A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC ) Yekini Nabena has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a lot of questions to answer on the conduct of the governorship election in Bauchi state and it’s decision to jettison the rerun it earlier ordered for Tafawa Balewa local government area.
Nabena asked the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to forget the dream of taking over the governorship seat in Bauchi state, saying no magic can give the PDP Bauchi state having lost all other elections in the state.
He faulted the INEC’s declaration of People Redemption Party (PRP) House of Representatives candidate in Bauchi’s Katagum Federal Constituency as winner of the election, saying such “should have been declared inconclusive became the number of cancelled votes, 5, 211 is more than the margin of lead which is 4, 704.”
Nabena who is also the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party said if not that there was a grand plot to rig out governor Mohammed Abubakar, how come APC won 21 State House of Assembly seats compared to PDP’s 5 seats in the state in the election conducted on the same day?
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja Nabena said the reported nonusage of Card Readers in Bauchi Local Government Area “is a major issue that should not be disregarded by the electoral empire. The opposition PDP knew that if rerun election is held it will lose the election to APC.
“Maybe the opposition felt that if that position had not be 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. So we are challenging the INEC not to give PDP undue advantage in Bauchi governorship election.”
He insisted that there is need for rerun in election at the Tafawa/Balewa LGA, Nabena said the 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 was a woman and she said it herself. The answer is there. There was tension everywhere in the place and she was forced to sign the document under that atmosphere.
“I believe APC will win because APC has won 80 percent of the other elections except this election and this one has been declared inconclusive. 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 the hoodlums had not disrupted the process at the centre we would have won Tafawa Balewa. So I believe we will win Tafawa Balewa again”.
On the already declared Katagum Federal House of Reps result in favour of PRP, Nabena described it as an error on the part of the INEC.
“It is a clear case of inconclusive election because the margin between the PRP candidate and the APC candidate is less than the cancelled votes. So, we are demanding justice if INEC is not deliberately against the APC. “
