims.

    Fayemi  said he enjoys the best of relationship with Buhari, Oshiomhole and Asiwaju Tinubu.

    He described the group’s claim as”baseless and unfounded”.

    Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, Fayemi wondered how the group came about the alleged feud with the three senior party figures.

    Fayemi said he holds Buhari, Oshiomhole and Tinubu in high esteem, noting that the trio contributed immensely to his victory in the governorship election

    He said: “Governor Fayemi holds President Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu and Comrade Oshimohole in high esteem and he still maintains with them a good relationship, which is not hidden.

    ”We don’t know where the Buhari Support Group got their story from; Governor Fayemi has the best of respect for these eminent party leaders and he has no reason to be working against them.

    ”Let us ask ourselves, on what basis will Dr. Fayemi will be working against the President? This was the man who appointed him Minister and supported him to regain the governorship seat.

    “Why will he fight Comrade Oshiomhole? It was under his chairmanship that APC won back Ekiti and everybody knew the role played by the national chairman.

    “Asiwaju Tinubu is a mentor to the governor; both of them had come a long way in a relationship that has lasted over two decades.

    “In fact, Asiwaju attended the governor’s inauguration last week and the roles he played in the APC victory in Ekiti election cannot be forgotten in a hurry.

    “Governor Fayemi has no reason to fight or work against our revered President, our respected national chairman and our revered national leader.

    “The allegation is false, baseless, unfounded and exists only in the imagination of those peddling it.”

    Akeredolu said he was too busy with state matters and working to develop the state for him to be bothered by “spurious” allegations.

    Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Segun Ajiboye said those behind “fake allegations like these are out for only one thing- seeking to be noticed”.

    He described Akeredolu as “a loyal party man, who is working and will continue to work for the party’s progress and do anything that will ensure that the APC continues to win elections at all levels in the country.”

    Bindow dissociated himself from the allegations.

    His Special Adviser on Media, Macaulay Hunohoshi, said Bindow is a loyal member of the APC who has no reason to plot any evil against its leaders.

    “Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu is a respected leader and statesman that Governor Bindow holds in high esteem. Bindow has nothing whatsoever against him and could therefore not do anything that amounts to fighting him.”

    On Oshiomhole, Macaulay said Bindow, who won the Adamawa State governorship ticket following “a transparently credible primary” conducted by the APC NWC, could not be bitter against the party chairman, let alone want him removed.

    “Comrade Oshiomhole is a former labour leader and two-term governor of Edo State who has shown great leadership as chairman of the APC,” he said.

    Amosun, in a statement personaly signed last night, said: ”The ultimate aim of the purveyors of these unconscionable falsehoods is to drive a wedge between me and the President and tarnish my hard-earned reputation. This hatchet job will not work as Mr President is discerning enough to know the sources of the pack of concocted lies.

    “The relationship between President Buhari and myself transcends partisan politics. Senator Amosun holds President Buhari in the highest esteem and nothing will change that.”

    “The target of this grand campaign of calumny is actually our dear President Muhammadu Buhari

    “For the avoidance of doubt, let me state categorically that the people trying to cause disaffection between those of us loyal and committed to Mr. President and the success of APC are plotting to strip Mr. President bare, so that their grand design to achieve unfettered domination of the party would be achieved.”

     

  • Osinbajo, Bindow meet in Aso Villa

    VICE President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday met with Adamawa State Governor Jibrilla Bindow at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    After over one hour closed doors meeting, Bindow dodged reporters, who were waiting to interview him on the state’s primary elections.

    He was sneaked out from the Vice President’s office through the backdoor when the meeting ended around 5p.m

    The President’s wife, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, whose brother lost Adamawa All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket to Bindow, had on Sunday blamed the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, over what she described as impunity and unfairness in the conduct of the primary elections.

    She had claimed that the party appeared to have granted automatic tickets to some political office aspirants while denying others the opportunity to contest after paying huge amounts of money to purchase nomination forms.

    Mrs. Buhari regretted that despite coming from Labour background, Oshiomhole left the side of the people and presided over the impunity.