Fintiri's wobbly political chase game ahead of 2027
How his clandestine, deceptive schemes rupture, exposing weak, soft underbelly
Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, the seeming omnipotent and intrepid political adventurist, is about to face the real test of his strength, political strategy and most importantly his touted popularity ahead of 2027 general elections as political realignments ahead of the election intensify.
Investigation by this reporter indicated that Fintiri's phenomenal luck which catapulted him from obscurity to national limelight in the last 25 years of this democratic dispension may desert him due to one or a combination of factors including arrogance, ego, deceit, betrayals, disloyalty and self adulation.
Fintiri has over the years carved a fearsome reputation as one of the most diabolic and dangerous politicians who ever traversed the murky and shark infested Nigerian political waters. A shrewd, insensate and unpredictable politician, Fintiri is reputed to be one of the most clinically cold blooded politicians with a clear record of paying good with evil.
In his over 25 years of political journey, Fintiri has completely decimated political giants or use them during his period of need only to dump them later. Some of his renowned victims include former governor Murtala Nyako and former vice president Atiku Abubakar. These two politicians will eternally live to lick the wounds of betrayal he inflicted on them.
It is apt to regale the reader how Fintiri paid back Nyako the immense love, sacrifice and goodwill he extended to him at a time when he was weak and susceptible in an unprecedented display of unrequited love.
The relationship between former Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako and his eventual successor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, represents a case of rare political generosity met with deep resentment and ingratitude.
Fintiri first became a member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as a staunch opposition figure to both the PDP and Governor Nyako.
However, a dramatic political realignment followed leading Nyako not only to embrace Fintiri as a son but developed a strong personal fondness for him, eventually facilitating his defection to the PDP and adopting him as a political protégé.
Rapport later morphed into an extraordinary relationship between the duo. In the buildup to the 2011 elections, when Fintiri faced total rejection from PDP stakeholders in his own Madagali Local Government Area Nyako came to his rescue.
Despite intense pressure including appeals for Nyako to abandon Fintiri and nominate an alternative candidate, Nyako stood firm and directed stakeholders to ensure Fintiri's victory against all odds.
When it became impossible to secure Fintiri’s victory in Madagali, Nyako allegedly intervened decisively by relocating the party primary to Jimeta, the state capital, ensuring Fintiri’s emergence as the PDP candidate and his eventual election.
Nyako further pushed for Fintiri to become Speaker of the House an effort that only failed due to resistance from fellow lawmakers.
Against this backdrop of unflinching love, loyalty and unprecedented political backing, Fintiri’s later role in the impeachment of Governor Nyako becomes a stunning act of betrayal. Despite attempts to halt the plot, the impeachment succeeded, marking a tragic reversal of fortunes between mentor and beneficiary.
Fintiri, a man with insatiable lust for power which he often deploys to settle perceived historical scores and longstanding feud has a history of cavalier and opportunistic political predation punctuated by betrayal and disloyalty. Those invidious, dishonourable traits often make him the most lethal political actor in Adamawa's history.
But as his second tenure in office come to an end, there are substantial fears that his past misdeeds are stealthily coming back to hunt him. Right now Fintiri is a man entrapped in a dangerous and delicate political triangle courtesy of his past misdeeds and intransigence.
His natural political redact, the PDP has completely dissipated making him a ranking political actor without a base. His quest to establish a new front in APC according to investigation is on the brink becoming his biggest political waterloo as he faces rejection by the same political players he once betrayed. It is also true that he has zero chance of mending his fractured relationship with the former vice president Atiku Abubakar which made ADC a no go area for him.
Apart from that, he is also facing a serious backlash from his party men and the teeming mass population of the state. His frosty relationship with the dou recently became public when he was openly booed by disenchanted citizens at a public function in Ganye local government at the beginning of his itinerary local government tour.
Investigation revealed that in order to prevent a repeat of such ugly incident as he toured the state, Fintiri has to threaten stakeholders across local governments of the state that stiff sanctions awaits them should they allow any such ugly incident to happen during visits to their localities. It was also alleged that substantial amount has been deployed to various local governments to "wet the ground and settle hungry boys" to prevent any such embarrassing situation in the future.
"That cosmetic arrangement will not prevent Fintiri from facing the wrath of the people. He may enjoy a temporary relief for now but he will never avoid the judgement day as he will definitely face the wrath of the people ahead of the coming election," an APC stalwart who does not want his name in print as he has no authority to speak told our reporter.
This paper learnt that in order to prevent his political structure from an imminent collapse in the face of the death of PDP coupled with the impracticality of shifting base to ADC, Fintiri has finally resolved to move to the ruling party. Reports indicate that for a while now, the governor has been moving from pillar to post to ensure the realization of such lofty dream. But information revealed that a powerful group within the APC is swiftly working round the clock to prevent the governor's demand of taking over the party's structure from crystallizing.
It is anticipated that the defection of Fintiri will distort the current power structure of the Adamawa State chapter of the APC led by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the governor roots for automatic leadership of the party. But some stakeholders especially those from Ribadu's base have sworn never to allow such to happen. They vowed never to allow a man with trust deficit and serious political baggages like Fintiri to lead them.
An APC source confided to this reporter that those who do not want Fintiri to assume direct leadership of the party are of the view that his stake depends on his contribution to the membership drive and the number of followership he brought into the fold.
"As it is, Adamawa APC under the leadership of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has registered over 450,000 members. That structure is solid enough to give the party the guvernorship ticket as Fintiri won election with even less than 450,000 votes in 2019 and 2023.
"So let the governor be given opportunity to bring his followers into the fold through the extension of the e-registration. Let us see how much people he can bring to the table before further arrangements are made. It is only through that proxy that we will know his stake in the party.
"There is no way a man who brings nothing will get everything. We're in twenty first century where metrics and data rule the world. Let us see the contributions of Fintiri in real time before deciding what he takes," a source in the party who preferred anonymity told our reporter.
Another factor that will affect Fintiri's ability to sway the process is the ethnic and religious slant that the 2027 politics promises to take. Coupled with that is the interpretation of some of the governor's policies like the creation of more emirates and chiefdoms and the resurrection of the Gongola Peoples Forum agitation in some quarters especially core Fulani establishment .
It was projected that Fintiri will have a herculean task to woo Christian votes in the face of insinuations that the governor may not fulfill a touted gentleman agreement he entered with the Christian community that a Christian will succeed him in 2027.
Going by the high expectations of Christians vis a vis their emotional investment and support for the Fintiri's project, Christians will never support any non Christian candidate fielded and supported by the governor.
Investigations also indicated that the governor is yoked to serious trust issues over alleged deception and fake promises he made to some of the camps promising to back their candidates as a strategy to enlist their support.
For instance, it was alleged that the governor has promised to support Tijjani Galadima, a man who enjoys the backing of the Ribadu political block due to the influence of Sani Ribadu who is said to be the force behind the Galadima guvernorship project. In the same vein, the governor also allegedly told Mustapha Salihu that he will back his guvernorship ambition just as he allegedly promised to anoint Abdullahi Prambe as another successor.
It was learnt that as a survival strategy, the governor has to play safe in his final days in office by getting the support of these critical stakeholders. The governor purportedly wants to get the endorsement of Ribadu group by siding with the Galadima. He was said to be romancing Mustapha Salihu so as to use him to bypass Ribadu in his drive to become a member of APC while the reason for his touted support to Prambe is to appease the Christian community by bringing a man who is a Muslim by association and a Christian by family ties as it is said over 90 percent of Prambe's Yungur relatives are Christians.
"The governor's kite has been shot following the discovery by some of the stakeholders that the promise of support he is extending to them is fake and a decoy to keep them perpetually enslaved to his caprices. This discovery has introduced yet another layer of intrigue to the unfolding controversy facing the governor ahead of 2027," our source revealed.
Another landmine on the path of the governor has to do with the way he concentrated power, economy and government patronage around himself sidelining most of his appointees from enjoying perks and government largesse.
A number of the governor's appointees are not happy that apart from salaries, they do not enjoy other privileges which will have empowered them to also extend similar patronage to their people as such patronage is central to political clout and relevance. Information pieced by this paper showed that a number of Fintiri's appointees have secretly dumped him and registered with APC in the ongoing e-registration drive of the party.
"I can freely tell you that a number of Fintiri's appointees are already card carrying members of our party APC. Their presence in our party is well documented and they did that because they cannot continue to have faith in a governor who has not extended an olive branch to them despite the huge resources at his disposal. He will find that he is on a lone trip to political Golgotha when the chips are down," a source in APC told our reporter.
When asked to comment if he thinks the governor should automatically assumed the party's leadership after defection, the APC chieftain said with Fintiri's dwindling political prospects, there is no way he will become the automatic leader of APC.
"Let me tell you, with what is taking place in PDP and the number of strong party men who have already registered with our party in protest and the general feeling of anger occasioned by lack of patronage, I can say Fintiri can never mobilize up to 5,000 followers into our party. How can someone who has no numerical strength will lord it on people with established political strength? Politics don't work that way," the source added.
