The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bindow

  • 2019: Bindow seeks re-election of all political office holders

    2019: Bindow seeks re-election of all political office holders

    Gov. Mohammed Bindow of Adamawa on Friday urged the electorate to re-elect all politicians occupying various positions in the state.

    Bindow made the call when the APC state executive paid him a thank you visit in Yola for sponsoring them to Jerusalem for pilgrimage.

    NAN recalls that the State Government had sponsored some Christian leaders in the APC from the state to ward levels in the just concluded Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

    The governor said that four years in office was not enough for the elected public office holders to give their best, urging the electorate to give them a second chance.

    However, he advised the political office holders to make themselves accessible to the people.

    “I solicit the re-election of all those who are occupying various political elective positions from unit to national level in our party and from councillor to the Senate.

    “I am most concerned about the legislature because four years is not enough for one to give out his best.

    “I equally feel that everyone is doing his best in his area of assignment except where one has derailed that we will live him to his fate.

    “I also enjoined all office holders to make themselves accessible to the people and to consistently sensitise the people on the programmes and agenda of the government,’’ Bindow said.

    Earlier, Alhaji Mustapha Salisu, the Vice Chairman, North East of the APC, urged the entire state executive to endorse Bindow for 2019.

    Salisu said that the landslide achievements by the administration in the state has made it easier for the re-election of the governor.

    According to him, the party at the national has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari, therefore it is not out of place if the party at state level can do same.

    He urged the party leadership to stand by the governor, adding that the governor is “a sellable candidate’’.

    Mr Samaila Thadeaus, the Vice Chairman of APC in the state, thanked the governor for sponsoring them to the Holy land.

    Thadeaus said that the delegation was proud of the governor for discouraging religious politics in the state.

    He assured Bindow of their unflinching support for the success of his administration.

  • Numan crisis: Bindow appeals to community to shun rumour peddling

    Numan crisis: Bindow appeals to community to shun rumour peddling

    Gov. Mohammed Bindow of Adamawa on Thursday, appealed to community and religious leaders to shun rumour peddling in order not to aggravate the crisis situation in the state.
    Bindow made the appeal in a state-wide broadcast on recent attacks in various parts of the state.

    He also urged the people to avoid taking laws in their hands but to allow government and security agencies to carry out their lawful duties.

    While conveying his condolences over the recent bomb blast in Mubi, the governor said he was saddened by the unfortunate mayhem in Numan and Damsa Local Government Areas.

    ” I assure you that the state and Federal Governments will do all that is necessary to restore peace and security in the areas and throughout the state.

    “It is in this regard that the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo visited us.

    ” I am committed to ensuring that law abiding citizens or residents of Adamawa are entitled to security regardless of his or her tribe, religion or political association,’’ Bindow said.

    He said that the government had set up a high powered administrative panel to fish out and punish perpetrators of the recent killings.

    According to him, the committee is also to proffer lasting solution to the crises.

    He enjoined the people of the state to join the government in ensuring that the state remains peaceful and secured, adding that security was everybody’s business.

  • Bindow: Trouble in Adamawa Assembly

    SIR: Since its inauguration, the Adamawa State House of Assembly had enjoyed relative peace and smooth romance with the state executive. On Monday, September 25, everything changed. The impeachment of some principal officers on that day was a resounding political blow to Governor Mohammed Umaru Jibrila Bindow.

    The deputy speaker Peter Sunday, Majority Leader, Musa Mahmud, Deputy Majority Leader, Mutawalli Mohammed and Minority Leader, Justina Nkom were affected. Emmanuel Tsamdu, representing Madagali was elected as new deputy speaker, Hassan Burguma representing Hong, became new majority leader Abubakar Isa, deputy majority leader and Lamsumbani Dill, minority leader. It was simply a smooth takeover of the house by the loyalists of former governor Murtala Nyako and his allies.

    Before the storm occurred, the Adamawa state House of Assembly had two groups: an eight- member opposition group led by member representing Gombi constituency, Rufa’i Umar and 17-member group loyal to the governor led by speaker Kabiru Mijinyawa.

    The genesis of the crisis is tripod – poor leadership and alienation of other members by the impeached principal officers; governor Bindow’s bossy approach in dealing with members, and pure politics.

    The Rufa’i Umar group took the opportunity of the issues and won the heart of nine aggrieved members, thus forming a majority 17-memebr group who engineered the impeachment of the principal officers. In a nutshell, the Nyako group now has 17 remembers on its side, while governor Bindow is left with only eight members who may be publicly loyal to him; but unhappy with the way he is treating the house. This should be highly frightening to the governor, knowing the intricate working of the Adamawa House of Assembly which goes in tandem with the general local politics of the state.

    The Adamawa House of Assembly is young; but members have comparatively low level of education. Of the 25 members, only five are graduates. Governor Bindow appears ‘self-assured’ in the murky waters of Adamawa politics, because he thinks, as long as he has the former vice president Atiku Abubakar by his side, most political opponents can easily be dealt with thanks to Atiku’s immense war chest and history of successes in political legal battles.

    This time, Bindow may have read the doctrine of politics in a poor; rural and salary-dependent state, up-side-down.

    In fairness to him, the governor is doing well in terms of infrastructure development. But he made a political blunder in his failure to manage the widening division within his own party and the growing disconnect between him and some political bigwigs in the state, and now the powerful House of Assembly has joined the league of the opposition within.

     

    • Zayyad I. Muhammad,

    Jimeta, Adamawa State.

  • God answered our prayers, says Bindow

    God answered our prayers, says Bindow

    The safe return of President Muhammadu Buhari to the county after his medical vacation in London is God’s answer to prayers for his sound and quick recovery, Adamawa State Governor Mohammed Bindow has said.

    The governor spoke through his Chief Press Secretary Mr. Yohanna Mathias with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola yesterday.

    Bindow expressed the happiness of the people of Adamawa to the President’s return, adding that the state was the first to organise prayers on Fridays and Sundays for the speedy recovery of Buhari.

    He said the success so far recorded by the military against the insurgency in the Northeast was an indication that the President had done a lot for the people of the region and the nation at large.

    The governor said God has proved those who peddled rumours of the President’s death wrong with Buhari’s return.

    The governor advised the people, who made hate speech their watchword, to desist forthwith, adding that such attitude would not grant them their desires.

  • Bindow’s one-legged development

    SIR: Adamawa State Governor, Senator Muhammad Umaru Jibrilla Bindow is quick to boast that he always optimizes what he has, no matter how meagre, and that is why he has been able to achieve a rare feat in urban road renewal. Indeed Bindow understands excellently, the artistry of utilization of state’s paltry resources for infrastructural development. Many Adamawa people criticize Governor Bindow’s philosophy of development. In place of parallel system; the governor cherishes “series” approach when it comes to socio-economic development. In Bindow’s Adamawa state- it is all about roads, roads and more roads.

    Despite having recorded pockets of success, Bindow’s approach to development has not favoured the common man because Adamawa is rural, poverty-ridden and backward in education with most of its citizen relying heavily on farming.

    The smiling countenance of the governor when he goes round Jimeta-Yola inspecting road constructions depicts that of a ‘happy-go-lucky’ man, who is totally unknowledgeable about politico-economy issues of a poor,  rural and salary-dependent state. For instance, Bindow declared a state of emergency on education and healthcare, yet things have not even changed to an appreciable level.

    There is no doubt Governor Bindow has achieved a feat never achieved by recent governors in Adamawa, in terms of roads construction but the state government needs to change direction and give attention to pressing issues like settling of salaries owed to local government and healthcare workers for 4/5 months. Bindow’s self-acclaimed ingenuity at achieving much with little can be extended to these issues.

    Apart from this, the Governor Bindow government should, as one of its most important strategies to tackle unemployment in the state, use the Technical and Skills Acquisition Centres in the state for agricultural entrepreneurship programmes for youths. The government should go into partnership with private sector to establish poultry, fisheries, dairy, snail farms, plantations etc. in various locations in the state. This will go a long way to sustain economic growth, as well as encourage the youths. The Technical and Skills Acquisition Centres should be redesigned and retooled for jobs and wealth creation.

    Furthermore, the centres should be well funded to serve as ‘Ideas Development Hubs’; this is an excellent way to create employment for bright youths through the well-known concept of innovate, create, invent and invest.

    Adamawa state churns out thousands of graduates yearly. The centres should be re-energized to function in such a way that it assists graduates with technical skills and entrepreneurship passion to have access to facilities and environment that support thinking for invention and innovation.

     

    • Zayyad I. Muhammad,

     Jimeta, Adamawa State.

  • Bindow bags award in Benin

    Bindow bags award in Benin

    Adamawa State Governor Jibrilla Mohammadu Bindow will be conferred with the best performing Governor of the Year award in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, on March 30, by Nigerian Top Leaders Magazine.
    A statement by the magazine’s Director of Communication, Mrs. Mercy Ajayi, said the evaluation committee chose Bindow based on his performance in road construction and infrastructural development. Besides the governor, other achievers will be honoured at the ceremony.
    The statement said despite the state’s lean resources and low Federal monthly allocations, the governor has shown prudence in managing resources to fulfil his electoral promises to the people.
    Expected at the event are personalities from Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, some other African countries and the United States.
    Guest speaker former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, will speak on “Good governance, anti-corruption roadmap to African economic revolution and sustainable development’’.

  • Bindow seeks prayers for Buhari

    Bindow seeks prayers for Buhari

    Adamawa State Governor Jibrilla Bindow yesterday urged religious leaders to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari’s speedy recovery.

    He spoke when the people of Shelleng Local Government visited him at the Government House, Yola.

    The governor said the President’s health condition concerned Northeast people because of his efforts to end insurgency.

    He appealed to Christian and Muslim clerics to organise special prayers for the President.

    His words: “I urge religious leaders to organise special prayers for our dear President Muhammadu Buhari for his speedy recovery.

    “His ill health concerns us following how he has tackled Boko Haram insurgency.

    “His commitment, zeal and patriotism have restored peace to our region. Today, we can sleep with our eyes closed.

    “I enjoin Muslims and Christians to organise special prayers for him to recover and continue his good work.”

  • Bindow and the Supreme Court judgment

    SIR:Now that Adamawa state Governor Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindow has finally put behind him the court cases that have trailed his government for a long time, Adamawa people expect him to assert full authority; put a strong personal stamp on his government and take full responsibility of any actions or inactions of his government as the doors of excuses of distractions by court cases are now completely closed.

    Nyako’s attempt to make a comeback is merely continuing an old political rivalry between himself and former vice president Atiku Abubakar which dates back to 2003; it is also an attempt by the Nyako group to settle personal scores.

    To be fair to the Nyako group, they have reasons to be aggrieved. In the build-up to the 2015 elections, a very small committee was setup to shop for a saleable governorship candidate- three names emerged- Dahiru Bobbo former Director General of National Boundary Commission, Boss Mustapha, APC chieftain and Tahir Mamman former DG, Law School, Yola campus. Bindow’s name was not even on the list. The Nyako group had to field Bindow during the primaries as they did not have an option, because among all the contenders, it was only Bindow who openly opposed Nyako’s impeachment and the group felt they could be at home with him. Atiku, in his political reasoning opted for Ibrahim Yayaji Mijinyawa, probably because of loyalty. In fact, the APC governorship primary election was a contest between Atiku and Nyako. Governor Bindow won *  the APC governorship primaries solely by relying on former governor Nyako’s political structures. And twice, Bindow beat Atiku Abubakar’s preferred candidate, Yayaji Ibrahim Mijinyawa in the primaries. But Atiku now pull the strings.

    Some political observers are of the view that Governor Bindow appears ‘self-assured’ in the murky waters of Adamawa politics, because he thinks, once one has Atiku’s group by his side- most political opponents can easily be dealt with because of Atiku’s immense war chest and history of successes in political legal battles that easily scares off his opponents.

    Both supporters and antagonists of Adamawa state governor, share a common view –  that governor Bindow has performed well so far, and he is doing well especially, in terms of infrastructure development. But Bindow has also failed woefully, notably in the political arena- he made a political blunder in his failure to manage the widening division within his own party and the growing disconnect between him and some political bigwigs in the state. Governor Bindow erred by side-lining many members of the legacy parties- ACN, CPC and the ANPP. The only political bigwig the governor rollicks with is former vice president Atiku Abubakar. I

    With the Nyako court cases closed, in few months, we will see Bindow’s true face. Will he prove his critics right and his supporters wrong?

    Zayyad I. Muhammad Jimeta,

    Adamawa State.

  • Bindow and Adamawa ghost workers

    Sir: Payroll fraud which Nigerians have come to know as “ghost workers” is a deep-rooted problem for most governments, especially in Nigeria.

    It will not be far from the truth to say that this ‘cancerous’ evil against the state is almost becoming the news-maker across most African countries these days. It is mostly caused by the absence of audit and accountability which allows corrupt payroll staff to manipulate government expenditures through ways they feel can never be exposed.

    In a brave attempt to combat this predicament in Adamawa State, the governor, Senator Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, constituted a Payroll Verification Committee headed by Chief Maurice Vunobolki, an accomplished accountant and financial expert.

    As part of its terms of reference, the committee was empowered to verify “the State Local Governments’ workforce (existing payroll structure) with a view to creating a database for effective implementation of e-payment salary system”.

    Having followed this issue assiduously and relentlessly, I am aware that the task-force worked laboriously and uncovered 12,609 ghost workers from the 51,369 staff on the payroll of all the local government councils in the state.

    According to the report, the committee had cleared 38,760 members of staff and rolled them over to the e-payment database. The rest were cases ranging from “failure to show up for the screening exercise”, “underage employment”, “Payment Voucher” (PV) and “Pay Record Card (PRC) alteration”, “employments that violated executive approvals and irregular employments.”

    The success of the audit is also expected to practically rake in a whooping N548.5m to the state’s treasury as Personal Income Tax annually.

    In the end, the verification exercise was reported to have exposed a gross financial implication of N341.5m monthly and N4.1bn annually.

    But in a highly unusual move, representatives of “The Coalition of Local Government Civil Servants” in Adamawa State kicked, urging Governor Bindow to disregard the Vunobolki report and further lauded the State House of Assembly for passing a resolution suspending this lofty reform initiatives of the governor aimed at checking this malady called payroll fraud.

    This apparently daft move is nothing but a strategy to double-cross the public, a well calculated ploy to frustrate the good-intentions of the Bindow-led administration.

    This move must be stopped if we do not want the current process of development in Adamawa State halted by some individuals who obviously do not mean well for our dear state.

    Why would the Coalition of Local Government Civil Servants call for the suspension of a report aimed at saving the local government money when it is public knowledge that Katsina State now saves about N500m monthly, Kano State is able to save over N283.5m monthly and AbiaState has succeeded in reducing its monthly wage bill from N1.5bn to N1.0 57bn respectfully following audit programmes which ensured the flushing out ghost workers?

    The 21 Local Government Council representatives have uniquely shown that they are unqualified to serve as public officers both in integrity and decision making process.

    It is disappointing that the white paper on recommendations of the Local Government Staff Verification Committee in the state, submitted to the Adamawa State House of  Assembly is about to become a victim of partisan analysis. This is why my heart bleeds for the Land of Beauty!

    We urge Governor Bindow and the Adamawa State House of Assembly Verification Ah-hoc Committee currently conducting sittings on the Maurice Vunobolki report to be mindful that a great number of concerned citizens of Adamawa both at home and in the Diaspora are poised to ensure that their efforts in defending the masses from sleazy pilferers are not thwarted.

     

    • David Dimas

    Maryland, U.S.A.

  • Bindow: I completed 46 roads in one year

    Bindow: I completed 46 roads in one year

    Forty-six roads in Adamawa State were completed in one year, Governor Jibrilla Bindow, has said.

    Bindow spoke yesterday during the Eid-el-Fitr celebration in the Government House in Yola. “The government will embark on massive road construction outside the state capital, while the Kiri-Shelleng road will be launched after Sallah.

    “The people should support the government with prayers and words of encouragement to enable this administration achieve its mandate. Within one year in office, we have completed 46 road projects. The challenge is enormous due to the economic crisis but we thank God for giving us the wisdom to achieve this feat,” he said.

    Speaker of the House of Assembly, Alhaji Kabiru Mijinyawa, hailed Bindow for his transparency and probity. He praised him for the development he made in his one year in office, and reiterated the legislature’s commitment to work with the executive to achieve the vision of the administration.