By Muhammad B. Muhammad

Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State says there is no victor and no vanquished in the Tribunal Verdict which upheld his election in the March 18, 2023 Governorship election.

On Monday (yesterday) the Adamawa State Governorship Electoral Petitions Tribunal dismissed the petition filed by Dr. Umar Ardo against Governor Fintiri for lack of merit.

Reacting on the verdict, shortly after his arrival from Abuja at Lamido Aliyu Mustafa International Airport on Tuesday, Governor Fintiri thanked God and the people of the State for giving him the mandate of another four years.

He saluted the judiciary for its courage towards upholding the unanimous decision of Adamawa people and assured his unflinching commitment to delivering dividends of democracy to the citizens.

“We are greatfu to Almighty Allah for giving us the victory and thanking the judiciary for doing its job, ensuring that it consolidates on what God has done in Adamawa through the good people of Adamawa State.

“They only assurance we will give is that there is no winner, no vanquished, Adamawa project is first. We will continue to ensure that we deliver the dividends of democracy to make our people happy and develops the state to the level that is expected,” he said.

Governor Fintiri expressed optimism that the remaining cases awaiting judgement at the Tribunal will also speak the will of the people as according to him, the election that produced him as Governor was free, fair and credible.

The Ministry of Budget, Planning and Multi-lateral Coordination in Bauchi has said that the state government is making concerted efforts to positively impact on the generality of lives of people of the state.

The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Idris Saleh Giade said, “His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Bauchi state, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has been trying as much as possible to positively impact on the lives of the people of the state, especially in social services such as food and nutrition”.

The permanent secretary was on yesterday fielding press questions at the venue of the Bauchi State Multi-Sectoral Plan of Action for Nutrition Development workshop, organised by Catalyzing Strengthened Policy Action for Healthy Diets and Resilience (CASCADE) in collaboration with the Bauchi Ministry of Budget, Planning and Multi-lateral Coordination.

Alhaji Idris Giade explained that the objective of the workshop is to have a multi-sectoral plan of action with relevants MDAs in the state whose activities are related to nutrition, hence the work plan to cut across all the MDAs that have complimentary relevance on one platform, which is nutrition.

According to him, the International partners that brought about the CASCADE project to support Bauchi state have a multi-sectoral plan of action for implementation, saying Bauchi state has domesticated the National policy on food and nutrition, and its implementation has already been approved by the State Executive Council (SEC).

“The Council has already approved for the implementation of the domesticated document, the ACFN national policy, and it has been put into implementation. So we’re here to make sure we go through the national multi-sectoral plan of action, to make all the scrutiny that is expected to have a document relevant to the local setting of Bauchi state”.

Gaide gave the relevant state MDAs as the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, State Health Management Board, BASPHCDA, among others, whose representatives as workshop participants are all in Plateau state for the occasion.

Also speaking to the press, the CASCADE Project manager, Mr. Isaac Ishaya Audu said that CASCADE as a program has the particular interest around strengthening multi-sectoral coordination in food and nutrition service delivery in Bauchi state.

“To achieve that, we have the national multi-sectoral plan of action that has come into play, to be a key driver in terms of leading implementation of food and nutrition policies in the country”, Audu said.

Audu further stated, “So for Bauchi, our particular interest is to ensure that a multi-sectoral plan of action for food and nutrition is actually used as a driving template to lead actors in terms of implementation of food and nutrition service delivery.”

The manager also stated that CASCADE keeps particular interest around maximising technical and financial investment specifically around food and nutrition service delivery, as it has multiple layers of actors and donor investments going into nutrition.

“But how can those investments be maximised to drive efficient results. If we can have a multi-sectoral cost plan of action to drive that process, it will significantly maximise the cost investment and guide actors who are leading most of those investments process in terms of achieving results”, Audu concluded.

Adamawa People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Stakeholder Hon. Abubakar Isa (Marafan Shelleng) has congratulated Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri over his victory on a petition filed by the Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Dr. Umar Ardo, Challenging his election at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal Sitting in Yola Monday.

Abubakar Isa who is the former member representing Shelleng constituency, in a statement through his media office in Yola, described Fintiri’s triumph at the Tribunal as a well-deserved victory for democracy.

The former Adamawa lawmaker, said that though he never doubted the victory of Adamawa Governor at the general election, and this actually showed that, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) followed due process.

While saluting the steadfastness and firm belief of critical stakeholders in Adamawa State, Marafan Shelleng charged the Governor to embrace all indigenes and residents of the state, irrespective of their political leaning.

He further urged people of Adamawa to rally around the governor in his bid to continue the delivery of good governance and efforts to turn the state around for the better.

Abubakar Isa who cited example with the recent approval for the construction Yola Super Highway linking welcome to Yola with Army Barracks road to A. A Lawan Junction and Mubi Roundabout Flyover among other ongoing people oriented projects across the state.

He added that, he strongly believe that, the victory of Governor Fintiri, will further motivate him to carry on with good governance that will enhance the socio-economic development of the State.

He further charged the Governor to consider himself as a leader of all in the state and continue to engender government of inclusiveness, transparency, accountability and probity.