Bauchi Speaker Says Appeal Court Judgment Sacking Him Unfavourable But Calls For Calm

Abubakar Suleiman, the Speaker of the Bauchi state House of Assembly, has reacted to the judgment of the Court of Appeal which sacked him from office and ordered a rerun election.

Suleiman, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represented Ningi central constituency of Ningi Local Government Area in the state.

Suleiman was said to have won the March 18 elections with 16,866 votes, defeating Khalid Abdulmalik-Ningi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who polled 15,065 votes

Abdulmalik-Ningi challenged his election victory at the governorship and state assembly election petition tribunal but his Petition was dismissed.

The APC candidate’s legal team, however, approached the appeal court for final determination of his claims.

On Friday, a three-member panel of the court nullified the speaker’s election on the ground that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials connived to perpetuate electoral fraud during the polls.

The appeal court subsequently set aside the speaker’s victory and ordered a fresh election in the 10 polling units in the constituency.

Reacting, the speaker, through his spokesperson, Abdul Burra, said though the judgement was unfavourable, he was sure of victory in the rerun.

“Following the Court of Appeal ruling in Abuja today that set aside the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal that affirmed the election of Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y. Suleiman, as a member representing Ningi Central ordered a rerun in ten polling units, the speaker urges his supporters and all people of the constituency to remain calm.

“He said that although the judgment is unfavourable, as a Muslim he believes in all fates, thus he accepts the judgment in good faith.

“While describing the judgment as a minor political setback which is not new in his political career, the speaker said that he is ever ready for the rerun election to add to the almost two thousand votes margin he gave his opponent.

“Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y Suleiman states that the support and solidarity he has been enjoying in Ningi remain intact and no amount of effort to pull him down will succeed,” the spokesperson said in a statement posted on Facebook.