Ribadu Has Been Forced to Step Down from Adamawa Guber

When some people told Nuhu Ribadu that he is not yet a political heavy-weight, he did not agree. Now the saga is getting clearer and interesting. Eight of the 14 aspirants jostling for Adamawa Governorship ticket under the PDP stepped down from the race in the early hours of Friday.

After about four hours meeting with the aspirants that started by 9.06 p.m on Thursday and ended around 1.00 a.m on Friday at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Senate President, David Mark along with other officials of the party were able to reach a compromise with the aspirants and pruned down the number of those contesting to six.

The six aspirants still in the race for the party's ticket on Saturday are:
Ahmed Gulak, Buba Marwa, Ahmed Modibbo, Umar Ardo, Jerry Kumdisi and Ag Gov Umaru Fintiri.

Those who were made to withdraw from the primary election are Nuhu Ribadu; Auwal Tukur; Aliyu Idi Hong, Andrawus Sawa; James Barka; Gen. Aliyu Kama; Markus Gundiri and Abubakar Girei.

It was agreed at the closed-door meeting that the six aspirants contesting for the party's ticket on Saturday will not contest for the position in 2015.

It was also agreed that only those stepping down now can contest for the party's governorship election ticket in 2015, with more consideration in 2015 for Adamawa Central that has never produced a governor.

Any aspirant who fails to win the party's ticket in Saturday's primary election, the meeting, also agreed must support the party's flag bearer towards the 11th October election.

The former Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak, who is contesting for the ticket on Saturday, said: "The outcome of the meeting was fantastic. We met as family members of PDP, even before coming here all the aspirants in Adamawa have unanimously resolved that after the primaries, in a free, fair primaries, anybody that emerges will get our support."

"Today, in this meeting, the number of the aspirants has been drastically reduced to six, which is manageable. I am contesting, Gen. Marwa is contesting, Ahmed Modibbo is contesting, Dr. Umar Ardo is contesting, Hon. Jerry Kumdisi is contesting, and Acting Governor Fintiri is contesting."

"And we have resolved to go into the primaries without rancour, without acrimony and to come out of it as peaceful co-existing members."

It is expected that Ribadu will try his luck under PDP again in 2015, all things being equal.