Six Political Parties in Bauchi State announced on Sunday that they have formed a common front to unseat incumbent APC governor, Muhammed Abubakar, during the forthcoming elections.
The parties, led by an elder statesman, Alhaji Bello Kirfi, announced this in Bauchi while addressing a press conference.
Kirfi named the six parties as the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Green Party of Nigeria (GPN) and aggrieved members of All Progressive Congress (APC)
According to him, others are People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alliance for Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM).
The parties enumerated the decay in infrastructure, education, environment and other sectors in the last four years, among other reasons, as the factors that necessitated the coalition.
They said that some party’s faithfuls had decided to remain in APC because of their respect for President Muhammad Buhari and not because they were happy with happenings in the state.
The parties said that they had perfected plans to foil an alleged plan to rig the polls, saying they would engage their supporters to protect their votes during the election.
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Dr Yakubu Lame, former Minister of Police Affairs who was one of those that lost to the incumbent governor during the APC primaries, said they were not fighting APC in the state, but governor Abubakar.
Lame lamented the loss of key members of the party in the state, and called on the national secretariat of the party to take action.
Also speaking, PRP gubernatorial candidate, Dr Muhammad Ali-Pate, a former minister who also lost to the incumbent governor during the APC primaries, said he defected to PRP following rancour that engulfed APC during and after the primaries in the state.
Reacting to the development, Abubakar Al-Sadiqque, Press Secretary to Gov. Muhammed Abubakar, described the coalition as “very funny.”
Sadiqque said that “the coalition is part of democracy and it means that democracy has come to stay.”
He said most of those in the coalition were former members of the ruling party in the state but decided to part ways after failing to secure tickets during the party primaries.
“The people of the state are aware of what is happening, especially with the defection of key officials of opposition parties in the country, to APC.
” We urge the people to vote wisely during the 2019 election, like they did in 2015,” he admonished.
