Where is Senator Muhammad Mana

Brigadier-General Muhammad Mana (retired) represented the Adamawa North senatorial district on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between 2007 and 2011. His days in the National Assembly brought him to national limelight, politically.  But Senator Mana seems to have withdrawn from active politics, a situation that has become a source of worry to […]

Brigadier-General Muhammad Mana (retired) represented the Adamawa North senatorial district on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between 2007 and 2011. His days in the National Assembly brought him to national limelight, politically. 

But Senator Mana seems to have withdrawn from active politics, a situation that has become a source of worry to his supporters and his party, the PDP. As a result of this, some party officials have asked him to clarify his position.

He has kept a low profile and avoided political events at all levels. However, observers started raising questions after he resurfaced at the Government House, Yola, during a gathering of politicians from his constituency to endorse Muhammadu Jibrilla, a governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

 The group, led by Professor Iya Abubakar, declared their support for the governor, who is from their zone, citing the number of developmental projects executed by his administration in the last three years. 

But one of Senator Mana’s close supporters, Adamu Risku, said he was still relevant in Adamawa politics. 

“He is still a member of the PDP because he has not defected to another party. He is still strong and he pulls a crowd of supporters whenever he visits the senatorial zone. But he asked his supporters to assist Governor Bindow in 2019.

“It is true that some of his key supporters decamped to the APC, including a former chairman of Maiha Local Government Area, Ustaz Jibi; Ahmed Alhassan and Babangida Duku. But others like Baba Iyali and Kelvin Peters are still in the PDP,” Risku said.

He commended Mana for the provision of basic amenities in his zone when he was in the Senate. According to him, the senator constructed eight boreholes in each local government area, as well as eight water hand pumps in each of the 57 wards across the five local government areas in the senatorial district. This is in addition to six classrooms he built in each local government area, and various youth and women empowerment, in an effort to eradicate poverty and unemployment in the area.

“The construction of Mubi-Maiha road was awarded during his tenure. He did a lot to bring development to his constituency, he added.

Risku further revealed that Senator Mana was into a private business, with offices in Lagos and Abuja.

Mana succeeded his kinsman in the Senate, a renowned mathematician, Professor Iya Abubakar, who decided not to run for a third term as senator. As a result of this, he had a smooth ride at the primaries and the general elections.

At the Senate, Mana was not relegated to the background as he was a member of committees on power, integration and cooperation. He was appointed a deputy chief whip of the Senate. 

He is remembered for sponsoring an amendment bill on the Border Areas Development Commission, 2009, and a bill for an act on tobacco control, 2009. 

Following the February 2010 coup in Niger Republic, the then president of the Senate, David Mark, asked Mana and Senator John Shagaya of Plateau State, both former military officers believed to have a close relationship with the coup plotters, to convince the new military leaders of that country to embrace democracy. 

 In March 2010, Mana, a former military administrator of Plateau State under the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, was appointed into a 20-man committee charged with the responsibility of finding a permanent solution to Jos  ethno-religious crisis. 

Despite his active stewardship in the Senate, Mana’s re-election bid failed following his defeat in a controversial party primary. He lost to Muhammadu Bindow Jibrilla, the present governor of Adamawa State. 

Sources within the PDP said the party’s national secretariat had canceled the results and sent officials to conduct fresh elections, which never held due to pressure from powerful figures. The party eventually accepted the results, prompting a court action by Mana.

He filed an appeal against the selection of Jibrilla, but a Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the appeal on March 29, 2011 for lacking merit. 

An early report of the Adamawa North senatorial election results stated that Bindow Jibrilla (PDP) defeated former Governor Boni Haruna of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), polling 75,112 votes to Haruna’s 70,890. The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, Abba Mohammed, scored 22,866. This result was also reported by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on April 16 of that year. 

When asked about Mana’s whereabouts politically, the PDP chairman in Adamawa, Tahir Shehu, a lawyer, said the party had lost track of him because he had stayed away from its activities in the state.

Shehu, who decried the attitude of some PDP chieftains in the state, however, said the party’s prospect would not be affected by the attitude of such selfish politicians.

“He is silent; we have not seen him in party activities. He neither attended the PDP convention nor congresses. So it is not clear whether he is in the PDP or APC. His absence from our activities has little impact as we had successful congresses without him. My advice to him is that he should appear and make a statement that he is still in the PDP. Some people who benefitted from the party could be inactive because they don’t want to spend their money or assist others,” Shehu said.