Where is Senator Zwingina?

Senator Jonathan Zwingina became a household name in Nigerian politics during his days at the Senate between 1999 and 2007 where he held the position of Deputy Senate Leader, becoming one of the most influential senator in the country.  Before then he had served as the Director-General of Chief MKO Abiola presidential campaign under the […]

Senator Jonathan Zwingina became a household name in Nigerian politics during his days at the Senate between 1999 and 2007 where he held the position of Deputy Senate Leader, becoming one of the most influential senator in the country. 

Before then he had served as the Director-General of Chief MKO Abiola presidential campaign under the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1990s and was appointed commissioner under the military administration in Adamawa State after annulment of June 12 election by the then military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd). 

A first class graduate of the prestigious University of Ibadan, Zwingina worked as academic staff at the then College of Preliminary Studies Yola (now State Polytechnic Yola) and  obtained his PhD from an Australian university before working with MAMSA.  

At the senate, he served on various committees, including Works and Housing, Establishment, Information, Internal Affairs, Special Projects, Privatisation and Economic Affairs during his eight years in the upper chamber. 

He was elected senator in 1999 under the PDP and won reelection in 2003. At the end of his second tenure, the legislator decided to contest for the seat of governor in 2007  but his ambition was scuttled by the PDP leadership  when he and many other aspirants were rejected in a controversial manner that saw the emergence of retired Admiral Murtala Nyako as PDP governorship candidate without conducting a primary election. 

The development culminated into a protest by about a dozen aspirants, including Zwingina, a businessman, Muhammadu Koiranga Jada, Senator Abubakar Halilu Girei, Chief Joel Madaki and Adamu Moddibo who threatened to work against the party in the general election. The impasses was eventually resolved by President Olusegun Obasanjo in a series of meetings with the aggrieved aspirants. 

Since then, Senator Zwingina’s whereabouts became relatively unknown although some of his supporters said he had been busy running a business in South Africa. Yet many believed that he was financially broke since he left office even as he remained a strong member of the PDP.

The PDP chieftain shocked many people when he resurfaced at an unlikely place which was a town hall gathering of the APC at Lelewal Hotel in Yola in April 2015 where the then President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, solicited support for the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Muhammadu Jibrilla.   

Party members from across 21 local areas as well as journalists were taken by surprise, wondering if the PDP chieftain was in the wrong room. But he was not alone because other key PDP chieftains, including Senator Bello Tukur, Sadiq Kalu, Walin Ganye also showed up.

President-elect Buhari, in his speech at the occasion recognized Zwingina as one of the experienced politicians in the country, saying when politicians like Zwingina were around, he (Buhari) would have little to say about politics.

Dr. Robert Gulkawi, a close associate  of Zwingina and former director with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) who is seeking election in to the House of Representatives from Guyuk/Shelleng Federal Constituency said the senator had continued to render services to the nation even after he left the senate while promoting his private businesses within and outside the country.

He said although the former lawmaker resided in the Federal Capital Abuja, he frequently visited Yola and his home village of Guyuk to meet with members of his family, friends and teeming supporters and that currently he was making wide consultations with stakeholders and APC members over his decision to vie for senatorial seat under the banner of the APC, adding that the former senator had chances of returning to the National Assembly.

Gulkawi extolled the role being played by Zwingina in the development of Adamawa State as shown by his active participation in various political and social activities at the state level, citing his contribution to the success of the recently held anti-corruption summit organized by the state government.

“He was part of the anti-corruption summit organized by the Adamawa State government and held in Yola recently and a key member of a political group, Team Bindow. He was also a member of the federal government electoral reform committee that toured the country. He is the chairman of a pension fund administrator, AIE Pension Ltd. He is into international business in South Africa and Los Angeles. He is a consultant to the European Union for their grant awarding projects to states in developing countries. Currently, Zwingina is contesting for senate in Adamawa Southern Senatorial Zone”, Gulkawi stated.. 

Gulkawi also cherished what he called Zwingina’s humility and understanding, saying despite political differences as they belonged to different parties, the former senator respected his (Gulkawi’s) choice of the PDP as platform for seeking election in to the House of Representatives..

“He has always been a humble person, Although I am contesting in PDP and he in APC, we have an understanding with him and he never queried my decision.  President Obasanjo denied him governorship ticket in 2007 to punish him because he was one of those senators who nailed the coffin of a third term bid by Obasanjo”, he added.

Since his defection to the ruling APC in 2015, the former deputy senate Leader has been identified as a key figure in the camp of Governor Jibrilla and was said to have made useful contributions and provided problem-solving clues that helped the governor to survive some of the political storms he faced. 

Jibrilla’s powerful Chief of Staff, Abdurrahman Abba, who reportedly influenced Zwingina’s decision to join the APC  had served as the Director General of Zwingina’s gubernatorial campaign in 2007 when the then ruling PDP cancelled a scheduled primary election and imposed Murtala Nyako as the party’s flagbearer amid protest from other aspirants.

With a combination of oratory, political shrewdness as well as administrative experience, Zwingina always stood out among his colleagues. Yet many Nigerians would regard him as a controversial and corrupt politician after the allegation of bribery was made against him alongside the then Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, by a ministerial nominee, Nasiru El-Rufai, who claimed they demanded N52 million bribe to clear him at the senate..

Dr Zwingina told Daily Trust on Sunday in a telephone interview that he was currently working with Governor Jibrilla to ensure unity in the party a head of planned congresses, saying he believed the APC would emerge stronger in the 2019 general election.

He denied reports that there are various camps or that the governor belonged to any particular group within the APC, saying Governor Jibrilla was for every one, having said he could work with anybody who is elected as party executive irrespective of the group he comes from. 

On the recent communal crisis in southern part of Adamawa and Boko Haram attacks in the northern part,  Zwingina suggested an honest approach involving traditional rulers and other stakeholders to address the problem, saying violence would increase the suffering of all parties rather than solve them.