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The Fall Of The Admiral By Usman Garba Santuraki The judgment was long awaited. A lot of people are of the opinion or rather hold the opinion, that nothing new would come out from the earlier judgment delivered by the Election Petition Tribunal that nullified the election of Admiral Murtala Nyako as the Governor of Adamawa State. So, in far away Jos the judgment delivered by the Appeal Court upholding the nullification of the election, of Admiral Nyako as the Governor of Adamawa does not come to a lot of people with surprise. In otherwords, what surprised a lot of people is the fall of an Admiral and a person, who has made his mark in his chosen career in the Nigeria Navy that culminated in his appointment as the Chief of Naval Staff during the reign of former military President Ibrahim Babangida. This writer, was one of the few people, who hold the retired Naval Admiral in high esteem because of his impressive record as a Naval officer. But, the moment the Admiral ventured into the murky waters of politics through the back door have a rethink. The back door is that, the Admiral does not partake in any primaries of his party to be nominated as the candidate of his party(PDP) for the April 2007 gubernatorial election for Adamawa State. Even what transpired in the election, that saw him emerging as the winner made this writer, to distanced himself from the Admiral because the circumtances, that saw him being declared as the winner had never happen in the political history of not only the state, but the country as a whole.
The
belief of this writer and that of many people was
that
the Admiral is a decent man, that cannot condoned indecency in his life.
But, we are proved wrong by the action of the Admiral accepting to be made
the Governor of the state inspite of the flaws, that are so glaringly for
people to see. Infact, what happen during the election especially in some
areas such as Fufore is abuse of electoral processes, that can not be
condoned by any decent person, that want an enthroned democracy taking its
rightful place in this country. Without any iota of contradiction by this
writer and many other people the Admiral was made to believe that there is
no going to anything to happened. This set of people are only out to
massage their ego and not for the overall interest of Adamawa State. These
people does not share the same aspiration and desire of the Admiral but,
was made to tow the same line like these people. No doubt, that in his
eight months of stewardship as the Governor of the state, he seems to be
held captive by these people that even cast him in bad light in the eyes
of a lot of supporters. The Admiral Nyako may have the desire for a change
in Adamawa State. But, his alignment with these set of people completely
changed his mind. Admiral Nyako right from the onset, could not have allow
himself to fall into the trap, that he now found himself with the
nullification of his election by the Appeal Court. Now, that his election
was nullified by the court as a result of the suit filed in by the Action
Congress candidate Alhaji Ibrahim Bapetel of which the Election Petition
Tribunal sitting in Yola has earlier on nullified, the stage was now set
on for another election to be held on or before 90 days after the judgment
by the Court of Appeal. There is the need for the contenders, to uphold
the virtues of playing the game in the most honourable ways and manners.
It is also necessary for the politicians irrespective of party leaning to
see themselves as partners in progress that are all out to better the lot
of the people of Adamawa State. They should also play the game according
to the rule and embrace each other as brothers and sisters, that are out
to made a change and difference in Adamawa State. With the ascending of
the Speaker of the State House of Assembly Hon. James Barka as the Acting
Governor of the state, a lot of people opined that there is light at the
end of the tunnel. The Acting Governor as a tested politician no doubt,
can supervised the coming election by giving a free level playing field
for all the contenders and the political parties. May God give our leaders
the courage to uphold the virtue of being upright and seeing politics as a
way of rendering service to the people. BY
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