By Chuks Ehirim
A chieftain of the All progressive congress (APC) and former Director –General of National Boundary Commission, Alhaji Dahiru Bobo, has joined the race for the governorship election in Adamawa state, scheduled to hold on October 11, with an open boast that his party will repeat the feat it recorded during the recent Osun State Governorship poll, in which it defeated the Peoples Democratic Party[PDP].
Bobo who is the Dan Madamin Adamawa, was full of optimism that the APC would reclaim Adamawa state which it lost following the impeachment of its former Governor, Murtala Nyako. He made this known to journalists in Abuja last Thursday, when he came to picked the expression of interest and nomination form at the APC national secretariat.
Reminded of the recent defection of one of the party’s heavYweights in the state and former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, he dismissed the speculation that it would affect the fortunes of the party at the poll.
According to him: “I am one of the aspirants, I am proceeding to Adamawa to meet my supporters to come back here with the forms on Monday. The chances of the party are great.
“The populace are very much behind the party. We have gone round and we are very much sure our people are behind us. But we have a lot of work to do so that we must protect our votes. The Osun style is the style we think we would do. We will make sure our votes are protected to ensure that we reclaim our mandate.
“As an observer, I was very much impressed with what happened in Osun state. The voters were very courageous. They came out en masse and the presence of heavy military men and police did not deter them from coming out to vote. They voted for the APC. We are talking to our voters in Adamawa to be courageous and come out and defend their votes.”
He added that Ribadu’s defection will have no adverse effect on the fortunes of the APC in the governorship poll. According to him, “It is very easy. You people are journalists. Ribadu is our own son. He was a very prominent member of our party. He contested for the presidency on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), he lost his ward, he lost his polling unit and he lost his local government and he lost his state. So that is how we should rate candidates. As far as we are concerned, the defection of Ribadu is not causing any problem for us.”
Also speaking about Ribadu’s defection to PDP, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it will not affect the party’s performance in the forth coming election. He said that though no party likes losing any of its members to its opponents, Ribadu’s dumping of APC will not affect its success in the Adamawa poll.
