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Babachir: Atiku Was In PDP But Seven APC Commissioners In Adamawa Were His Loyalists

"We have also had cause to protest that in Bindow’s government, there were about seven serving commissioners who were very close to Atiku, including his own daughter. Without regard to their merit as qualified indigenes, but I mean, their political inclinations in normal politics will disqualify them from participating in an APC government. But the Governor didn’t think so."

 

Babachir Lawal, immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), has said one of the reasons for the  defeat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 9 governorship election to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State is the questionable loyalty of Governor Jibrilla Bindow, the outgoing Governor of the state, to Atiku Abubakar.

He made this claim in an interview published The Sun on Saturday.

Babachir said although Bindow was contesting on the platform of the APC, he did not hide his love and loyalty to Atiku, the presidential candidate of the PDP, in the buildup to the general election.

He said apart from publicly declaring his loyalty to  Atiku, seven of the commisioners in Bindow's outgoing administration were loyalists of the PDP presidential candidate. He said the Governor's daughter was very close to Atiku.

"Part of what led to this outcome was a historical position that the government of Bindow had on several occasions publicly declared that their government was a government of Atiku," he said.

"It is on record that in so many fora, his supporters, his henchmen had said it in his presence and he didn’t take any step to deny it. I remember at one of their road launch somewhere in Adamawa State, the then Chief of Staff made a long speech in which he insisted that Adamawa State Government was for Atiku. Now, we did also point out the fact that the Governor himself had claimed that it was Atiku’s money that facilitated his victory at the polls. He had said that on several occasions.

"We have also had cause to protest that in Bindow’s government, there were about seven serving commissioners who were very close to Atiku, including his own daughter. Without regard to their merit as qualified indigenes, but I mean, their political inclinations in normal politics will disqualify them from participating in an APC government. But the Governor didn’t think so."

Bindow, the incumbent Governor of the state, contested on the platform of the APC but was defeated by Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP.

The election was intially declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) but after the supplementary election, Fintiri had 376,552 votes to defeat Bindow who had 336,386.

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