Mr Yekini Nabena, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to give the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) undue advantage in the Bauchi governorship poll.
Nabena, who made the call in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said that the opposition party should forget its dream of taking over the governorship of Bauchi state.
He said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a question to answer on the Bauchi governorship election.
Nabena said if not that there was a grand plot to rig out Gov. Mohammed Abubakar, how come APC won 21 State House of Assembly seats compared to PDP’s five seats in the election conducted on the same day.
He added that the report of non-usage of card readers in Bauchi Local Government Area was a major issue that should not be disregarded by the INEC.
The APC chieftain said the opposition PDP knew that if re-run election was organised, it would lose the election to APC.
“Maybe the opposition felt that if that position had not been taken by INEC, they would have won, but that is not the issue, the issue of election is not about winning or losing. It is about having a free and fair election, so it is the free and fair conduct of the election that matters to all of us and to the whole world. I say so because if the election is not free and fair there will be no issue of inconclusive; it must be concluded,” Nabena stressed.
He urged INEC not give the PDP undue advantage in Bauchi governorship election, saying that a re-run election should be conducted in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of the state where the elections had been declared inconclusive.
This, he said, was especially so, since the INEC Returning Officer for the area, Mrs Dominion Anosike, told the world how she was intimidated and harassed while collating the results.
“She was even threatened, they threatened to rape her, she is a woman and she said it herself. There was tension everywhere in the place, and she was forced to sign the document under that atmosphere,” he said.
Nabena expressed optimism that the APC would win the re-run election if it was conducted, because according to him, it had already won 80 per cent of votes cast in the state.
“Mark you, the results of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area has not been announced, but I tell you, you will be surprised if the result had been announced”.
“We certainly would have won, that is why they are trying to deny us of the victory. If hoodlums had not disrupted the process at the centre, we would have won Tafawa Balewa, so I believe we will win again,” he said.
On the already declared Katagum Federal House of Representatives result in favour of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Nabena described it as an error on the part of the INEC.
He said it was a clear case of inconclusive election because the margin between the PRP candidate and the APC candidate was less than the cancelled votes.
“We are demanding justice if INEC is not deliberately against the APC,” Nabena said.(NAN)
