The Adamawa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has denied any rift exists between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and the governor of his home state, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri.
There had been an alleged rift between Atiku and Fintiri over the fallout of the presidential primary, with loyalists of the former Vice President accusing Fintiri of backing Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
However, speaking on the controversies, the Secretary of the Adamawa State chapter of the PDP, Idris Yahya, downplayed the fear. He said the relationship between both men remained cordial even though there had been attempts to create a rift.
According to him, one of such attempts to pull the duo apart is the insinuation that Fintiri allegedly worked against Atiku at the Abuja convention.
He said, “There’s no issue between Atiku, inshallah the next in-coming President with Governor Fintiri. Everything is fabrication, there’s no crisis between them. You know when you go to A and you did not get what you want, then you go to B and create confusion, then return to A and say this and that. Just like the allegations that Fintiri did not support Atiku but worked for Wike is a fabricated lie.
“We were there at the convention where Atiku emerged to become the flagbearer of the party. The governor was there, the party chairman, all of us were there, even though as party officials, we didn’t have votes. But the governor did everything humanly possible to ensure the former Vice President emerged and thank God he did emerge.
“All the delegates from Adamawa voted our flagbearer, Wazirin Adamawa, inshallah the incoming President of Nigeria. So reports of all this fabrication, insinuations that Governor Fintiri did not back Atiku are just the creation of those who want to cause friction between both men.”
He also stated that the PDP government would still retain power in the state despite the antics of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Aishatu Binani.
“In a political struggle, politicians will use any means to gain support and consequently get elected into office. So it’s a struggle, now, we have entered the last stage of the struggle, so they will use every available means to ensure victory for their candidate. So it is not unsettling the party. Because we are fully on ground,” he added.
He also said the maturity of both men was the reason the duo had continued to sustain a harmonious relationship before and after the party primary.
As to the identity of those peddling the falsehood, Yahya said it was the handiwork of self-serving politicians, who specialised in cooking up crises for their benefit.
