By Nicodemus Vandi

As politicians begin clandestine moves for the control of the coveted Adamawa’s seat of power, the Dougirei government house Yola, one man has been silently making serious inroads into the consciousness of stakeholders. That man is Abdulrazaq Namdas, the house of reps member representing Mayo-Belwa, Jada, Ganye and Toungo federal constituency in the house of representatives and the current chairman, house committee on Army.

Namdas, a professional journalist turned politician is the only natural successor to governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri from the opposition political party, the All Progressives Congress going by his gangling political stature, acceptability, momentous achievements and democratic credentials that made him a giant before his contemporaries.

Such informed the increasing popularity and acceptability which his ambition is gaining within the ranks of APC faithfuls in the state who rightly nurture the belief that Namdas is the only man that can unseat governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, the present occupier of the seat in a free and fair contest because the odds are in his favour.

This is because out of the array of personalities with ambition to contest the coveted prize in APC, Namdas stands as the only one without baggage of any sort and therefore is in the best form and shape to wrest power from the current governor, with so much ease.

Among the array, Namdas is the only man whose pedigree, record of service and even the political nuances of geography and religion conspired to favour.

Destiny thrust Namdas to the political firmament when former governor Boni Haruna beckoned on him to serve as his Chief Press Secretary. Even as a reporter without previous experience of handling such a huge responsibility, Namda’s determination, integrity, courage and vast of knowledge of the profession made him to become not only successful at the job but one of the best Chief Press Secretary in history.

Namdas was able to navigate through the mosaic of challenges and became highly successful because even as a young reporter, he was never afraid of telling his principal the truth and the right path to go especially during very difficult and challenging times.

Such display of dour, professionalism and patriotism endeared him to the governor who has held him in high esteem till date.

Another fit of integrity displayed by Namdas which made him a rare breed in Nigeria’s murky waters of politics, is that he is one of the few politicians that have remained steadfast in opposition politics, till destiny ushered in the APC as Nigeria’s ruling party. Such historic feat was made because of the valiant roles Namdas and his ilk played in building a strong and reliable opposition political party capable of trouncing the ruling political party in 2015 polls.

It is worthy to state that Namdas’ deep rooted patriotism has made him to resist the temptation of defecting to the ruling party even when his principal, Boni Haruna dumped the opposition party due to some differences he had with its apparatchik and at a time the prospects of winning election in the opposition was very minimal.

This disposition is a pointer that Namdas was in politics not by its lure or lucre but by the call to serve his people.

The fact that Namdas refused to ditch the opposition ACN when he and Eng. Markus Gundiri lost their joint ticket to govern the state to the then ruling PDP in 2011 is another pointer to his abiding faith in the opposition.

It was not surprising therefore, that Namdas was the only surviving house of reps member in Adamawa Southern senatorial zone in 2019 general polls in which the PDP took the area by storm. The feat also attested to the fact that his political standing and popularity can never be contested.

Before the 2019 general election, APC controls the senate, three house of representatives as well as many other elective positions in the area but with the exception of Namdas, all the other positions were taken away by the PDP in what became a major setback of the APC.

Through that stroke of competence, Namdas is now the natural leader of APC in Adamawa southern senatorial zone and going by the strength of his constituency, he is one of the strongest political office holders in the state.

It is expected that such massive goodwill which made Namdas the only man to retain his position on account of his sterling performance, level headedness and service to his constituency will place him in good stead to defeat the incumbent governor whose senatorial zone consists of only five local governments with lesser voting power.

I think it is appropriate at this juncture to mention that the monumental developmental strides Namdas brought to his constituency in his over five year stint as a legislature was unprecedented and unrivalled in history which in turn informed the reciprocal gesture by the people.

It is worthy to mention that within the period under review Namdas played a vital role in attracting the contract for the construction of the Mayo-Belwa/Toungo road through vigorous lobbying and persistence on the executive to ensure it was captured in the budget.

Due to the premium he placed on the education sector, Namdas has equally ensured a number of schools were renovated while new classrooms were built and furnished with furniture. He also ensured that dilapidated libraries and laboratories were refurbished and equipped with the right tools.

He has also carried out series of empowerment programmes where hundreds of thousands of youths and women where empowered to start up businesses. This is not to mention the provision of transformers to some communities, construction of boreholes, culverts and bridges, construction of doctors quarters, primary health centre, teachers’ house among many.

Just last week, he distributed hospital equipment worth fifty million naira to six rural health centres in his constituency.

One would only wonder what Namdas will do if he occupy the exalted office of the governor.

Being a Muslim from a minority tribe like the governor, is another factor that will help Namdas to gain significant traction and political mileage because of the tendency that he will be accepted by the Christians and Muslims as both the two groups will always see him as their own.

His record of performance especially in the House of Representatives which he served as the chairman house committee on information as a first termer and now the chairman house committee on Army all attested to his capabilities and acceptability.

His wide network of friends and connections will also come handy in helping him with the needed support to consolidate his grip on the state.

Age wise, Namdas is one of the youngest among the array of contestants in his party and will surely use his energy, resourcefulness and power of knowledge to replicate the good work he started at his constituency on a larger scale.

On this note, it is my candid call on the youths to take up the gauntlet and push this narrative forward for the good of the society.

Vandi a crusader of good governance, sent in the piece from Michika local government