Bauchi elections: PDP alleges plan to arrest its governorship candidate
By Ahead of the governorship and Assembly elections coming up on Saturday, the Bauchi State chapter of the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has alleged that in its “desperate move to win the election,” the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) is planning to use security agencies to arrest the party’s candidate, Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, and put him under house arrest until after the election.
The PDP Chairman, Hamza Koshe Akuyam, while addressing journalists late Thursday evening at the NUJ Press Centre in Bauchi warned that, “if the security operatives go ahead to allow this to happen, they will know that the PDP has large supporters in the state” pointing out that so far over 100 of their supporters have been arrested with some of them released on bail.
The PDP further alleged that the party has uncovered plans by the state government to collaborate with the INEC to ensure that the election did not hold as scheduled through declaration of supply shortage of electoral materials to the state citing as example that, “already in my area, Hardawa constituency, a total of 19,000 sensitive electoral materials (ballot papers and results declaration sheets) have been declared as short of the requirement.
According to him, “the shortage of election materials being distributed by INEC across the state was a ploy” but in a swift reaction, the Head of Department, Voter Education and
Publicity, Ahmed Waziri dispelled any plan of postponing election saying that for such to happen there must be a basis.
Ahmed Waziri explained that: “If there is going to be a postponement of election, there must
be a basis. There wasn’t a shortage of even a single ballot paper. In Shira local government, there was shortage in Dissina constituency
while there was over supply in Shira. We had taken the issue to INEC headquarters and it is being addressed. The ballot papers are
customised, so you can’t take one to another place. Therefore, the issue of postponement does not even arise.”
Hamza Akuyam futher alleged that Governor Mohammed Abubakar has also mobilised thugs to harass voters and cause mayhem to disrupt the election, lamenting that PDP supporters were being arrested indiscriminately.
He stated that there is a conspiracy with INEC to deliberately starve polling units where PDP has huge supporters of materials for the
election alleging, “INEC has been abetting the ruling party. They have obtained ballot papers that they are already using to thumb print in some places.”
The PDP Chairman who was in the company of the defeated PDP senatorial candidate
(Bauchi South), Garba Dahiru, the defeated House of Representatives candidate for Alkaleri/Kirfi, and a one-time commissioner for Health, Professor Sani Mallami, and one of the party’s legal advisers, Barrister Kefas Magaji, among others, also alleged that Governor Abubakar has resorted to harassing traditional rulers to deliver their areas or risk losing their seats.
“The threats have also been issued to senior civil servants. In fact, senior civil servants have been induced with money while security
operatives have been given marching orders to arrest members of the opposition,” he further alleged.
The PDP Chairman then called for the stripping of the Commander of the Rapid
Response Squad in the State, Superintendent of Police (SP) Baba Yola, of duties of overseeing political affairs in the state for allegedly “harassing, intimidating and inflicting terror on the opposition supporters.”
He assured that the PDP will remain law abiding and will continue to adopt constitutional means to seek redress and stated that: “In view of the utterances of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the state, we appeal to him and INEC to prove their neutrality by providing a level playing ground and ensuring that they provide relevant information to political parties that will ensure a free, fair and credible election on Saturday.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the state government proved abortive as several phone calls made to the Commissioner of Information, Ibrahim Sade, were not returned while the Governor’s Press Secretary, Abubakar Al-Sadique, could not be reached as his phone appeared to have been switched off as of the time of filing the report.
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