Acting Governor of Adamawa State, Umar Fintiri has been disqualified from the upcoming elections by the Governorship Screening Panel of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Chairman of the screening panel, Sen. Ibrahim Mantu, announced the decision after meeting with his committee for several hours at the Party’s national secretariat.
Speaking to newsmen concerning the decisions of the committee, Mantu said Fintiri was disqualified due to Section 191, subsection 2 which was interpreted as having a barring effect on the aspiration of the acting Governor.
He said, “Thirteen aspirants were cleared while one was disqualified. He was found to have fallen short of the guideline set by the party.
“Fintiri was not cleared because of Section 191(2) which does not allow him to transmit from acting capacity to the position of the governor.”
Section 191 (1) of the constitution reads, “The deputy governor of a state shall hold the office of governor of the state, if the office of Governor becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal of the governor from office for any other reason in accordance with section 188 or 189 of this constitution.
“(2) Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) of this section during a period when the office of deputy governor of the state is also vacant, the speaker of the House of Assembly of the state shall hold the office of governor of the state for a period of not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new governor of the state who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.
“(3) Where the office of the deputy governor becomes vacant –
(a) by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal in accordance with section 188 or 189 of this Constitution;”
Those cleared by the committee include former EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak; former Military Administrator of Lagos and Borno states, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.); a three-time gubernatorial aspirant, Dr. Umar Ardo; and a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Aliyu Idi- Hong.
Speaking with journalists on the development, Ribadu said, “I pray to God that for the good of the country; for the good people of Adamawa, what is going on today is probably a turning point and a change that is coming in Adamawa State and Nigeria.”
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