Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has urged Northern leaders to accept responsibility for the insecurity confronting the region instead of blaming President Bola Tinubu for the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.
Fintiri made the call on Thursday at an engagement with stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Yola, where he challenged Northern political leaders to confront the region’s challenges and develop lasting solutions to them.
The governor questioned the tendency among some Northerners to blame Southern presidents whenever insecurity escalates in the region.
He recalled the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying the former leader was similarly accused of creating the conditions that allowed Boko Haram terrorism to thrive.
According to Fintiri, such accusations ignore the fact that the insurgents responsible for the violence are largely from the region.
“Why is it that Northerners always complain whenever a Southerner is the President of the country?” he asked.
He added, “But honestly, we are all aware that Boko Haram members are our people, not people from Southern Nigeria.”
Fintiri said the same pattern had continued under Tinubu, with some Northern leaders blaming the President for insecurity rather than examining the failures of leadership within the region.
“We, as leaders from the North, should stop running away from our problems and blaming others for our failures,” he said.
The governor maintained that Tinubu had not short-changed Northern Nigeria since assuming office, stressing that he had no reason to accuse the President of deliberately disadvantaging his home area of Madagali Local Government Area.
“Tinubu, as far as I am concerned, did not cheat us, the people of Madagali Local Government Area, where I come from,” Fintiri said.
On the economy, the governor expressed support for the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, saying the government had recorded significant progress in efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy.
He also condemned street begging, particularly the practice of sending children from poor families to solicit alms, arguing that such practices were inconsistent with Islamic teachings.
Turning to the political situation in Adamawa ahead of the 2027 general elections, Fintiri dismissed rumours surrounding the APC governorship candidate and the party’s electoral prospects in the state.
He described the APC as a party open to Nigerians irrespective of tribe or religion and urged members who lost at the party’s primaries to remain committed to its structure.
“You should not allow rumours to determine your political advantage because, as far as I am concerned, we do not have any party other than the APC in Adamawa,” he said.
Fintiri further declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had lost its political foothold in the state, while dismissing the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a significant political force in Adamawa.
He charged APC stakeholders to return to their local government areas, wards and polling units to mobilise voters ahead of the 2027 elections.
The governor expressed confidence that the APC would secure victory across the ballot, from the presidential election to councillorship contests.
Fintiri also issued a strong warning against any attempt to manipulate the outcome of the 2027 election in the state, vowing that Adamawa would resist electoral rigging.
“I swear by Almighty Allah that no person born of a woman will come to Adamawa and rig us out,” he declared.
