By Our Correspondent
A former Special Assistant on New Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Bashir Ahmad, has spoken of how thugs were allegedly used to deny him victory in the primary election of APC for the Gaya, Ajingi and Albasu Federal Constituency in Kano State.
The serving member of the House of Representatives for the constituency, Hon Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya, was declared the winner.
The Returning Officer for the election, Hon. Fa’izu Alfindiki, the incumbent Chairman of Kano Municipal Local Government Area, declared the federal lawmaker the winner with 109 votes to defeat Bashir Ahmad, who got 16 votes after the party’s delegates cast their votes at the Gaya Local Government Islamic Centre on Friday.
In his response to the result, Abdullahi assured his continuous commitment to his constituency due to the confidence reposed in him by delegates during the primaries.
He noted that there is much to do in making the constituency great with the goals of more dividends of democracy.
Ahmad, however, rejected the result in a Facebook post, saying thugs were used to deny him victory.
Below is the statement he posted on Facebook on the outcome of the election:
REJECTION OF THE PRIMARY ELECTION EXERCISE FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERSHIP, REPRESENTING ALBASU/GAYA/AJINGI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY
I hereby categorically reject the process and proceeds of the primary election conducted on 27th of May, 2022 to elect the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer for the position of member House of Representatives for Albasu/Gaya/Ajingi Federal Constituency.
I offered myself to serve my constituents as best I can and I would have been willing to accept whatever outcome if it was free, fair and credible. I am sad to say that what ensued at the venue of the primaries highly threatens the credibility and integrity the APC has built over two political cycles. It is therefore a great disservice to my people and our great party, to be silent about such injustice.
To the best of my knowledge, election at the primaries stage requires delegates to cast their votes and a winner emerges with the majority votes. It therefore implies that there could not have been any voting process that occurred considering majority of the delegates were neither allowed to vote nor even granted access to the venue.
No document that supposedly validates the election was signed by my agents because they were also denied access to the voting area.
On my arrival to the venue as an aspirant too, I was denied access to the voting area. My supporters who were around the premises for the primaries resisted the unjust treatment I was given and attempted insisting on my entrance into the voting area.
Like I have consistently been saying, my ambition is not worth anybody’s life or safety, so at that time, I believed the best action to take was to vacate the premises in order to douse the friction and for the safety of the majority delegates, my agents and my supporters who were being targeted by thugs.
I, therefore, call on the stakeholders of our party, the APC, to as a matter of urgency, save the reputation of the party by insisting on the members of the electoral committee to conduct a fresh, free and fair election.
I would like to commend and extend profound gratitude to the delegates who despite the ill-treatment, refused to be intimidated by anyone. I would also like to send my appreciation to my supporters who have always been with me from the onset.
To be silent about the injustice we have experienced, is to disappoint those supporters. I implore all to be calm and remain the law-abiding citizens I know you to be because I still have faith in the APC that this spectacular blunder, we have experienced on the 27th of May, 2022 shall be annulled and credible primary election shall be conducted.
Thank you very much and may Allah bless you all. Bashir Ahmad,
House of Representatives Aspirant for Albasu/Gaya/Ajingi
