By Tom Garba
There was a time when the name Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru Modibbo, Binani, was not just a name in Adamawa politics, it was a movement.
From 2011 to 2023, Binani was the gold standard of grassroots politics in Adamawa State. As Member, House of Representatives for Yola North, Yola South and Girei Federal Constituency (2011-2015), she built a reputation for accessibility. As Senator for Adamawa Central (2019-2023), she performed credibly, empowering women and youths with projects that touched the wards. She was not just a politician; she was a precious stone and a jewel in the savannah.
Her peak was 2023.
As the only female governorship candidate of a ruling party in the entire federation, she became the most powerful woman politician in Nigeria. In a state that parades giants like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and an incumbent Governor, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, and despite a brutal APC internal crisis where a faction worked openly against her, Binani bulldozed her way and picked the ticket. It was political craftsmanship at its finest.
Then came the infamous declaration. The controversial announcement by REC Barr. Hudu Ari, declaring her winner while collation was still ongoing, a speech she accepted with grace, turned Adamawa into the centre of national and international attention. It was dramatic, it was chaotic, and it cemented her name as the Iron Woman.
That was the rise. This is the fall.
Since that 2023 saga, the political pendulum has refused to swing Binani’s way. The system, the luck, the structure that once obeyed her, now eludes her.
Her restless political moves have become her undoing. After the APC debacle, she pitched her tent with Atiku Abubakar in the ADC, hoping for a soft landing. The ADC structure rejected her, refused her the ticket, and she left. Today, she is the gubernatorial candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC.
And that is the problem.
NDC is a total stranger in Adamawa. The local voter in Fufore, in Michika, in Ganye, knows APC’s broom and PDP’s umbrella with his eyes closed. He does not know NDC. The party has not done the homework of selling itself to the grassroots, and as APC Secretary in Adamawa, Mallam Mustapha Ribadu rightly observed, her campaign structure is still turtling around just trying to make a name.
Her political muscles are weakening. Her tentacles are cutting off. Her 2023 war chest was built by loyalists who are now scattered – Senator Ishaku Abbo, the man who perfected her political jamboree and smart arithmetic in 2023, is now the Labour Party gubernatorial candidate. They have parted ways on party affiliation. Most of her core supporters are now in APC, PDP and LP. The Binani structure has collapsed into fragments.
The tragedy is that the almighty Binani we used to hear from 2011 to 2023 is rarely heard today. In political discussions across the 21 LGAs, names like Ahmed Aminu Galadima of APC, Chief Maurice Vunobolki of PDP, Christopher Nathaniel of SDP and Ishaku Abbo of LP echo louder than Binani. Her name, once a chant among women and youths, is now a whisper.
Worse, the NDC itself is already divided. Claims and counter-claims over her rejection of former SGF, Engr. David Babachir Lawal, as North East National Vice Chairman of the party has thrown the Adamawa chapter into crisis. A faction of enmity has formed against her, and she is working against BD Lawal. A house divided against itself cannot stand. She is in fading pro-max, not progressive mode.
Many now see her as desperate and gullible, jumping from one party to another – recall her PDM days in 2015 when she contested Senate while her husband held the governorship ticket of the same party. That same auto-pilot, now in reverse gear, is playing out.
Can Binani win in 2027? The question on every lip in Jimeta, Yola and Mubi has a bitter answer. It is becoming like the proverbial saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for her to reclaim that 2023 momentum. Her chances have become narrower, slimmer than ever.
This is not to write her off completely. One good thing about Binani is her smart way of doing things. She can turn the tide, she can call the shots and spring surprises. She remains a smart political operator.
But as it stands today, the Iron Lady is rusting. From better to worse, from APC behemoth to NDC stranger, the Binani political empire that once shook Adamawa is fading.
Until then, it is not yet Uhuru, because in Adamawa’s unpredictable dynamics, even the popular candidates are not guaranteed victory.
. Tom Garba is a Policy, Political and Crisis analyst. Lives and writes from Jimeta – Adamawa State. 08030525759
