Fintiri has final say on party tickets- APC senatorial aspirant

A senatorial aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in Adamawa Central Zone, Aliyu Abbati, has said that the final decision on picking APC candidates rests with Governor Ahmadu Fintiri and other party leaders.

Speaking on Sunday in Yola during an interaction with journalists, he said the leaders of the APC under Fintiri would produce the best candidates capable of winning elections for the party.

“We are loyal and obedient party members. We respect our leaders and will always be guided by their counsel.

“We hope that our leaders will consider us worthy enough to be accepted among the aspirants for the Adamawa Central Senatorial District.

“This contest will not be a do-or-die affair. Whichever way our leaders and senior stakeholders decide on it,” the politician said.

Abbati said he was driven into the senatorial contest due to the underdevelopment of the Adamawa Central Senatorial District.

“ I am here because our district is too important to remain underleveraged. We are blessed with history, location, people, enterprise, farmland, waterways, intellect, and strategic relevance. Yet too many of our communities are still burdened by flooding, unemployment, weak infrastructure, educational hardship, insecure livelihoods, underfunded health systems, and lost economic opportunity.”

“I am offering myself for the Senate because Adamawa Central deserves representation that is active, strategic, connected, and productive.”

Abbati said he is going to Abuja not to warm a seat, adding, “I am going there to work, to legislate, to advocate, to negotiate, to attract projects, and to make the Federal Government more visible in the daily lives of our people”.

He said that under the APC-led Federal Government, Adamawa State would have a rare opportunity to attract more development, including roads, irrigation, jobs, skills, healthcare support, education access, livestock investment, security coordination, and economic growth.

“We will not seek development by noise. We will pursue it by structure, by competence, and by results.”

“NELFUND as a beneficial federal institution is only one example. Across federal ministries, departments, and agencies are thousands of opportunities that Adamawa Central has not sufficiently tapped.”

He said the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development by the administration of President Bola Tinubu shows the government’s focus on grassroots development.

“The Ministry of Livestock Development alone shows how sector-specific federal intervention can support animal health, dairy value chains, pasture management, veterinary services, and conflict reduction when a district has focused representation.

“And let me say this clearly: the Senate needs experience. It needs people who have seen leadership from both the public and private sectors, people with the maturity to engage ministers, lobby colleagues, move motions, support bills, and pursue the kind of strategic follow-up that brings results back home,” he said.

Abbati is currently the only Senate aspirant in Adamawa Central, as the serving senator, Iyya Abbas, is contesting for the governorship.