Adamu Reaps the Fruits of Loyalty

BRIEFINGNOTES

A former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu’s unflinching loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari, which had manifested in his sustained pro-Buhari sentiments and fierce criticisms of Dr. Bukola Saraki-led leadership of the eighth Senate may have led to his reported endorsement by the president as the consensus candidate for the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Ejiofor Alike reports

A member of the National Assembly representing Nasarawa West senatorial district, Senator Abdullahi Adamu’s loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari had manifested significantly at the height of the no-love-lost relationship between the Dr. Bukola Saraki-led leadership of the eighth Senate and Buhari’s presidency.

At the peak of the frosty relationship between the pro-Saraki senators and the presidency, the senator representing Nasarawa West senatorial district, became so consistent in attacking Saraki and his allies that the then Senate President had to describe him as “the attack dog of the executive.”

Adamu, alongside Saraki, was among the PDP senators who joined the APC after breaking away from the PDP to form nPDP before the 2015 general election.

After joining the APC, Adamu became the leader of those described as the pro-Presidency wing of the nPDP bloc in the ruling party.

When his former colleagues in the PDP were complaining bitterly of marginalisation by the Buhari administration,  Adamu had defended Buhari, insisting that the members of the nPDP had never had it so good.

He further insisted that the Buhari administration had been very fair in his dealings with all members of the legacy parties that merged to form the APC.

The former Nasarawa State governor had also argued that there was nowhere any government in the world would carry everybody along 100 per cent or satisfy the interests of the entire members of the party in power.

It is on record that Adamu consistently berated other members of the defunct nPDP in APC, who held anti-Buhari sentiments.

The then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development under the Saraki-led eighth Senate became unsparing in his attack on Saraki as soon as the then Senate President rejoined the PDP with his allies.

In his war against Saraki, Adamu had an ally in his colleague representing Delta Central senatorial district of Delta State, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who has since been rewarded for his loyalty with the position of Deputy Senate President.

Adamu and Omo-Agege took the issue between Saraki and the Presidency so personal that the then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institution, Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim had to raise the alarm that the two senators  believed that attacking Saraki was the best means to escape from the long arm of the law.

Rafiu alleged in a statement that the two lawmakers were using the attacks to be in the good books of their handlers in the presidency.

He reportedly stated that Adamu formed the group he called  Parliamentary Support Group (PSG) when his pending case of corruption as governor of Nasarawa State being handled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was about to be taken to court.

In the case of Omo-Agege, Rafiu had stated that the Delta senator believed that by abusing the leadership of the Senate, he would be guaranteed the ticket of the APC by his handlers in the presidency.

“The same way he abuses people in Abuja, he does same thing in his home state and that is why he is the one dividing the party in Delta State. He is definitely a divisive character,” Rafiu reportedly alleged.

For his unalloyed loyalty to the President, Omo-Agege, not only got the APC senatorial ticket but also the position of the Deputy Senate President.

With the search for the consensus candidate of the APC, speculations are rife that now is the payback time for Adamu.

When Saraki rejoined the PDP, Adamu accused him of veering off the path carved out by his father, the late Senator Olusola Saraki.

“He had a duty to his father to keep the flag of the family flying but the way he is going, I do not think he is doing that,” Adamu reportedly said in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

His earlier criticism of Saraki had attracted a harsh response from the then Senate President.

Saraki had earlier declared that “he (Adamu) feels the best way to play his self-survival game and ingratiate himself to the government in order to save his skin is for him to be seen to be fighting Saraki, even if that would require him to tell brazen lies and peddle mischief in his old age”.

Saraki had also called Adamu the “attack dog of the executive,” and a liar, among other things.

The former Kwara State governor was responding to Adamu’s alleged claim that he (Saraki) had called the then Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi West senatorial district, a clown.

Adamu had allegedly told a national daily (not THISDAY) that the Senate president referred to Melaye, seen as one of Saraki’s staunchest allies, as a clown.

“He said to me ‘no, forget Dino is a clown.’ That’s what Saraki said to me,” Adamu reportedly said.

But in a statement signed on his behalf by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu,  Saraki stated that: “I have deliberately ignored the antics of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, especially his constant media attack on me and the Senate since the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) dusted his file on alleged case of corruption and also went ahead to arraign his son in court

“So far, I had refrained from responding in kind out of respect for his age. However, it seems he has misread my maturity and respect for docility. He feels the best way to play his self-survival game and ingratiate himself to the government in order to save his skin is for him to be seen to be fighting Saraki, even if that would require him to tell brazen lies and peddle mischief in his old age.”

Saraki denied referring to Melaye as a clown, insisting that he knew from available records that Melaye had so far outshined and performed better than Adamu in terms of the number of bills sponsored, motion raised and contributions to debate on the floor.

However, responding to the allegation by Saraki and his allies that his sudden support for Buhari was the result of the case he and his son had with EFCC, the Keffi-born lawmaker had declared that Saraki lied, arguing that his case with the anti-graft agency was closed on June 28, 2015.

The ex-Nasarawa State governor said he had no case in court in any part of the country, and challenged Saraki to go and verify if he had any case in any court in Nigeria.

Adamu also accused Saraki of plotting to succeed Buhari when the president was sick and undergoing treatment in London in 2017.

Indeed, Adamu made sure that those who attacked Buhari during Saraki’s leadership of the Senate suffered bruises.

With Buhari’s track record of rewarding loyalty, it is therefore not surprising that Adamu’s name has surfaced as the president’s anointed consensus candidate for the national chairman of the ruling party. Is this a payback time for the Nasarawa senator? Is the reported endorsement real or a hoax?

There is also the allegation that he may have been endorsed by the presidency to help tackle and checkmate a particular presidential candidate. What ever the reason for the endorsement of the former Nasarawa State governor, the unfolding events of the next few weeks will tell.