Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s son, Adamu Atiku, has refused to follow Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, to the All Progressives Congress.
Fintiri on Friday dumped the Peoples Democratic Party and defected to the APC alongside 22 of the 24 commissioners serving in his cabinet.
However, Adamu, who is the Commissioner for Works and Energy Development, and the Commissioner for Livestock, Maksha Atiku, were absent at the Government House when the governor announced his defection in a statewide broadcast.
Saturday PUNCH sighted the handwritten names and signatures of commissioners who defected with the governor, but Adamu and Maksha’s names were conspicuously missing from the list.
One of the commissioners, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said Adamu declined to defect because of his father’s political standing.
“If you recall, one of Atiku’s sons, Abba, joined the APC last month. So, Adamu cannot now also join the APC, abandoning their father in the African Democratic Congress.”
It will raise questions about the political capacity of the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. We sympathise with him over the political problem he is facing because of his father.
“Maksha is also a strong supporter of the former Vice President, so I believe he has loyalty to his political leader and decided to stay back,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the Tanimu Turaki-led PDP National Working Committee condemned Fintiri’s defection, describing it as an act of cowardice that undermines the principles of multi-party democracy in Nigeria.
In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the party reminded Fintiri that history and posterity remain the ultimate and impartial judges of human conduct.
The PDP stated that Fintiri’s decision to leave a platform that supported his political journey through multiple election cycles over what it termed minor inconveniences reflected unrestrained cowardice rather than principled leadership.
The statement read in part, “We are aware of the official announcement of the long-speculated defection of His Excellency, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, from our party to the All Progressives Congress today via a broadcast in Adamawa State.
“This move, though long speculated, had attracted several rebuttals from the Governor himself, even as recently as last week after the presidential visit to Adamawa. By this announcement, the Governor has confirmed what was previously rumoured by aligning with the ruling party, a move he claims is in the developmental interest of his state.
“While we acknowledge that this decision is within Fintiri’s legal rights, it clearly violates political principles and morality and poses a challenge to multi-party democracy and democratic consolidation. For someone to abandon a platform that provided political cover across several election cycles at the first sign of discomfort is an exhibition of unrestrained cowardice, not the conduct of a principled politician.
“As we bid Governor Fintiri farewell, we remind him that history and posterity are the ultimate and unbiased judges of human actions and are actively recording the deeds and omissions of individuals.”
The PDP urged its members in Adamawa State to accept what it described as a sad development with composure.
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