The Bauchi state governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and a one time Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Commissioner Barrister Mohammed Abduallhi Abubakar has described his election as the flagbearer of party was the freest and fairest election he ever witnessed in his life.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after his first outing as APC gubernatorial candidate, Barrister Abubakar dismissed the insinuations that the primary election was rigged saying the party set an Appeal Committee and the committee found nothing wrong with election.
According to him, “I thank God for giving me the victory at the primaries of my party. The election that took place was the freest and fairest I have ever witnessed anywhere in the world. The election was conducted in a long Tennis Court in Zaranda hotel and it has only one entrance which was guarded by the Soldiers. There was nothing to mar that election. The election was free and fair.”
He said: “There no over voting, the voting was done before everybody and even when agents of other aspirants the raised the issue of excess votes. The Electoral Committee before announcing the result recounted the votes and saw where they went wrong and they recorded the correct figures on the result sheet.
” A three man Appeal Committee was set up by my party came to Bauchi met with my party and the other aspirants while I was away in Lagos. When I came back they saw me some of the petitions and I answered them to the best of my ability. The Appeal Committee has written it report and as far as the report of the committee was concerned they did not find anything wrong with the election.”
Barrister Abubakar declared that he is the sole governorship candidate of APC in Bauchi state and there can’t be two APC governorship candidates in Bauchi saying already the National Headquarters of the party has recognized him the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the state.
According to him, “I’m the sole governorship candidate of APC in Bauchi. There can’t be two candidates and I’m the only candidate of the party which the National Headquarters of the party has confirmed that which was why I did what I did today. I have done this in order to prove to the world and any doubting Thomas that the people of Bauchi state are with me and APC. I’m sure you can attest to the fact that crowd today was unprecedented in the history of Bauchi state.”
He said initially three of other aspirants congratulated but some of had came and pledged their support to him and he is equally making effort to reach out to the other aspirants in order to one united and formidable party to defeat PDP again in the state as they did in 2011.
On the insinuations that he is Yuguda’s boy and is being sponsored by Yuguda, Barrister Abubakar dismissed the insinuation describing it as a blatant lie ever told saying since he lost an election under PDP which Yuguda pretended to be supporting him but suddenly abandoned him midway.He has not had anything to do with PDP and Yuguda.
Abubakar said: “Of course, I have never heard any nonsense more that. Because I became Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in 1990 and Yuguda then was a lowly staff in Federal Mortgage Bank and he was not the governor of Bauchi state then. There was no way I could have been his Attorney General and he introduced me to politics as alleged by the paper, there is no blatant lie more than that.”
He stressed: “I contested for Senate and everybody knew and everybody thought he was supporting then in PDP but you saw what happened. If Yuguda was my friend and sponsor, he would have sponsored me to go to the senate. He started by playing … when we were supposed to go for the completion of the term to fill the vacant seat of Bauchi South after Senator Bala Mohammed was appointed FCT minister. ..
