Opposition political parties in Bauchi state have been assured that the State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir will stand by his words of conducting a free, fair, and acceptable local government elections.
The assurance was contained in a statement by the Special Adviser, Media, and Publicity to the Governor, Comrade Mukhtar Gidado made available to Journalists in Bauchi on Tuesday in reaction to insinuation by the APC alleging plans to rig the election in favor of the ruling PDP in the state.
The statement partly read: “Since the highly applauded communique issued by the Peoples’ Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDPGF) after their meeting in Enugu, a few disgruntled elements have resorted to name calling, undignified language and self-serving sycophancy, all in a vile and vain effort to discredit the Executive Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed.
“To these characters, Bala Mohammed’s crime is that, as Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, he was saddled with the responsibility of reading the communique which content, we must concede, he endorsed and still endorses without any reservations.
“Among the reactions to the communique, is the demand by one Malam Saadu Umar Chairman, for Bala Mohammed to guarantee that the forthcoming local government election in Bauchi State will be free and fair, it is not only fair and reasonable, but legitimate.
“What is not in order is to rain insults on the Governor whose only crime was to have been part of a group of Governors that had legitimately asked for a level playing field in the Edo and Ondo States off season elections, without any insinuations one way or the other.
“In an article in the online publication, Newsdiaryonline of July 20, 2024, Malam Saadu said, among other things, and I quote: “President Tinubu and his INEC are unlike Bala Mohammed who in October 2020, conducted the worst Local Government election ever in the history of Bauchi State. The good people of Bauchi State called it (a) Phantom Election”.
“I personally experienced Bala Mohammed’s rape of election. I was the chairmanship candidate of the APC in Toro Local Government Area.
“As will be shown shortly, Malam Saadu and his cohorts deserve unreserved pity, because, for them, things are just about to get from bad to worse. Assuming, without conceding, that the PDP candidate had employed some subterfuge to defeat Mallam Saadu at a time that the Administration was barely settling down, how does he or anybody associated with him expect to win at a time that the government has entrenched itself through the generous and even handed deployment of democracy dividends?”
“What will the APC candidate brag with that will outshine the 29 kilometre road that Bala Mohammed built in Toro, the first ever?
“Ignoring the uncouth language of Malam Saadu, a distinction he shares with a number of his APC co-travellers, we wish to state that neither the PDP nor the Bauchi State Government would have any reason to subvert the electoral process or the forthcoming local government elections.”
