Why Atiku won Adamawa by a whisker
Some hours after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, cast his vote at polling unit 012 in Ajiya Ward in Yola, the presiding officer announced his defeat to the cheering of voters who chanted victory songs for his main opponent, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Journalists had waited patiently since morning with about a dozen television cameras mounted at the polling unit that is located few yards from Atiku’s residence.
The ongoing construction of MayoBelwa, Jada-Ganye, Numan-Gombe road and other development projects had boosted Buhari’s popularity against Atiku.
“Atiku from Adamawa was vice president for eight years, yet made no attempt to rehabilitate the MayoJada-Ganye road which is his constituency. The Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) started the rehabilitation; PDP abandoned it for 16 years and now Buhari has commenced the work. Who do you think I will vote?” a voter, Garbaga Jada, stated.
Observers indicated that Atiku’s alleged interference in the appointment of the current district head of Jada against the will of the people also cost him the support of the people at home with many supporting the emergence of Kwankwaso as PDP candidate before the presidential primary election.
Atiku won in Jada area with a margin of 1000 votes.
Early results from ward and local government areas especially Jada, the home village of Atiku put Buhari on the lead, further consolidating the hope of APC supporters.
Pundits believe that Buhari was set to sweep Adamawa State until the result from Hong, the ancestral home of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, his predecessor, Babachir Lawal as well as the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) chairman, Muhammad Abdullahi.
The fact that Buhari won Mubi North and Mubi South, the governor’s home area with slim margin caused some reactions from some party members who accused the governor of treachery.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Mexico, Aminu Iyawa, accused Governor Jibrilla Bindow of working against Buhari’s re-election by deliberately failing to deliver his home zone.
“How can he explain his failure to deliver his senatorial district, a constituency he served as its senator 2011 2015, before becoming governor. How can a sitting governor lose his constituency to the PDP, a party that we all know had been in comatose in Adamawa?, they queried.
“Adamawa people are no fools. We know that what happened was a well thought-out plan designed to give Atiku the edge. Nobody cared to listen when I was fuming and wailing that the governor should not be trusted”, Iyawa said.
Reacting to the allegation, a statement issued by the secretary Bindow/Buhari Campaign Council, Umar Duhu, described Ambassador Iyawa as an opportunist who was out to smear the governor’s image.
“In his spiteful, misleading and mischievous postulation, Iyawa claimed Governor Bindow sold out the state for the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to garner considerable votes at the polls and he further malignly pointed that Governor Bindow designed a plan to give Atiku an edge in the polls.
“He was lucky to get a Federal Government appointment as an ambassador but Iyawa has never attended any APC stakeholders’ meeting in the state or convened any such meeting in his local government or ward to push the cause of President Buhari or the APC,” he further countered.
Also, the reported crisis between APC stakeholders in Adamawa over alleged mismanagement of campaign funds is believed to have contributed to Buhari’s defeat with 32,188 votes in Adamawa.