Bauchi guber election: 50 lawyers offer free defence for governor-elect, PDP

Following the declaration of the Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar to challenge the election of Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir as  the governor-elect before the Election Petition Tribunal, a group of Lawyers under the aegis of, ‘Bauchi Lawyers of Conscience’ (BOBALAC)‎ has declared that it is ready to deploy 50 Counsels to defend the Governor-elect,  Senator Bala Mohammed and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in court against the All Progressive Congress, (APC) and Mohammed Abubakar.

The group noted that, the recent move by the APC and the Governor, Mohammed Abubakar who lost the gubernatorial election to go to the Tribunal ‎to challenge the election was a form of insincerity after the Governor  had conceded defeat and even congratulated the Governor-Elect, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed as soon as the results were declared last week.

The group stated that, “Having initially conceded and congratulated Kauran Bauchi, knowing fully ‎well that, that is the wish of the people, Mr Abubakar should have sticked to his words. That is how statesmen behave,”.

The group further noted that, as Lawyers, they had no problem with Governor Mohammed  Abubakar and the APC going to the tribunal to challenge the victory of Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed stating, “In fact, we welcome the development as it will afford us yet another opportunity to use our God-given skills to defend the people’s mandate as given to the Governor-Elect, Kauran Bauchi”.

BOBALAC concluded that, “In doing this, we convey our assurances to His Excellency, the Governor-Elect and indeed the people of Bauchi State that we are deploying the services of not less than 50 Counsels, ‎which include some very Senior colleagues and successfully tested hands to compliment the efforts of the legal team to be assembled to defend the people’s mandate in terms of the impending election petition to be filed by Governor Abubakar,”.

It would be recalled that after returning to Bauchi State from a trip to Abuja, outgoing Governor of the State, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar told supporters of the APC that he had consulted with President Muhammadu Buhari and the National leadership of the APC and arrived at the decision to head to the Electoral Petition Tribunal to challenge the victory of the PDP and the Governor-elect, Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir.