Bauchi PDP alleges plans to stop Dogara’s victory as APC rejects results

BAUCHI State chapter of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that the Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar expressed desperation to stop the re-election of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara during the last Saturday’s National Assembly election declaring that  PDP is ready and waiting for APC at the Election Tribunal.

The PDP further alleged that determined to ensure victory for the APC candidate in the election, Dalhatu Abubakar Kantana, the Governor allegedly drove to Dass in an Opel Vectra car in the night in his effort to manipulate the results against Yakubu Dogara.

The allegation was made by the Bauchi State PDP Chairman, Alhaji Hamza Koshe Akuyam, while reacting to an earlier press conference by the APC Chairman, Alhaji Uba Nana calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the result of the election of Yakubu Dogara due to what it described as “irregularities and electoral malpractice.”

The PDP while addressing a press conference at the NUJ Secretariat on Tuesday, alleged that all the plans by the Governor and his cohorts to stop Yakubu Dogara “has resorted to the press conference in order to declare the Election result as inconclusive.”

Hamza Akuyam said that: “As a lawyer and former REC, His Excellency ought to know that once a candidate has been declared as the winner of an election by the electoral umpire, the only option left for his opponent is to go to the Election Petition Tribunal.”

The PDP chairman further said that the conference by the APC was a “confirmation of failed plots aimed at subverting the wishes of the of the people of Dass/Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro
Federal Constituency whom Yakubu Dogara has been representing by the APC, adding that the APC had been bent on subverting Dogara’s efforts right before the election.

Hamza Akuyam further stated that, during the press conference, the APC statement in paragraph one stated, ‘All Progressives Congress, Bauchi State chapter hereby gives NOTICE
to the Independent National Electoral Commission’ (INEC), all security Agencies and the General Public that the election on the 23rd February 2019 in Dass/Tafawa Balewa/ Bogoro Federal Constituency was marred by massive irregularities.”

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“But in paragraph 2, the statement contained that there was no election at all in Bogoro LGA, some parts of Wai ward, Lere North, Lere South and Tapshin ward of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area. The obvious contradictory stand is the futile effort to fish out reasons for crying wolf,” the PDP said.

The PDP Chairman who was in the company of several Dogara supporters and other party faithful asserted that the election was monitored by both national and international Observers and adjudged to be free and fair.

Hamza Akuyam who stated that the election in the three Local Government Areas was peaceful pointed out that no adverse report was issued by any of the observers challenging the conduct of the election or that election did not hold in any polling unit or electoral ward in the three local government areas.

He, however, alleged that APC members tried to cause confusion in some polling units so that there will be a reason to declare the election as inconclusive but could not succeed adding that the PDP had informed its supporters to be peaceful.

“In conclusion, we urge INEC to disregard the publication by Alhaji Uba Ahmed Nana of the APC and the members of the public to regard the claim in the press release as diversionary by a drowning party,” Hamza Akuyam stated.

It will be recalled that Bauchi State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected the result of the election of Dass/Tafawa-Balewa/Bogoro Federal Constituency in the state which saw the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, re-elected for a fourth term calling for outright cancellation of the results.

While addressing a Press conference at the APC Secretariat in Bauchi on Monday, the State Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Ahmed Uba Nana, called for the cancellation of the results alleging that it was marred by several electoral irregularities.

He said: “As far as the APC is concerned, there was no election especially the results of Bogoro local government area and we will not accept the results. The elections were marred by irregularities and malpractices. Elections took place in many Polling Units without the use of Card Readers.”

He further alleged that “APC members were brutalized, beaten to a state of coma, some were locked up in rooms for hours, card readers were smashed and some were even set ablaze. People disguised as security agents and attacked our people.”

Uba Nana who addressed the Press in the company of many other APC State Executive members and the Commissioners from Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government areas of the state and some Dogara’s kinsmen called for the total cancellation of the results and the conduct of new elections.

He further alleged that in most of the polling units where APC candidate was suspected to have highest votes, the Speaker’s supporters harassed and prevented people from voting adding aside that, the PDP attacked APC agents at polling units in many places in the two local government areas with a view to forcing to compromise and alter results sheets.

“PDP is scared of a humiliating defeat by our candidate, Honourable Katana and they know that if that happened, Speaker Dogara would be embarrassed. So they engaged thugs to harass and prevent voters believed to be in support of the APC candidate from casting their votes,” he further alleged.

Uba Nana added that “The truth is that the constituents are fed up with Dogara’s domination over the years without commensurate dividends of democracy. So the speaker’s supporters resorted to all forms of electoral malpractices to make sure he is retained as representative of Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro constituency.”

“We call on INEC to declare the elections there as inconclusive. We call on all relevant agencies to do all things possible to address our demands because, if we are pushed to the wall, we will be left with no choice but to take the last option,” he warned.

Yakubu Dogara, Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party who was declared the winner at the Zwall Collation Center, in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State by Prof. Mahmood Abdulhamid, polled a total of 73,609 to defeat his closest rival, Abubabakar Dalhatu Kantana of the APC who polled a total of 50, 708 votes.