Drama as youths heckle Fintiri during tour in Atiku’s zone

A mild drama played out on Tuesday when Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri was interrupted and heckled by a section of the audience while addressing supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ganye Local Government Area of the state. Ganye borders Jada LGA, the hometown of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Both LGAs, […]

A mild drama played out on Tuesday when Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri was interrupted and heckled by a section of the audience while addressing supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ganye Local Government Area of the state.

Ganye borders Jada LGA, the hometown of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Both LGAs, alongside Mayo-Belwa and Toungo, make up a federal constituency in the Adamawa South Senatorial District. Tensions have simmered between supporters of the governor and those loyal to Atiku in recent times, following what is believed to be a fallout between the two political leaders. Atiku has since left the PDP for the coalition-led African Democratic Congress (ADC).

While delivering his speech during the state tour stop in Ganye, Governor Fintiri paused midway after being interrupted by a group of youths in the crowd, who chanted in Hausa: “Ba a yin, ba mu a yin,” which signified a disapproval.

The governor swiftly responded in the same tone, also in Hausa: “Kai ma ba a yin ka. Ba ka yi; dama wa ya ce ka yi?” which translates to, “You too, we are not with you. Who even asked you to be with us?”

“Nobody can claim a monopoly of hooliganism; it is a cap anyone interested can wear. We will not allow disrespect to our leaders,” he added.

As the booing persisted, the governor asked the disc jockey to play music, prompting a brief dance before he left the stage.

Earlier in his address, Fintiri said the state tour was aimed at engaging residents in their localities to assess the performance of his administration and that of local government council chairmen, with a view to improving service delivery.

He also declared that the PDP remained in control of the state and aligned with the people, pledging to deliver more dividends of democracy. He urged the electorate to vote massively for the party’s candidates in the local government elections scheduled for June 2026.

“Our local government elections are slated for June, and we shall win in all the 226 wards and the 21 councils,” he said. “Some critics use social media to abuse us as a government, but I ignore them as a responsible government committed to delivering dividends of democracy to you, my people.”

The tour, he said, is designed to commission completed local government projects, carry out on-the-spot assessments of council chairmen’s performance and engage stakeholders through interactive town hall meetings to exchange ideas and address grey areas.