The Adamawa triangle

The former Vice president Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday returned home to Jada to register in his new party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. By so doing, he would again be doing a political summersault, teaming up with Governor Murtala Nyako. Nyako himself had perfected his own summersault when he took Buba Marwa and Markus Gundiri […]

The former Vice president Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday returned home to Jada to register in his new party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. By so doing, he would again be doing a political summersault, teaming up with Governor Murtala Nyako. Nyako himself had perfected his own summersault when he took Buba Marwa and Markus Gundiri in one corner, to battle the forces of Bamanga Tukur and Boni Haruna in the 2015 elections. It is a crowded event.
But the most interesting battle is how Boni Haruna would bend the Senate’s in-house agreement to surmount the hindrances to becoming a minister of the Federal Republic, put in his way by Senators Bello Tukur and Muhammad Bindowo Jibrilla. Indeed, the state would have to experience a macabre dance of former friends and now sworn enemies who have displayed amazing belief in the fact that, in politics, there are no permanent friends but permanent interests.
For a teaser, any ministerial nominee would have to secure the support of two of the three senators from his state to be able to take a bow and leave the Senate chamber. But for Boni Haruna, this screening exercise would perhaps be one of his most difficult tests of all. Senators Bindowo Jibrilla, Bello Tukur and Hassan Ahmed Barata, ordinarily would have been an easy hurdle to overcome because their closeness in age with President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s nominee from their state. But previous political battles and the unstable nature of Adamawa politics may hinder any expectation of a smooth homerun by all of the people concerned. For the three senators, it would be a test in magnanimity and maturity to put the past where it belongs, let bygones be bygone and allow the nominee his fifteen minutes of fame. For Boni Haruna, it is one litmus test that he might have been planning to pass ever since his name came up from the Jonathan presidency.
As governor between 1999 and 2007 Boni was deputized by Alhaji Bello Tukur, a seasoned banker and one whose desire to govern Adamawa state has refused to burn out. Under Boni he thought his boss would simply endorse him to take over in the spirit of continuity but his dreams fell flat when Boni refused to look his way when the contest was nigh. Utterly disappointed, Tukur then stooped to serve under Haruna’s successor, Murtala Nyako as Chief of Staff. In 2011 while Boni was seeking the senatorial seat from Adamawa north, Tukur went for the central senatorial district. The former governor lost to Bindowo Jibrilla, while Tukur triumphed.
It remains unclear how much Bello Tukur supported Bindowo to thrash his former boss. Many argue that he aided Bindowo both morally and financially and even opened the channels through which Bindowo endeared himself to the governor Nyako. Today they sit together in the senate like Siamese twins.
In character, Bindowo is a fair-minded, humble silver spoon from Mubi and a scion of the Sabon Dale business empire. When he contested the senate he had expected a fair fight from the former governor but things got so messy that ethnicity, religion and even the courts had to be brought into the battle. Bindowo triumphed but not without sweat, blood and tears. Several times during the contest he had expressed despair and regrets to his close allies who however encouraged him to never give up. Interestingly, while these two gentlemen fought to defend the principles of the PDP, Boni was fighting the PDP as an Action Congress chieftain.
The tables have however turned full circle. Senators Bello Tukur and Bindowo Jibrilla have since defected to the All Progressives Congress while Boni has switched camps to the PDP to fight Jonathan’s enemies in the state, including Atiku, Nyako, Tukur and Bindowo.
Following the conspiracy of the senate, there is no reason to believe that Boni Haruna will bow before the senators whenever his screening is concluded. But as a former governor and experienced politician he has to display political sagacity to get Tukur and Bindowo out of their frenzy to allow him a stint as minister. His fate lies firmly in their hands and it is time for him to remember that one good turn deserves another. However, knowing that the politicians still have bitter memories of one another bottled up, feelers from the state say that the battle for the soul of Adamawa State has since begun and there are likely to be a bloody nose here or there. The duo of Tukur and Bindowo in the senate has vowed never to allow the PDP a weapon with which to fight the APC in pursuit of Government House Dou Girei.
Adamawa state has therefore become the country’s Bermuda. All the political gladiators have found one waterloo or another. The likes of Professors Jubril Aminu and Iya Abubakar have become angels and are resting in their homes. Governor Nyako, who many loved to hate, is gradually returning to reckoning by making peace with his hitherto political adversaries. Atiku, who, alone, had steered northern politics, has himself become a foot-soldier, seeking anyone willing to battle along with him. But one thing that is unclear is who the joker would be, as the governor of Adamawa state, when all the dust settles.