By Billy Graham Abel, Yola
The Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has scored a landslide victory polling 663 votes to win the governorship primary of the PDP in Adamawa state.
Gov. Fintiri’s victory makes him the candidate to hoist the PDP’s flag for a second term in office come 2023.
Gov Fintiri while delivering his acceptance speech said, it is the collective resolve and anger of the people of Adamawa at the way they were poorly governed by the APC that led to his nomination and subsequent victory in 2019.
Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri said the overwhelming votes he scored to emerge PDP’s flagbearer is because of the massive confidence delegates have on him as one of their own, who will lead the charge against the APC from the front and reverse the negative trend of years of APC maladministration.
The governor said his three years in office is a massive testament of the outstanding vision and giant strides of PDP-led government as PDP has changed the narrative of governance and restored the gap of trust between government and the governed.
Speaking at the occasion Gov. Fintiri said, “You exhibited this cultured stoic democratic ethos which has become our collective trademark as loyal party men and women of the PDP.
“We demonstrated our anger at the way we were governed by the party in power in the State at that time. We made a collective resolution to take back our State from the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose performance in governance was far below any acceptable rating.
“That resolution was what made you to entrust the flag of our great party onto me as your candidate for the 2019 general election in the State. I carried the flag with pride and led us to victory in the 2019 election.
“The decision you took could only happen in PDP, a party with deep democratic roots. It is only in PDP that such a decision could be made in an open election where a person of my political background could emerge as the party’s flagbearer.
He adds that, “You trusted me to lead the onslaught not because I was the richest of all the aspirants or any pecuniary consideration.
“You didn’t even care about where I was coming from or the faith I profess. You entrusted your mandate to me because you believe I am one of you. Because I share in your plight and understand your needs.”
The governor said he is confident that the people trusted him because he has the ability to get the job of transforming the state done said, “I believe the real icing on the cake was the trust that I have the courage to get the job done. The courage to lead from the front not from the rear as a commander that can democratically wrestle power from those who are misusing it and the courage to provide good governance when the battle is won.
“The people believed us as much as they could with their lives. To the voters of Adamawa State, the 2019 election was an opportunity to vote between continuous lies and sincerity. And they chose the latter. We were voted in and the APC was voted out.
“Today, I am happy to note that what has just happened is an endorsement of the fact that at the party level we have not been a disappointment to our party and its leadership. I am happier that the trust between the entire people and our great party remains sacred.
“We have in the last three years guarded this trust jealously. It is the ordinance of this trust that propels us to deliver every item in our social contract with the people of Adamawa State with the required precision.
“We have stabilized the polity and provided good governance for all.
“We have reignited confidence in government and elevated leadership to a serious business.
“Our citizens can now take the words of their leaders to the bank.”