Fintiri directs candidates to select women running mates in Adamawa council elections

• Grants amnesty to four males, one female prison inmates  

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has issued a directive to the leadership of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure that women are selected as chairmanship running mates ahead of the forthcoming local government elections in the state.

The governor, who gave the order, yesterday in Yola, the state capital, during a stakeholders’ meeting, highlighted his administration’s commitment towards promoting gender equality across the state.

The directive, according to him, is aimed at empowering women, as well as encouraging them to participate more in the political process of the state.The governor said that this will also assist in increasing female representation in local councils’ governance .

In another development, Fintri, yesterday, granted amnesty to five prison inmates, four males and one female.The amnesty, which was announced via a statement made available to journalists in Yola by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Humoashi Wonosiko, was in commemoration of the Democracy Day observance.

The freed inmates include Hapsatu Idi, who is the only female among them, and Ali Abdul, Mohammed Goni, Buba Usman and Babala Benson.The governor also commuted the death sentences of two convicts, whose names were given as Usman Inuwa and Joseph Eugene to life imprisonment.

The governor’s action, according to the statement, is based on the advice of the Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy and the powers conferred on him by Section 212(i) (d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended”.