The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has cleared 13 aspirants jostling for its ticket to contest the forthcoming governorship in Adamawa State, while one, the acting governor, Umar Fintiri, was disqualified. Those that received the party’s nod to vie for the primaries are three-time governorship aspirant, Dr. Umar Ardo; former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu; Senator Abubakar Girei, and former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak. Others are former Military Administrator of Lagos and Borno states, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.); former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Aliyu Idi- Hong and former Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Aliyu Modibbo.
Chairman of the Screening panel and former deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, announced the outcomes after nine hours of deliberation at the PDP secretariat at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.
Mantu said Fintiri was disqualified because he fell short of meeting the guidelines set by the party for the election. Section 191(2) of the Constitution, the panel said, forbade the former Speaker, who became acting governor, from ‘transmitting from acting capacity to the position of governor.’
Mantu described Fintiri’s current role as that of a midwife, and said it would be wrong for him to become a pregnant mother, again. Fintiri has a chance to appeal the verdict of the committee before the primary election to select the final candidate on September 6.
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