Bauchi rerun election, plot to rob PDP of its mandate ― Group

AS the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Saturday 23rd March 2019, to conduct supplementary election that would produce winner of the governorship contest in Bauchi state, a political pressure group known as ‘Bauchi State Concerned Citizens’ has alleged that the rerun election was a plot by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and  INEC to rob the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir who is currently leading in the results so far announced of his mandate.

While speaking with Journalists on Thursday in Bauchi, Chairperson of the group, Mrs Rhoda Jibrin lamented that INEC has thrown citizens of the state into dilemma due to its inconsistent decisions on the election results.

She said that INEC has the sole power of conducting the election and declaring winners decrying that it was illegal for the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the collation of the election results in the state following a petitioned filed by the incumbent Governor, Mohammed Abubakar.

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Rhoda Jibrin said that ” It is a well-known fact to every reasonable and responsible person to note that the supreme and ultimate power to conduct the election and also to make a declaration of the result lies with the INEC.”

” In fact, nobody has the right to intervene in the electoral process. That is to say, once election commences, nobody has the right to tamper with it until it undergoes the process of collation and declaration. Whoever has complaints should wait until after the final declaration,” She opined.

The group, therefore, urged the electoral body to declare Bala Mohammed winner of the election without further delay ‘in order to douse the tension the election created among the people of the state.’