…The fact of Fintiri dropping a male running mate for a female one gives Binani an added advantage. It easily erodes all the arguments against a female governor in Adamawa State because a Deputy Governor is just a heartbeat away from being Governor…
By Ahmad Sajoh
I find a write up with the above title written by someone who goes by the name Zayyad very interesting. Why did I find it interesting? Simple.
The writer appears to genuinely offer a piece of advice but beneath it are opposition views that are often heard on the streets of Adamawa state.
I am one person that believes that responding to every write up in a campaign project is distractive. But sometimes clarifications are necessary in order to clear the minds of the gullible.
Secondly, I had equally advised the Binani Campaign Project from now up to the point of setting up a council to avoid any combative action, rather we should remain focused on reconciliation and harvesting the huge goodwill we enjoy from the people. If Allah gives you success you should not throw punches. Rather you should offer an embrace. That is the law of nature, which many politicians seem to ignore.
From the very beginning the writer started on a hostile note but still attempted to appear to show goodwill. The opening lines and the opening paragraph contain the real reason behind the write up.
Let me assure the writer that there is no danger at all to the Binani campaign. It is well on course and absolutely focused.
And the campaign, which is going to be robust and all inclusive has not commenced at all, so to allude that the incumbent is ahead is just to rehash the words of a very weak and jittery opposition.
A political campaign that has 90 days is not a hundred meters dash, it’s still a marathon. Others can sleep anywhere they like, it doesn’t matter. What matters most is how much goodwill is the campaign trail harvesting?
The political space is made up of people not territories. You can traverse the political terrain a million times, if you do not harvest enough goodwill, you are simply performing a circus show.
When Binani hits the campaign trail, it will be for multiple purposes, not just for herself. It will be all APC candidates. It will be for a total takeover. It will be to reinforce the “connect” she has with the people.
Those who disconnected for long have a more herculean task of reconnecting, if ever they will. But Binani is already connected. All she needs do is reassurance and reinforcement of her connection with the people. She cannot take that for granted, but she cannot also be jittery because others are attempting a difficult task.
The writer also tried to re-echo the opposition’s claim that Binani is contesting a position with some other person in Abuja. That is most uncharitable and unfortunate.
It is necessary to recall that when the Court of first instance stopped Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani from claiming the candidature of the APC, she dutifully wrote a letter to the PCC to inform them of that fact. This was expected of an honest law abiding citizen.
If the basis of her appointment as coordinator was her candidature, it would have amounted to deception if she continued in defiance of the Court pronouncement.
Immediately the Court of Appeal restored her candidature it behoves her to inform them. Unfortunately, certain things have complicated this very simple, straightforward situation.
One, is that some persons had earlier claimed she was removed and did not write a notification. Any response from the PCC will expose the initial lie.
Secondly, some people appointed into positions in the Adamawa State arrangements were afraid that a change of PCC coordinator may lead them to lose their position.
Naturally, in the hurry to couple a structure ahead of the impending change, some persons were appointed to positions they knew they did not merit. So the best way to reserve their positions was to insinuate a struggle for power that honestly does not exist.
Thirdly, there are some people who out of some mischief had gone to blackmail Senator Binani that she didn’t want to coordinate the BAT/SHET ticket because she was secretly working for an opposition candidate in the State.
This lie from the pit of hell would have gained some grounds if she kept away from the PCC.
So the long and short of it is that Binani did what every rational, right thinking and loyal party faithful will do under the circumstances and she deserves commendation for that.
At least the writer acknowledged and I quote “Though, in all the 36 states of the Federation, the sitting governors or APC gubernatorial candidates are the leaders of PCC at state level,” then the question begging for an answer should be ‘is Adamawa State not part of the 36 states of the Federation?’
If one person should be worried by the tone of the writer, it must be Governor Fintiri.
A whole paragraph is dedicated to describing the gains of Fintiri’s ward to ward campaigns but it was dismissed by one statement; that Fintiri has nothing to tell the people. That is a real blow from the writer.
The fact that the opposition undertakes a clandestine meeting with APC members at night should be a source of concern for the party leadership not for Binani.
The reason of course is that anyone undertaking anti-party activities is undermining the party rather than the candidate.
We hope that the party leadership will take the “wake up call” on possible anti-party elements seriously.
The PDP style of not allowing Governors and Candidates to oversee their campaigns at the state level is not dictated by any pragmatism. It is dictated by the rebellion among its Governors.
You do not expect APC to copy an idea that stems from a bad omen. Even if copying is a tactic, you do not copy anything bad, you copy something good. The PDP style is a misnomer dictated by very unfortunate circumstances.
I wonder how Boni Haruna, who was denied access to even party executives by Fintiri during his Senatorial aspirations, will be of much value to Fintiri as PCC lead. Is it what we should copy?
Rather than expect Binani to do differently, let the PCC headquarters take a decision to do something different in Adamawa State. If they decide otherwise, I believe Senator Binani will simply cooperate and support the PCC under anyone appointed and ensure the victory of APC candidates at all levels.
But honestly Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani has the strength and the capacity of “carrying the camel and its loads”
At one point the writer was very perfect in the analysis of the circumstances relating to the Court cases and the unsolicited benefits including as he rightly put it “a blessing as well -it earned her new cult-like supporters and sympathy” but political campaigns do not take off by chance. They are planned and determined by key performance indicators.
And considering what transpired that led to the court case in the first instance, a lot of healing is required before a campaign council can be put in place.
The biggest requirements for now are the need for an all inclusive campaign council that captures the buy-in of all contending interests within the party. That has equally been acknowledged by the writer and is methodologically being pursued by Senator Binani.
For the information of the writer and others who may think in like manner, Senator Binani has gone beyond just extending an olive branch, she is reaching out deeply, sometimes even bending over backwards in order to achieve peace within the party.
It is just hoped that all others will equally commit to the same goal so that at the end of the day, we will have a robust campaign council that will harvest all the goodwill Senator Binani enjoys across the state.
But we must also acknowledge the fact that others have taken very extreme positions to the point of coming out openly to say they will not support her. Support should be earned and be freely given. It cannot be forced.
While advising Senator Binani to be magnanimous in victory let us also advise those opposed to her to be rational and considerate in their positions.
The concluding part of the write up was very positive and encouraging. It pointed to the reality on the ground.
Binani enjoys massive support, grassroots connections and a unique gender based following. The fact of Fintiri dropping a male running mate for a female one gives Binani an added advantage. It easily erodes all the arguments against a female governor in Adamawa State because a Deputy Governor is just a heartbeat away from being Governor.
So, either way, APC or PDP, there is a prospect of a female governor in Adamawa State. All the campaigns against a female governor amount to nothing within these two alternatives.
However, the advantage is still on the side of Senator Binani. Given a choice, Adamawa Women and indeed women everywhere in Nigeria prefer a female governor to a female deputy Governor, because that bridge was crossed a long time ago.
So those calling for a female deputy governor are not in tune with the reality of the demands of Nigerian women. Nigerian women are yearning to break the glass ceiling, and Binani represents a ray of hope for that.
Perhaps it is necessary to repeat that, with a 90 day window, this race is still a marathon not a hundred meters dash.
Like the writer concluded, a week is a long time in politics. Let me also conclude with an appeal as was done by the writer:
Dear APC leaders, members and sympathizers, let us commit ourselves to unity within our party. Let us team up and rally round our tickets from the Presidential right through to the House of Assembly. Let us harvest all the goodwill generated by all the crises experienced recently.
The Chinese word for crisis is “WEIJI”. It is made up of two components “danger” and “opportunity,” the danger in our crisis was “the no candidate” pronouncement.
We have overcome that. The opportunity is the tremendous amount of goodwill generated, which created “the cult-like” following enjoyed by our candidate.
Let’s harvest it. In Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, we have a good product to sell. Let’s go to the market. “Mai madi ke talla, amma ba mai zuma ba”
Ahmad Sajoh writes from 35 Oran Street Wuse Zone 1 Abuja.