Opinion: Bindow, not Ribadu, deserves credit for Mustapha’s rise in APC
The speech delivered by Comrade Salihu Mustapha during the courtesy visit to Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri at Government House, Yola, penultimate Tuesday, was laden with self glorification and a distortion of political history in Adamawa State.
While addressing the governor, Mustapha poured encomiums on the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to the amazement of many listeners. However, a careful look at the political events that shaped the All Progressives Congress in Adamawa raises serious questions about the basis of such excessive praise.
Historical facts remain clear. Comrade Mustapha was appointed Zonal Vice Chairman of the APC in 2016 during the administration of former Governor Umaru Jibrilla Bindow. At that particular period, Ribadu was not even in the APC. He was in the Peoples Democratic Party, having contested the governorship election under the PDP platform and lost.
Going by the sequence of political events, it is obvious that Mustapha’s elevation within the APC structure had far more to do with the influence and political backing of Bindow than any contribution from Ribadu or any other political figure from Adamawa State. Ribadu only returned to the APC in 2019, years after Mustapha had already secured his position within the party hierarchy.
This naturally leads to an important question: where exactly is the overwhelming praise for Ribadu coming from?
If the political assistance Mustapha received from both men is placed side by side, it becomes evident that Bindow played the greater role in advancing his political journey. Before Ribadu returned to the APC, there were already individuals keeping the party structure alive in Adamawa. Bindow himself made history as the first governor produced by the APC in the state.
It is also important to remember that Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri won his House of Assembly election in 2011 under the defunct Action Congress platform before the party later evolved into the APC. Therefore, the narrative suggesting that certain political actors suddenly became the foundation of the party’s success does not align with reality.
It was highly inappropriate for Mustapha to stand before Governor Fintiri and heap unnecessary praises on a politician perceived to have contributed little or nothing to his personal political rise.
Mustapha should rather speak the truth instead of engaging in political praise singing designed to please individuals who may never genuinely support his political ambitions.
He should use this opportunity to openly tell Adamawa people exactly what Ribadu has personally done for him politically so that the public can properly appreciate such contributions. Otherwise, tomorrow another political narrative may emerge claiming that it was Ribadu, and not Governor Fintiri or the established APC structure, that made him what he is today, no man can serve two masters at same time