AS the dust raised by the conduct of the last Saturday ward congresses of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) is yet to settle, a gubernatorial aspirant of the party in the 2019 elections in Bauchi state, Captain Muhammad Bala Jibrin has alleged that members of the congress committee sent to the state to conduct the ward election were compromised by the Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar.
Bala Jibrin who was reacting to the aftermath of the just concluded ward Congresses in state during a press conference held Wednesday at the NUJ Press Center in Bauchi, decried the injustice displayed during the conduct of the election which he said was targeted at frustrating any opposition and called on President Muhammad Buhari to intervene in the crisis trailing the ward congresses.
He alleged that members of the congress committee on arrival to the state first paid a courtesy visit to the state Governor at the Government House instead of heading to the State Secretariat of the party as their first point of duty.
He declared that “It was learnt that during the courtesy visit, the secretary of the committee congratulated the Governor on his re-election ambition, but when they came to us later, they were hostile and arrogant, which clearly points that they had a hidden mission”
“Secondly, we paid N11,448,000 to secure the forms, but no forms were given to us. It was around 11 pm at an undisclosed venue which was heavily guarded by security agents that they agreed to attend to us for an election scheduled to take place at 9 am. 60 percent of the forms were given to us around 2 am in the morning while we signed an undertaking for the remaining forms to be released the following day”, he said.
Bala Jibrin further alleged that the remaining 40 percent of the forms were given to them around 11 am on Saturday, stressing that the Congress ought to have been shifted by one day as the guideline of the party stipulates that forms ought to be returned 24 hours after collection, but the Congress still commenced at 9 am.
He also accused the Appeal committee sent to the state from the national headquarters of the party to attend to petitions of dancing to the biddings of the Governor as they were nowhere to be seen despite all efforts to reach them.
The gubernatorial aspirant then said that they were ready to challenge any resistance from the government, adding that they will not allow anybody to hijack what they have laboured for in the party over the years.
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