A chief in Adamawa State, Umar Mustapha has been stripped of his chieftaincy title after he criticised the Governor of the state, Ahmadu Fintiri for spending N200 million on cars for traditional rulers in the state.
The chief who formerly held the traditional title of Mukaddas Adamawa was deposed by the Lamido of Adamawa, Muhammadu Barkindo.
Mustapha had in an earlier statement berated the state governor for spending such an amount of money on traditional rulers while pensioners in the state were being owed their entitlements.
He was quoted as saying, ”The good gesture done to the revered Monarchs is a misplaced priority and Mr Fintiri wants to bribe his way by buying the conscience of the traditional rulers building (sic) to the 2023 elections
“I wonder why the gesture must be done now knowing the fact that the governor knows their need for vehicles long ago since coming into government.
“The decision to get the exotic vehicles for the first-class traditional rulers while pensioners are dying of hunger, battling to pay their children school fees is a gross insensitivity of the government toward the common man whose pension and gratuity is their right.
“Let me tell you the general perception of people over this matter is that the government is trying to bribe them to pipe them low because the government has neglected and caused them a lot of hardship.
“In another way, the government is trying to soften their stand. There is a plan which everybody knows of reducing their domain by creating new Chiefdoms to balkanize the existing ones. Naturally, they wouldn’t want that to happen. So to me, he gave them these vehicles to get soft landing which many termed to be a bribe.
“How do you give someone a car and don’t have the resources to maintain it? The intention is not a good one. If the government has good intentions to help them, they would have sat down with them and found out their problems. I am sure they will tell him things that bother them that are much better than the vehicles he provided.”
In reaction to the statement, the Emir, Barkindo, in a statement through the emirate secretary, Khalil Kawu, said Mustapha has been deposed.
The Emir described Mustaphe as not fit to remain a chief because of his “deliberate attack on the governor”.
“The paramount ruler of the Fombina said Umar Mustapha does not deserve to hold the title as a result of his deliberate attack on the governor on the presentation of the vehicles to first-class traditional rulers in the state.
“The unguarded utterance on the government is unwarranted and is an affront on the traditional institution which he is just part and parcel of.
“The presentation of the vehicles by the Fintiri administration comes after a long time when the institution benefited from such laudable gesture and wondered why that has become an issue to people when they are expected to support the government towards promoting its well-intentioned peace-building initiative across the state.”