₦airaland Forum

Adamawa is the home state of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Interestingly, it is also the home state of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, wife of the APC presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adamawa State is one of the major political battle grounds in the upcoming February 16, 2019, presidential election.

Soon after his emergence as Adamawa governor-elect in 1999, Atiku Abubakar was nominated as vice presidential candidate to then candidate of the PDP, Olusegun Obasanjo; a development that marked a dramatic rise in his political profile.


Having served two terms as vice president and with a vast financial war chest, Atiku dwarfed all his erstwhile political rivals and elder statesmen from Adamawa, including a Second Republic Governor of defunct Gongola State, Bamanga Tukur, and Sen. Mahmud Waziri. Atiku, therefore, established himself as the strongest political force in Adamawa state, and to a certain extent, the North East.

However, Atiku began to lose grip on the electorate and local elite after he was frustrated out of PDP by then President Obasanjo who mobilised Atiku’s rivals in Adamawa, led by Prof. Jibril Aminu, as foot soldiers in an attempt to crush him.

Atiku contested for the presidency in 2007 on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) and was defeated by Umaru Yar’Adua. His home support further dwindled as he defected across political parties and suffered more election defeats when he contested against then President Goodluck Jonathan at the PDP presidential primary in 2011 and against President Muhammadu Buhari in the APC primary of 2015.

However, the former vice president is making a comeback, reconciling with some of his old associates and forging new alliances. His reconciliation with his childhood friend and associate, Alhaji Muhammadu Koiranga Jada, and his courting of a former governor and erstwhile political godson, Boni Haruna, and other actors is part of the plan to revive his old political base in the state ahead of the presidential election.

When Atiku returned to the PDP, he worked with Ahmadu Fintiri, a former acting governor, and a host of other groups to take control of the party to consolidate his presidential bid.

Campaigns for Atiku in Adamawa are centred on his contribution to economic development and youth empowerment and the benefits of his presidency to the state and the North East.

An Atiku campaigner, Abdullahi Adamu Dynamite, noted that Atiku being the second employer of labour after the state government, had already convinced the people of Adamawa that he would be a better president than Buhari.

Dynamite said Atiku helped several people from the state to secure federal appointments when he was the vice president and that currently his businesses in Adamawa, which included Adama Beverages, the producers of Faro drinks, Adama Plast, Rico Gado Animal Feeds, Gotel Radio and Television, as well as the American University of Nigeria (AUN) had provided thousands of jobs to young people.

He accused the Buhari administration of failure to address inflation, recent farmers/herders conflicts and other problems, saying Atiku being a businessman, possessed the skills to make life easier for Nigerians

However, Atiku is contesting against President Buhari, a candidate who also enjoys strong followership in the state and who executed some projects as the Chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and as sitting president since 2015.

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, is already campaigning vigorously for the re-election of her husband and analysts believe that the first place she would want him to win is Adamawa, then all the states in the North East, in addition to making a good outing all over the country.

Pundits believe that the inclusion of a former EFCC boss, Nuhu Ribadu, in the Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) as Director of Field Operations, after he lost out in the controversial governorship primary election is a strategy to retain his followers in the APC fold.

An APC stalwart, Uba- Dan Arewa, said the construction of the Numan-Gombe, Yola-Mubi, Mayo-Belwa-Jada-Ganye, Numan-Jalingo roads, as well as numerous human empowerment projects, had given Buhari an edge over Atiku.

An observer, Ishiaku Babidi, believes that the chances of the two leading candidates is 50-50, and that many would vote Atiku because he was from the state.

Babidi, however, noted that the ongoing Federal Government projects, especially the Mayo-Belwa-Jada-Ganye Road, which is in Atiku’s constituency, was attracting voters for Buhari.

He said the Federal Government was also setting up the Federal University of Forestry in Toungo, and the Federal College of Mining and Geological Survey in Guyuk, among several other projects.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/adamawa-set-for-battle-of-2-landlords.html

Atiku's home ground is seen as a battleground between both candidates with the winner having the slightest of margins. Buhari's state ain't seen as such as Katsina is a certainty for him..... Don't tell me it's because Aisha is from Atiku's state. Presently, Buhari is the favorite to win in Atiku's geopolitical zone(The North-East). Can same be said of Atiku in the North-West? South West: Even the most loyal and optimistic Atiku's fanatic knows Buhari has got the zone on lockdown..... If these three zones with the highest number of registered voters are a certainty for Buhari, I wonder why anyone will think Atiku stands a chance.... Infact Buhari would still win even if he doesn't campaign

Too close to call

buhari stands no chance in adamawa, atiku will win massively in that state. anybody expecting buhari to win adamawa should also be expecting atiku to win katsina

lolz

It is Atiku all the way, on the last day, all of them will desert buhari knowing fully well that the man is not taking them to anywhere.
People are simply afraid of cabal and we have lots of hypocrites in Nigeria.
I have not heard Akpabio silly talk again.

Sai Baba till 2023

handie:
mmmmm

hmmm indeed...this guy has a strange history....

Sai buhari!

Kingosytex:
buhari stands no chance in adamawa, atiku will win massively in that state. anybody expecting buhari to win adamawa should also be expecting atiku to win katsina

Have you ever for a single day stepped foot in Adamawa state?

I often tell people that life is not a Nollywood movie.

Bad things do not always happened to bad people and good people do not always end up happiest.

I learnt this earlier in life.
The best students in my primary and secondary schools are not the most highly achieving today. Most of them didn’t even end up with first class in the University.

Even the first class students in most Universities do not end up the most successful.

Academic success is a little too overrated.

Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to establish Facebook and he became the 5th richest man on earth. He is still in his 30s. Although he went back years later to tidy up.

Bill Gates also dropped out and he is the richest man on earth.

Virgins do sometimes end up marrying crazy philandering men, while some prostitutes do end up marrying men who worship them.

I’ve seen a woman who had several abortions but ended up having children in marriage when she was ready, while some virgins suffer fertility issues.

I’ve made up my mind to take calculated risks in life, and do what works for me. There’s really no almighty formula to success in life. If you see any opportunity, take it. As long as you aren’t making illegal moves and you aren’t hurting anyone in the process, go for it.

Kingosytex:
buhari stands no chance in adamawa, atiku will win massively in that state. anybody expecting buhari to win adamawa should also be expecting atiku to win katsina

Lol.... Atiku will lose the North East as a whole. Win massively? He can't win Buhari with more than a 15 percent margin.... Can same be said of Buhari and Katsina?

Seriously, Atiku Vs Buhari is a mismatch. Is there anyway to contact INEC to give Atiku a 500,000 lead..... At least that'll reduce the margin of Buhari's victory