Wesley Bathiya: The man whose time has finally come as a speaker.
In May 2022, the Adamawa youth movement, led by Richard Wilson, declared that the odds favour the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nominee, Wesley Bathiya, for the position of future speaker of the Adamawa state House of Assembly.
He was simply restating what many astute Adamawa youngsters already knew and were echoing in private and public settings.
Wilson, speaking on the sidelines of a capacity building workshop for Adamawa youths, stated that Wesley Bathiya ‘is the most experienced in terms of party politics, and being a committee chairman and member of various subcommittees, the speakership position will not be new to Bathiya, let alone learning the ropes as it would be required for any other person’.
As the campaigns gain traction and the speakership aspirants reveal their plans and programmes for the Adamawa state house of assembly, it becomes clear that, by whatever criteria are used, Wesley Bathiya towers head and shoulders above all other aspirants seeking to be elected as Speaker of the Adamawa state house of assembly.
In terms of experience, no other candidate comes close to Wesley. Wesley’s experience crosses party lines, and he is seen as an electable politician. A experienced politician who entered Adamawa politics in 2019, he has delivered Hong votes for the PDP twice in a row, in 2019 and 2023, against all odds. What about 2019 if no politician can arque 2023? He single-handedly won the council for Fintiri when significant politicians of the Hong extraction were APC in 2019, and the PDP did the same in 2023.
Wesley Bathiya, a detribalized Nigerian by all accounts, is the only candidate for speakership in Adamawa who has acquired the trust of all Adamawa youths and ethnic groups, as seen by the large support base he has across ethnic, regional, religious, and age lines.
Wesley Bathiya has the statewide reach that a true Adamawa speaker need. He is the most recognised face among the candidates for speakership.
Through politics, business, and friendships, Wesley Bathiya has constructed links across the state, from Adamawa to the centre and south. He is not termed “the youth choice” or “the bridge builder” for nothing. During the campaign, he visited all of the local councils with the governor, he felt the pulse of the citizens, and he understands the challenges and how to fix them better than any other candidate. To top it all off, he can deliver Hong local government to the PDP come hell or high water.
Wilson, a PDP chieftain and youth commander in Adamawa State, recently stated that Bathiya Wesley had the best chance of all the candidates because of his spread.
“We Adamawa youths are convinced that Wesley, having delivered Hong local government to Fintiri lands lide, is the only candidate among the ranks of speakership aspirants; in fact, in the central zone, Hong local government is second to none in terms of votes for Fintiri.” Indeed, he suggested that the PDP in Adamawa should award sensitive posts to persons with electoral value.