Adamawa Government Clarifies Chieftaincy Reform, Says Atiku Not Targeted

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The Adamawa State Government has stated that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not the focus of a recent chieftaincy policy barring non-indigenes from holding decision-making positions in emirates and chiefdoms where they are not native.

The policy has sparked widespread debate within the state, with speculation that it was designed to reduce the political influence of Atiku, who is originally from Jada in Ganye Emirate but currently holds the title of Waziri Adamawa in the Adamawa Emirate Council.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the state government clarified that the measure is not directed at any individual but is intended to promote autonomous leadership within local traditional systems across the state.

Addressing the issue, Commissioner for Information, Iliya James, explained that the reform is meant to ensure that traditional institutions are run by people who are indigenes of those communities, rather than by influential figures from outside.

“When you have kingmakers for a kingdom coming from outside the kingdom to decide who becomes king, for example, you could one day have the king from outside,” James said.

He further noted that the policy primarily affects council members—those with authority to make key decisions in the traditional system—not titleholders themselves.

Apart from Atiku, other notable council members of the Adamawa Emirate are also non-natives due to the state’s restructuring of its traditional hierarchy last year, which created seven new emirates and chiefdoms.

Among them are businessman Abdulkadir Aminu Mbamba, who holds the title Wali Adamawa; former Chief Judge of Adamawa State, Justice Nathan Musa, known as Wakili Alkalan Adamawa; and former Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, James Barka, who is the Magatakarda Adamawa.

All three are originally from Hong Local Government Area. That area was previously part of the Adamawa Emirate but now belongs to Huba Chiefdom following the creation of the new chiefdoms in November 2024.

Public debate around the reform intensified late on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, when the government’s circular on the policy surfaced online. Although the circular was dated June 20, it only became widely known days later.

Signed by Mrs. Adama Mamman, the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Chieftaincy Affairs in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the circular stated that the directive was part of a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s traditional institutions after the formation of new emirates and chiefdoms.

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