By Umar Yusuf

AHMADU Umaru Fintiri 52, first assumed the leadership of the Sunshine State in 2014 in an acting capacity after the impeachment of the then Governor Murtala Hammanyero Nyako. Fintiri ruled for 86 days and was the governorship candidate of the People Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2015 elections before he was disqualified by the court.

While serving as acting governor, Fintiri performed creditably well as he was nicknamed the Fresh Air Governor and ATM Governor by his admirers. With his disqualification, Fintiri, whose performance in 86 days had earned respect in the eyes of the people, returned to his petroleum business  and started warming up for the 2019 general elections.

Ahmadu Fintiri won the 2019 governorship election in Adamawa courtesy of the intra-party feud in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

How time flies, Fintiri has spent one full year as a democratically elected Governor of Adamawa State and it is now time for assessment. One year in the saddle, Fintiri in a broadcast to the people tagged: “walking the Talk”, claimed that he had recorded remarkable achievements in all sectors and touched the 11 point-agenda he set for implementation during his campaign despite meeting myriad of problems.

“We met a state that was sucked in unfathomed debt, a moribund economy that depended solely and wholly on the Federation Allocation, dwindling revenue, worsening insecurity occasioned by the triple effects of insurgency, kidnapping, cattle rustling and urban insecurity like the dreaded Shila boys. Others include incessant farmers/herders conflicts and a disunited and disillusioned populace yearning for change”.

“More worrisome was the lack of clear understanding of modern governance structure which is rooted in collaborations and partnerships. The state has particularly abandoned its development partners in providing development to the citizens by abdicating its responsibility of paying counterpart funding for projects that have direct bearing on the lives and livelihood our people”, he stated.

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The Governor added that a case in point was the outright refusal to pay marching grants to enable the state access UBEC funding since 2015. This, he said made the state to lose out on the UBEC funding for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Fintiri maintained that it is of interest to note that within one year of the administration, “we have been able to provide matching grants for the lost yeas, and provided the required opportunity for the state to access N10 billion funds, which were lying follow at UBEC for our basic education schools in the state.”

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri also listed his achievements to include the prioritization of education for the children of the poor; general improvements in healthcare services; provision of critical infrastructure like roads; development of agriculture, livestock and agric business as the mainstay of the state economy among other sectors.

However, the opposition APC described the PDP administration in the state in the last one year as a complete failure in its first one year in office. APC said the government has failed the people in all facets but hiding under COVID-19 pandemic to cover its shortcomings.

The Secretary of the Party, Mr Wafari Thema, said that people expected the PDP to hit the ground running in view of the numerous promises it made to them only to be disappointed by a government that has remained passive to the yearnings of the general populace.

He said the APC is rating the PDP administration in the state in the last one year below average and at 20 to 30%.

“It is on record from the receipts of APC and PDP governments in their first year that PDP has collected twice more than APC government. This is  even as the one year government of the PDP can be convincingly compared with the 100 days in office of the APC government in its first year”, he added

Countering, Fintiri described the APC’s claims and allegations as unfounded. He stated that apart from the various projects initiated, some on going while others have been completed and commissioned, the government is still servicing the huge debt left by the previous administration.

VANGUARD