You Copied My Manifesto — Abbo Accuses Galadima of Plagiarism

Former Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District and Labour Party governorship aspirant in Adamawa State, Senator Ishaku Abbo, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Tijjani Galadima, of allegedly using substantial portions of his manifesto without acknowledgement.

Abbo made the allegation on his social media following Galadima’s  speech delivered on September 9 in Yola, Adamawa State.

The former senator particularly took exception to Galadima’s use of the phrase “The Wealth Beneath Our Feet,” which Abbo said was the deliberate title of Parts One and Two of his previously published manifesto on mining and natural resources.

According to him, the manifesto was developed to outline how Adamawa State could identify, develop and add value to its mineral resources for the benefit of residents.

Abbo alleged that Galadima’s speech contained words, ideas and expressions which he described as strikingly similar to materials contained in his earlier published manifesto.

He therefore described the development as a possible case of plagiarism, explaining that plagiarism could involve the direct use of another person’s words or the reproduction of their ideas, structure or expression without proper acknowledgement.

“Politics should be a contest of ideas. I welcome any candidate adopting good ideas that can improve the lives of the people of Adamawa State,” Abbo said.

He, however, said there was a distinction between adopting a good policy idea and claiming originality for an idea that had previously been published by another person.

Abbo also drew attention to a moment during Galadima’s speech when, according to him, the APC candidate initially appeared to say “The Wealth Before Our Feet” before correcting himself to “The Wealth Beneath Our Feet.”

The Labour Party aspirant said the incident further heightened his suspicion that the expression may have been taken from material prepared by another person.

However, Abbo said he was prepared to give Galadima the benefit of the doubt, suggesting that the speech could have been prepared by members of the APC campaign team without the candidate being aware of the alleged source.

He consequently called on the APC and its governorship candidate to either publicly acknowledge the source of the disputed material or explain the independent origin of the phrase and other similarities identified in the speech.

Abbo maintained that his manifesto was not merely a collection of campaign rhetoric but the product of research, consultation and policy planning aimed at transforming Adamawa State.

He said he would welcome the adoption of workable ideas from his manifesto by other political actors if such ideas would ultimately benefit the people of the state.

“If my manifesto is already influencing the policies of my opponents before I enter Government House, then we are already changing the direction of our state,” he said.

Abbo concluded by insisting that while words, titles and ideas could be reproduced, the vision and preparation behind them could not be copied.

“The people of Adamawa know who introduced ‘The Wealth Beneath Our Feet,’” he said, adding that history would remember the original.