APC chieftain to INEC: explain your role in Bauchi

APC chieftain Yekini Nabena said the electoral body has a lot of questions to answer on the conduct of the governorship election in Bauchi State and its decision to jettison the rerun it earlier ordered for Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area.

Nabena told the opposition PDP to forget the dream of taking over the governorship seat in Bauchi, saying no magic can give the PDP the state having lost all other elections in the state.

He faulted 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 because the number of cancelled votes, (5, 211) was more than the margin of lead which was 4, 704.”

Nabena, who doubles as APC’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, said: “If not that there was a grand plot to rig out Governor Mohammed Abubakar, how come the APC won 21 State House of Assembly seats compared to PDP’s  five seats in the state in the election conducted on the same day?

Speaking with reporters in Abuja, Nabena said the reported non-usage 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 that if rerun election is held it will loose 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. So, we are challenging the INEC not give PDP undue advantage in Bauchi governorship election.”

He insisted on the need to conduct a makeup poll in the Tafawa/Balewa council area.

Nabena said the Returning Officer for the area, Mrs Dominion Anosike, had early told the world how she was intimidated and harassed while collating the results.

He said: “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 the APC will win because APC has won 80 per cent 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 the 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.”