Musa Isa Ahmed

The ambition of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to run for President in 2019 is causing ripples within the Adamawa state chapter of the All Progressive Congress,APC.

On November 10, at the flag-off of the contruction of  Girei-Wuro-Bokki road, the Chief of Staff to the Governor Jubrilla Bindow, Abdulraham Abba Jimeta, who spoke on behalf of the state government, said the state had endorsed Atiku’s presidential ambition in 2019.

He had said: “the entire Adamawa state government is firmly behind the former Vice-President wherever he goes, the state government is behind him. From the Governor to the Deputy Governor, the Secretary to the State Government, the Commissioners, the Special Advisers and Special Assistants and all other political appointees and members of the State House of Assembly are also behind His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.”

The story, which was carried in a national daily, attracted widespread condemnation by supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari who described the alleged endorsement as hasty and inappropriate.

Governor Bindow later tried to dissociate himself himself from the endorsement. His Chief Press Secretary, Yohanna Mathias, issued a statement saying the endorsement was the opinion of the speaker and not that of the state government. He described the report as a “calculated attempt to smear and tarnish the political profile of Governor Bindow.”

Yesterday, however, the Buhari support organization Adamawa state office, issued a press release condemning the alleged endorsement of Atiku by the state government.

The group, in a statement signed by Aliyu Abdullahi, said the endorsement was “reckless and thoughtless.”

It questioned the motive of endorsing Atiku for a position that was not yet vacant, and that is being occupied by a fellow party man.

The group said it was a “calculated attempt to create confusion in the party ahead of the general election.”  The Buhari support group urged Governor Bindow to face the challenges of governance instead of engaging himself in a fruitless exercise.