The former governor of Adamawa State, Umar Jibrilla (Bindow), has explained, that his aspiration to return to the Government House was to salvage the state and complete his constitutionally guaranteed eight years if given the opportunity.
Bindow, who contested under the All Progressive Congress, lost to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2019, declared his interest to contest for the governorship ticket of the APC on Monday, which coincided with Fintiri’s declaration to seek a second term.
He rued his loss in the 2019 elections due to what he described as disunity within the APC and acknowledged that getting the party’s ticket was more difficult for him than winning the election because of the stiff competition posed by other qualified aspirants.
He, however, expressed confidence about his chances, adding that all his efforts would be preoccupied with how he could become the party’s flagbearer for the governorship election in 2023.
The former governor said, “I want to really see how to get this ticket, though I am not concerned about most of them, knowing their record. Because some of them worked under me. I want to basically see that I become the flagbearer of the APC.
“Getting the APC ticket is more difficult for me than winning the general elections because the competition for the ticket is now very fierce in our party, seeing the calibre of aspirants vying for this position.”
Bindow who said his administration did very well in the provision of infrastructure, added that 393 roads made up township and rural roads were constructed during his first term.
According to him, the most remarkable of these infrastructures is a bridge in Song Local Government Area which residents of the community had been clamouring for, for over 100 years.
He said getting a second tenure would help to salvage the state, giving the misplacement of priority by the Fintiri administration in channelling hard resources into building a grade inter-change and fly-over when access to clean water supply still remains a major challenge to citizens across the state.
He said, “I am a man of infrastructure. When you say infrastructure it can be roads, water, or education. My second term was really to declare a state of emergency on education and after that go to the water sector – because really there’s no access to clean drinking water in almost all the Local Government Areas of the state. But my concentration now, I want to focus on getting the ticket to salvage the people.”
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