Sacked Acting Governor, Fintiri Probed over alleged scam

BY UMAR YUSUF

The sacked Acting Governor of Adamawa State and Speaker of the of the state house of  Assembly, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has been  quizzed by detectives from the Force headquarters of the Nigeria Police in Abuja over alleged contracts inflation.

Acting governor of Adamawa State, Umar Fintiri

The detectives stormed Yola yesterday and invited the Speaker to the State Police headquarters where he was quizzed for over four hours. The former Acting Governor was alleged to have awarded contracts for projects in Michika and Madagali the two local governments that have been under the control of the Boko Haram insurgents since August this year.

He is also accused of inflating contracts for the electrification of street lights in Yola, the state capital from N 283m to N 2.3 Billion, while other contracts were awarded by his Transition Government did not follow the normal tenders process.  The speaker, who appeared before the detectives with volumes of files was however released after he was questioned for hours.

The State House of Assembly Committee chairman on Information, Mr. Adamu Kamale confirmed the development to newsmen Friday in Yola.

“There is a petition by a faceless person alleging among others that the Speaker spent N2.8 billion for Jimeta streetlight project.

“ The real issue on ground is that the contract was awarded at the cost of N283 million .

“The policemen who said they were from the Inspector General of Police were shown the documents of the contract other documents to counter the allegations in the petition”, Kamale said.

Kamale expressed concern over the development wondering why policemen would be deployed from Abuja on “ a baseless allegation by a faceless persons”.

“ Some people are out there to tarnish the image of Fintiri knowing full well that he has done excellently well.

“ This must be stopped; he is supposed to be honored for a job well done as acting governor.

“ For instance, the street light project was awarded by past administration at the cost of N1.8 billion but luckily for the people of Adamawa the money was not paid until Fintiri came in and review it downward to N283 million “, Kamale said.

Kamale said some politicians were afraid of Fintiri’s raising credentials and we’re out on a smear campaign against him.

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Sacked Acting Governor, Fintiri Probed over alleged scam

Adamawa: Fintiri returns to House, threaten to impeach governor

By Umar Yusuf

YOLA—It may not be  uhuru for the new Governor of Adamawa State, Mr Bala Ngilari as the former Acting Governor of the state, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri Tuesday, returned to his seat as the Speaker of the House of Assembly, with a veiled threat of fresh impeachment proceedings against the governor.

Acting governor of Adamawa State, Umar Fintiri

“I would like to make it abundantly clear that the Legislature remains the defender of democracy and should it be required to exercise its constitutional duties of ridding Adamawa State of bad governance once again, it will do so without hesitation,” he vowed.

Ngilari was sworn in as governor last week, following the voiding of his impeachment along with his former boss, Murtala Nyako, about three months ago.

Fintiri said his brief stint as the acting governor had resuscitated a state which had been on life-support in the past seven years.

”This is the reason why I request the people of Adamawa State to disregard the current baseless rumour that the interim government I led for 86 days would be investigated for expending the sum of N18 billion.

“I challenge those behind this ridiculous claim to provide a shred of evidence for just N1 million that was expended illegally, not to talk of the so-called N18 billion, which we never received from anywhere,” he added.

He spoke while addressing the House before plenary.

Fintiri who was sacked as acting governor last week by the court said, “As I happily resume my duties as the Speaker once again after a brief but action-packed stint as the acting Governor of Adamawa State, I thank honourable colleagues for the overwhelming cooperation I enjoyed as your ambassador in the Executive arm”.

“Let me particularly commend honourable members for passing a vote of confidence in me as a worthy representative as well as for their resilience and steadfastness to rescuing Adamawa State without which nothing would have been achieved.”

Fintiri commended the personal sacrifices and the immense pressure they had to resist to ensure that their ‘’democratic intervention against bad governance and administration succeeded in line with the popular demand of the people of Adamawa State.’’

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Adamawa: Fintiri returns to House, threaten to impeach governor

How Fintiri won PDP’s guber ticket in Adamawa

YOLA—Acting Governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Fintiri, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the October 11, 2014 bye-election.

He polled 624 votes out of the 912 votes cast to defeat four other aspirants.

Marwa and Fintiri

Announcing the result of the 14-hour electoral process, the leader of the PDP Adamawa Gubernatorial Primaries Committee, Dimeji Bankole, said Fintiri polled 624 while Dr Ahmed Modibbo got 197 votes.

Modibbo was followed by Brig-Gen Buba Marwa, who scored 64 votes; Dr. Umar Ardo, nine votes; and Mr Jerry Kumdusi, four votes.

Bankole, a former speaker of the House of Representatives disclosed that of the votes,23 invalid ones were recorded during the exercise.

The 912 delegates were categorized into Statutory (members of the party holding elective and political appointments or holding executive office in the state, zonal or national office of the party) and Ad- Hoc delegates (those at the ward levels).

The primaries scheduled to commence at 10 am on Saturday started at about 6:30pm with the accreditation of delegates from the 21 local councils of the state.

In his acceptance speech, the acting governor, described his emergence as a resounding victory for the party and appealed to other aspirants to join hands with him and other stakeholders to lead PDP to victory in the October 11 election.

Speaking on the primaries, Marwa accepted the outcome of the exercise and declared his support for Fintiri.

Marwa stated that his decision is to enable the PDP to emerge victorious in the October 11 bye-election.

According to him “after due consultations with my political associates and supporters, I have decided to support the Acting Governor in the task ahead.”

Marwa declared that all his supporters have been directed to support the PDP flag bearer on October 11.

 

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How Fintiri won PDP’s guber ticket in Adamawa

Adamawa: Fintiri beats Marwa to win PDP ticket

Acting Governor of Adamawa State, Umaru Fintiri who was initially disqualified by a screening committee has emerged as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the October 11 governorship by-election.

Fintiri secured the ticket after polling 624 votes to defeat his closet rival, Dr. Ahmed Modibbo, who polled 197 votes.

Former Lagos State Military Administrator, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, came a distant third with 54 votes, Dr. Umar Ardo scored nine votes, while Mr. Jerry Kumdisi was left with only four votes.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Demeji Bankole, who presided over the contest said, “24 out of the total number of votes cast were invalid. I hereby declare Umaru Fintiri as winner of this primary.”

The party primary, which was held at the Lamido Cinema Jimeta, began at about 9.45pm on Saturday night and ended at about 4.13am in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Former Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, stepped down from the race minutes before voting commenced.

He declined a request for an interview from The Punch when our correspondent approached him.

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Adamawa: Fintiri beats Marwa to win PDP ticket