Ex-governorship candidate tackles Fintiri over new Adamawa emirate law

The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 election, Umar Ardo, has tackled Governor Ahmadu Fintiri over the new emirate law in Adamawa State.

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Mr Ardo, in a statement, described the new emirate law and another district creation law as sounding a death knell for Adamawa’s traditional heritage.

Governor Fintiri proposed the emirate law to the state House of Assembly on 9 December.

The Assembly passed the bill, titled “Adamawa State Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) and matters incidental thereto,” into law on 10 December, and it now awaits Governor Fintiri’s assent.

The law also empowers the governor to create new emirates in the North-east state.
The governor signed the other law earlier on 4 December. The District Creation Law 2024 creates 83 new districts.

The district creation law reduced the number of local government areas in the Lamido of Adamawa, Mustapha Barkindo’s domain, from eight to three. Under the new district law, it is left with Girei Jimeta and Yola, with the cut of areas awaiting to be apportioned to new emirate (s).

“Since the last general elections when the people of Adamawa State massively rejected my candidature at the governorship polls, I had kept my distance from the affairs of the state, letting the people to their fate in the hands of the incompetent and rapacious leadership they elected for the state.

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“I had wanted to keep it so, but with how the government, governor, and legislators are running aground the affairs of the state, it is not just right to continue keeping quiet and allow the drift,” Mr Ardo said.

He said, “Not only most of the policies of the state government are rudderless, but the circumvention of the requirements of law and time-tested procedures in the enactment of inter-generational laws for the state is simply not right”.

Mr Ardo warned that if the law is allowed to pass with disregard for popular interests, the state will soon slide into dictatorship, which should not be permitted.

Mr Ardo said the lawmakers granted the governor sweeping powers over the traditional institution of the state, including the appointment and deposition of all traditional rulers.

“The new law, which was hurriedly and covertly passed without public hearings or any formal deliberations, effectively makes the governor the “Chief Pharaoh,” wielding absolute powers of “life and death” over an institution that has for centuries symbolised the soul of our communities.

“This law is not just an affront to the dignity of Adamawa’s traditional institution but a blow to the very fabric of our culture and identity as a people. By centralising such power to himself, the governor now holds the fate of our revered chiefs and emirs, District, Village and Ward Heads in his hands, reducing them to mere poppets in his palms, exclusive of any legislative and customary restraints.

“This not only undermines the sanctity of the traditional institution and erodes its significance in society but also threatens to erode the communal harmony and stability that the institution had long fostered,” Mr Ardo said.

Mr Ardo said new laws introduced a reckless expansion of the traditional institution, creating more ward, village, and district heads, as well as putting to the absolute discretion of the governor the powers to add limitless chiefdoms and emirates and installing their occupants, but without any clear corresponding roles, powers or resources.

He said such a haphazard approach of fragmenting communities and creating overlapping jurisdictions would only foster confusion rather than cohesion. “It risks plunging Adamawa into a quagmire of communal disputes over territory, authority and legitimacy, thereby undermining the institution’s ability to serve as a unifying force”.

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He added that the new laws threaten to sever traditional and cultural ties by imposing a political agenda on an institution that should remain above the fray of politics.

“What Adamawa needs now is not a proliferation of titles and territories, but a strengthening of the traditional institution in a way that respects its autonomy strengthens its powers, and preserves its societal relevance.

“A functional democracy thrives on checks and balances, but this law upends that principle, concentrating unchecked power in the hands of one individual,” Mr Ardo said.