Bauchi gubernatorial election: Ali Pate is a spoiler — BASG opines

BAUCHI State government has opined that one of the gubernatorial aspirants of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in the State, Mohammed Ali Pate “is a spoiler on a mission to ruin the chances of the party by calling for direct primaries”.

The opinion was contained in a press statement signed and made available to newsmen by the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Media and Strategy, Mohammed Ali Mohammed stating that “the fallout of direct primary is hardly manageable up to general elections.

In 2011, CPC tried it and the outcome trailed it to the general elections that turned out disastrously. Beyond this, it will amount to the 8th wonder of the world for Pate to deliver the governor’s chair to our great party given the odds stacked against him”.

The statement which is in reaction to the claim by Ali Pate that the APC will lose the 2019 elections unless direct primary election system was adopted further contained that, “Apart from the previously listed, he is disadvantaged by geography and location. His history of disappearing acts at decisive moments is the icing on the cake of his political forays.

The party at the national level gave the options of choosing a flag bearer. At the state level, stakeholders chose the delegates option. They went a step further endorsing the incumbent Governor and President for the 2019 elections. We are, therefore, mystified how Pate’s doomsday prophecy of electoral disaster will come to pass”.

“We counsel him to close ranks and join hands with other party stakeholders and the people of the state to consolidate on the gains made by the reformist government of Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar”, the statement added.

The statement reads, “Our attention has been drawn to the fantastic claims of a gubernatorial aspirant of our dear state, Bauchi, on the platform of our great party, the APC to the effect that unless a direct primary was conducted to ‘test the popularity of all aspirants’, the party will lose in the impending polls early next year” Which he reportedly said in a chat with newsmen in Abuja after being screened by the party”.

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The statement further contained that, “We have made our case, if the party wants to win Bauchi state, it should put forward a credible, popular candidate. At this point, we know that the people of Bauchi are worried that an imposition will not bid well in the general election. So, we place our faith in the leadership of the party to do the right thing and allow the fair process to play out. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that the APC will win in Bauchi state.”

The state government through the statement opined that “These are fantastic claims coming from him. It is also amusing. For a perennial aspirant for the office of Governor, he has an uncanny ability to hibernate for years only to surface at times like these. We, therefore, ask how did he know the feelings and concerns of fellow citizens when he was not available during their period of tribulations?”

It added that “How would he know that the people of Bauchi were worried about a possible ‘imposition? We think he is confusing his personal political agenda with the yearnings of the people of our state, a preponderance of whom are solidly behind the government of MA Abubakar”.