The immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Saddique (Rtd)
ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
Following his declaration as the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Bauchi State, the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Saddique (Rtd) has vowed to unseat Governor Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Saddique who polled 370 votes was declared winner after defeating six other aspirants at the primary election which was held at the Zaranda Hotel from Thursday evening to Friday morning.
Haliru Jika, Senator representing Bauchi Central came second with 278 votes; Nura Manu Soro, a former Commissioner of Finance in Bauchi State and philanthropist came third with 269 votes, while Dr. Musa Babayo, a former Executive Chairman, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, came fourth with 70 votes.
Others are Faruk Mustapha, former Member, House of Representatives representing Azare Federal Constituency, came fifth with 26 votes; Mahmood Maijama’a , former Secretary to the Bauchi State government, came sixth with 8 votes; while Prof. Ali Pate, a former Minister of State for Health, came seventh with no 0 vote.
NATIONAL ACCORD had reported that one of the aspirants, Muhammad Al-Amin, withdrew from the contest on Thursday, few hours to the commencement of the primary.
Chairman of the primary election, Ali Sa’ad Birnin Kudu, who announced the results at about 9:00am on Friday, said that a total of 1,028 delegates were accredited while total votes cast are were 1,021.
Birnin-Kudu, a former Governor of Jigawa State, while declaring the results said: “Air Marshal Abubakar Saddique, having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
He described the election as a “family affair” with no winner and no vanquish, calling on all party members to come together and form a formidable force that will be able to face and defeat the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 gubernatorial election.
“I have known Bauchi people to be dedicated to a purpose. They go all out to get what they want. Therefore, I want to call on you all to support the winner so that the APC will win the gubernatorial election in 2023,” he admonished.
In a brief acceptance speech, Saddique who thanked God for giving him the victory, also expressed gratitude to the APC executives and the electoral committee for creating the enabling atmosphere for the primary election to be held with any chaos.
While thanking the delegates who voted for him, he also showed his appreciation to the other aspirants, saying that: “I therefore, wish to call on all of us to join our hands together and move APC forward and to ensure that the APC is brought back to power.”
Meanwhile, in a brief interview with journalists shortly after he was declared winner, Saddique, charged the APC to work together to change the narrative in Bauchi State.
“This victory is victory for the people of Bauchi State particularly, members of the APC, it is not victory for me but a victory for all of us, and I want to assure you that we will work together in order to change the narrative about Bauchi State out there.
“This victory for me means that we need to work together and mobilize people across that state and prepare for the 2023 election,” he stated.
He expressed optimism that during the 2023 gubernatorial election, “We will remove the PDP from power, certainly, by the special grace of Allah.”
