Fintiri orders all non-governmental organisations to leave.

The Governor of Adamawa State, Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri, has ordered all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to leave the state over alleged illegal activities fueling insecurity.

Read the full speech:

The presidential and national assembly elections have come and gone, but I must thank all our citizens for trooping out enmasse to exercise their civic responsibility. Your conduct during and after the elections was peaceful, orderly, exemplary, and commendable.

This is the true reflection of Adamawa as the home of peace and a bastion of democracy. I urge you to remain calm while we await the announcement of the final outcome of the exercise.

While I applaud the important role that our security agencies played in keeping peace and order during the election, I want to warn troublemakers and bad people not to try to cause law and order to break down. Without hesitation, such misguided elements would be held accountable for their actions.

We cannot allow a return to the gloomy era of disruption and chaos. The peaceful coexistence the state enjoys did not come on a platter of gold. It is a hard-earned one. Any attempt to tempt it would thus be dealt with harshly. I have ordered patrols and surveillance by the security personnel to keep everything in check.

Peaceful people who live in Adamawa State don’t have to worry about anything because the government has put in place all the security measures needed to keep our promise to protect our people’s lives and property.

No election is worth the life of any citizen of the state. As a result, it is my responsibility as a citizen to maintain peace and allow the process to continue until a winner is determined.

It has been discovered that most non-governmental organisations have swallowed the bug and are dabbling in politics in the name of providing humanitarian assistance to the people.

The government cannot stand by and watch as such so-called non-governmental organisations mislead the public and instil divisive tendencies in their minds.

In view of the foregoing and in furtherance of our desire to reorder the electoral behaviour of our people and remove the influence of the NGOs who have to reduce the statutory mandate to that of a vote-buying machine, the government has decided to suspend the activities of local and international non-governmental organisations throughout the state until the 15th of March, 2023, when the elections are done. This is done in good faith and to further our desire to deepen our democracy and protect the humanitarian mandate of non-governmental organizations.

Let us learn to put the interest of the country above any other primordial interest. There is no time to waste. We all know the threats that further hesitation will bring.

Lastly, I want to thank our people for giving this government a lot of support. You showed this by voting in large numbers for our party in the last presidential and national assembly elections, and I urge you to do even more in the next governorship and state assembly elections.

Long live Adamawa State.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.