By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
Bauchi state chapter of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is in power in the state has dismissed insinuating comments by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the coming local government elections will not be free and fair.
Reacting to the insinuation on Friday, State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Yayanuwa Zainabari described the APC in the state as a “Non existent opposition party in Bauchi state, the members are not coherent, all they know how to do, it to talk on non existent issues.”
According to him, “The PDP and the Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir are the best thing to have happened to Bauchi state in the last 5 years. You can see all over the state the developmental projects that have been executed for the good of the people of the state.”
He added that, “From all indications, the APC is not prepared for the elections because it does not have credible candidates that can win elections in the state. Let them just come and join the PDP for a better Bauchi State.”
Yayanuwa Zainabari pointed out that the PDP has since conducted its primaries and elected candidates for all of the 323 political Wards in the state as well as the Chairmanship candidates of the 20 LGAs in an atmosphere of understanding and consensus.
He said that, “The Governor is a Democrat and gave every aspirant a level playing field unlike in some places where the list of candidates will be drafted from the Governor’s Office and imposed on the party. All the stakeholders were duly and fully involved in the processes.”
The PDP State Image Marker assured that the elections will be conducted in an atmosphere of peace while the outcome will be free, fair and acceptable to all.
The APC had insinuated asking that, “Can Governor Bala Muhammed do in the August 17 Bauchi State’s Local Government Elections, what he’s imploring President Tinubu and INEC to do in Edo and Ondo? Hell no. Kaura doesn’t live by the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. He’s duplicitous.”
The APC added that,”Therefore, the Chair of PDP Governor’s Forum and the Governor of Bauchi State’s Enugu duplicitous admonishment of Wednesday, 17 July 2024, to the President and INEC regarding the off-season elections in Edo and Ondo must be contemptuously treated as such.”
Malam Saadu Umar, Chairman, APC Publicity Committee stated that,”Kaura should concentrate on confronting his own demons instead of engaging in sciamachy. It’s not surprising though. For whenever there’s an election, which he is not in charge of, Qaura appears to panic–induced by his guilty conscience, re-enforcing the saying: “A thief believes everybody steals”.
According to him, “Make no mistake, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not interfere, neither in Edo nor in Ondo off-season Governorship Elections. President Tinubu did not interfere in the Bayelsa Governorship Election held on 11thNovember 2023 where Governor Douye Diri of the PDP won his re election. And INEC of today and since Attahiru Jega, is quite different from the INEC of Iwu during the dark days of the PDP.”
He stressed that,”This INEC, under the APC, conducted many off-season elections where opposition parties
won. Anambra, Bayelsa and Osun are examples. President Tinubu and this INEC are unlike Bala Mohammed who in
October 2020, conducted the worst Local Government election ever
conducted in the history of Bauchi State. The good people of Bauchi called it Phantom Election.”
“I personally experienced Bala’s rape of election. I was the chairmanship candidate of the APC in Toro Local
Government Area. Bala wrote the elections results in his house, days to the phantom election and announced the results before ballot boxes reached the polling booths,” he alleged.
Sa’adu Umar added that, “Now that Kaura is compelled by the Supreme Court to conduct another
Local Government elections in Bauchi –over a year after he falsely
promised to conduct the election in Six months; we urge him to practice that which he preached to the President and INEC in Enugu.Qaura and the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission must, to borrow his words, “ensure that campaigns are issues-based, violence free and in strict compliance with the provisions of the electoral law”and “provide a level playing field that guarantees transparent, fair and unimpeachable elections as any act of bias will be totally resisted.”
He added that, “We equally urged Kaura to, again, in his words, “show leadership as a ‘true’ democrat by refraining from making any statement suggestive of political interference in the entire process.”
“Well, we ain’t naïve. Kaura will never do any of that.He’s set to break his 2020 record come August 17. We know the dead could hear, the call of the good people of Bauchi for credible local elections, more than our Governor,” he stressed
According to him, BSIEC is as unprepared as ever. It has so far convinced everyone that it’s not ready and are incapable of conducting a semblance of a credible election.”
He also stated that, “Regardless, and again, we earnestly entreat the President and INEC to dismiss Governor Bala’s phoney-baloney communiqué. It deserves no dignity of a response. Kaura has no right to talk about credible election.”
Sa’adu Umar added that, “He doesn’t believe in it. Moreover, we are most grateful to the President for the just judgement of the Supreme Court granting full autonomy to the local government areas which were hitherto emasculated by Kaura and his ilk.”
He also stated that, “Further, we appeal to the President to ensure that local government elections are removed from the hands of elections riggers like Qaura and put it under the INEC. This will make more meaningful the good judgement the President fairly obtained from the Supreme Court against Kaura and co, for the benefit of Nigerians,especially the grassroots.
In his submission he alleged that, “Local government elections will never be free, fair or credible under Bala and his breed.”
“Finally, we won’t end this without thanking our leader, elder statesman and the Senior Special Adviser to the President, Malam Ya’u Darazo for his immense beneficence towards the Bauchi APC and for his patriotic service to the nation,” he added.
He also stated that, “We’re also no less grateful for the contributions of our outstanding leaders: Professor Ali Pateh, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama
Tuggar, DistinguishedSenator Shehu Buba Umar, Honourable Members of the House of Representatives, House of Assembly members, Critical
Stakeholders, elders and last but not the least, all members of the APC.”
