Bauchi governorship race: No opposition can stop Abubakar ― Aide boasts

Press Secretary to Bauchi State Governor, Abubakar Sufyanu  Al-Sadiqque, has declared that there is no political opposition or coalition that can stop the reelection bid of Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar as the Governor for a second term.

He declared that: “we are not afraid of the threat by the coalition, because we believe in Allah who gives power to whom he wishes and we have high hopes he will give it to Governor Abubakar again “.

The Press Secretary who was reacting to a coalition formed against the Governor by 34 political parties including PDP in the state added that “our mandate is not with the coalition but with the people of the state and we are with the people and they will give their votes to Governor Abubakar. We urge the people to vote wisely during the 2019 elections just  like they did in 2015,”

Abubakar Al-Saddique added that: “There is no opposition in Bauchi state. Ask anybody the parties in the 2019  gubernatorial election and the answer you will get is APC.  Look at the National Assembly Elections, APC got all the three Senatorial Seats in the state, two of which are from the PDP and 8 out of the 11 Federal House of Reps seats so far declared. The forthcoming gubernatorial election is a referendum on the integrity of the contestants, and that is what is our major selling point in Governor Abubakar’s camp”.

It will be recalled that in a determined effort to unseat the incumbent Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar during this Saturday’s gubernatorial election, a coalition of 34 political parties including 20 other gubernatorial candidates has been formed and ready to back the main contender to the seat, Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The coalition is being led by an Elder Statesman in the state who is also the  Wazirin Bauchi, Alhaji Muhammadu Bello Kirfi who has vowed to do everything humanly possible to ensure the incumbent Governor who is seeking reelection under the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) was defeated.

An insider to the series of meeting of the coalition told our Correspondent on Tuesday that coalition is getting more formidable as no fewer than 34 political parties in the State including 20 gubernatorial candidates have declared their support for the candidature of the Peoples Democratic  Party (PDP), Senator Bala Muhammad Abdulkadir (Kauran Bauchi) as part of their renewed effort  to ensure that they unseat the incumbent  Stare  Governor, Muhammed Abdullahi  Abubakar, barely four days to the governorship election.

Checks revealed that the Monday meeting was the third time in the series of the meetings held by the Political Parties and Stakeholders within and outside of Bauchi State with the sole aim of unseating  Governor Mohammed  Abubakar.

The insider revealed that the political parties in the coalition led by the Elder Statesman, Bello Kirfi, announced their position to support the PDP candidate on Monday in Bauchi at the end of their meeting held at River Edge Hotel.

He named the political parties in the coalition  to include United Progressive Party (UPP), Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), Change Advocacy Party (CAP), All Peoples Movement (APM), All Blending Party (ABP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  Movement for Action Joint Alliance (MAJA), Advance Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA), Grassroot Development Party of Nigeria (GDPN), Accord Party (AP), Independent Democrats (ID), All Grands Alliance Party (AGAP),   New Generation Party (NGP), Nigeria Peoples congress (NPC), Legacy Party of Nigeria (LPC), Modern Democratic Party (MDP), New Progressive Movement (NPM),  Providence Peoples Congress (PPC),  Peoples Trust (PT), Advance Allied Party (AAP), Alliance National Party (ANP), Alternative Party of Nigeria (APN), Alliance of Social Democrats (ASD), Change Nigeria Party (CNP), Congress of Patriots (COP),  Liberation Movement (LM), New Progressive Movement (NPM), Peoples Coalition Party (PCP),  Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN), United Patriots (UP), Young Democratic Party (YDP), and All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA).

The source disclosed that Bello Kirfi while addressing the coalition said that the effort was part of the continuation of their struggle to defeat the incumbent Governor and to support one single candidate who has the courage and wherewithal to defeat Mohammed Abubakar in the 2019 gubernatorial election and urged people of the state and the stakeholders to support Senator Bala Mohammed.

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Bello Kirfi was further reported to have said that the people of Bauchi State have a lot of confidence and respect for President Muhammadu Buhari  the reason why they gave him their votes again and not because they were happy with happenings in the state because the Governor has failed to be just and fair to the people of the state.

While corroborating the coalition, State Chairman of the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), Sani Mohammed Burra declared that the coalition is formed with the sole purpose of ensuring that the Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar was defeated on Saturday.

Sani Burra added that the GPN joined the coalition because it discovered that the PDP, Bala Mohammed has the political will and might to do better than what the present APC led administration is doing in the state having served as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for many years.

A former State Chairman of the defunct ANPP Alhaji Sani Shehu (Sanin Mallam) who was the meeting was reported to have  said that the candidate they endorsed has all it takes to govern the state and as a son of the soil he will not betray the people of the state just as he will do his best to justify the confidence reposed in him.

The PDP gubernatorial candidate, Bala Mohammed who was represented at the meeting by one of his close allies,  Alhaji Abubakar Kari thanked the Elder Statesman, Bello Kirfi for providing an exemplary leadership style to the people of the State and pledged to run an all-inclusive government if eventually elected as the next Governor of the state.

Earlier the political parties and Stakeholders at the meeting decried lack of good governance in the state,  poverty, decay in infrastructure, education, poor health care service, environment, mismanagement of state resources and lack of development in all other sectors in the state. in the last four years of the APC led administration, as some of the factors that necessitated the coalition.

The political parties further said that they had perfected plans to foil an alleged plan to rig the election on Saturday, declaring that they would mobilize their supporters to protect their votes during the election.