Gov. Abubakar Vows To Rig Anambra Gubernatorial Election, Like Ondo, Bauchi, Rivers
Information available to 247ureports.com obtained from sources within the presidency indicate that the ruling party, APC [All Progressive Congress] may have switched on its rigging machinery to subvert electoral process in the upcoming Anambra gubernatorial election of November 18, 2017.
Governor Abubakar of Bauchi State who is the national chairman for the APC Anambra Gubernatorial campaign has vowed openly at a recent APC meeting chaired by him that he will “do all that is necessary to install Tony Nwoye as Governor of Anambra State“. As our source revealed, the Bauchi State governor boasted that he “had done it before in Rivers State, Bauchi State, Ondo State – Anambra will be next”.
Under his capacity as the national chairman, the Bauchi State governor was able to reach deep into the ruling party to influence persons within the Buhari administration into bending applicable rules in favor of the APC gubernatorial candidate, Tony Nwoye.
Specifically, the President, Mohammadu Buhari had indicated little to no interest in personally meeting with Tony Nwoye. But through the lobbying of the Bauchi State Governor, an appointment for Tony Nwoye was scheduled into the President’s daily visitors’ list. The public visit to the President marked the start of APC’s effort to subvert the Anambra Gubernatorial Election.
Governor Abubakar was once a REC [Resident Electoral Commissioner] with the INEC [Independent National Electoral Commission]. His activities while stationed at Rivers State during the gubernatorial election that saw the return of the then Governor of Rivers State [Rotimi Amaechi] for a second term remains a marker within the INEC and political circles – as per the propensity to rig election with disregard to legalities. According to the records, Abubakar had declared Amaechi the winner of the election with 100% of the votes going to Amaechi. The declaration came with hours before the end of voting. And, “he got away with it”.
A source within the presidency revealed that Governor Abubakar along with Governor El Rufai [who heads the APC strategizing committee for Anambra Gubernatorial Election] and representatives of the other involved APC governors have approached the officers of the INEC. A meeting with select INEC officers was held in Asokoro on the late hours of November 1, 2017 at the residence of one of the APC governors.
247ureports.com is not certain of the discussions held at the meeting but our source indicated that Governor Abubakar and Governor El Rufai came out of the meeting confident the “process” would go as planned. They indicated INEC’s willingness to work harmoniously with the APC. Governor Ababukar hinted that the INEC will “move staff around” from other states to Anambra, and may remove the present REC, Nkwachukwu Orji for another ‘more trustworthy’ REC from one of the northern states.
Meanwhile, the task of rigging the Anambra Gubernatorial Election remains a daunting one – as the APC gubernatorial candidate, Tony Nwoye, remain highly unpopular and unelectable in Anambra State.
Informed spectators and ordinary residence of the State view Tony Nwoye’s candidacy as based solely on the power of rigging via APC government in Abuja. Tony Nwoye is generally considered a cultist, alleged murderer, school dropout, and an arsonist. Tony Nwoye had been fingered as amongst the group that burnt Anambra State properties during the Ngige administration in the hopes of forcing the federal government to declare a state of emergency.
Adding muster to the already odored situation is Tony Nwoye’s whimpering campaign. According a top stakeholder in the Tony Nwoye campaign team, the campaign which began late due to internal squabbles in the party is plagued with limited financial resources and lack of professionalism. A blood trail has followed virtually each campaign stop. Thugs and political hounds appear to have ultimate control of the Tony Nwoye campaign. We have no say. It is just cultists and criminals running the show.”
On the part of the Governor of Bauchi State, his penchant for rigging election is considered legendary. Beyond his exploits while stationed at Rivers State, the election that brought about his emergence as the APC gubernatorial candidate in Bauchi State 2015 election showcased Abubakar’s appetite for rigging.
During the primary voting exercise leading up to the gubernatorial elections in Bauchi State, Akeredolu [the present governor of Ondo State] was selected to lead the 5-man delegation to administer the APC gubernatorial primary among the eight aspirants. Upon arrival to Bauchi State, instead of reporting to the State APC as required, he moved directly to be received and housed by Dr. Danjuma Dado, a close friend and partner to the then aspirant, Mohammed Abubakar.
On the day of the primary, Akeredolu sat in a corner sipping from a cold bottle of Coke while Dr. Danjuma Dabo took over the process. Dr. Dabo who is a member of the Abubakar campaign team proceeded to screen the delegates who would participate in the working process. As expected, Dr. Dabo selected delegates he believed were favorable to his boss, Abubakar. But as the voting process began, their plans changed due to unforeseen eventualities.
It became evident as the votes were being counted that one of the aspirants, Dr. Lame was off on an early lead. Immediately, the generator which was supplying power to the venue was switched off. With the lights off, the ballot boxes were switched. During the switch, an agent [Sa’adatu Babaji] to one of the aspirants [Barrister Ibrahim Zailani] took a picture of the switch with her phone camera. But as the lights of her phone camera flashed the perpetrators, Dr. Dado and his men pounced on the agent and destroyed her phone camera.
As the Generator was restarted and the lights switched back on, the counting of the votes resumed. At the conclusion of the count, Abubakar was announced the winner. He was announced the winner but the number of total votes were more than the registered delegates. The counted votes were 91 over the number of registered delegates.
In protest, the majority [3 out of 5] of the 5-man delegates charged with administering the APC primary refused to pen their signatures to the results of the APC gubernatorial primary election. Three out of the five refused to sign the document. The matter is currently being litigated.
Equally, only two out of the eight agents to the aspirants agreed to pan their signatures to the result document. The two agents were those of his [Abubakar] and that of Engr. Gidado – who is currently the deputy governor of Bauchi State.
Interesting, when Akeredolu joined the gubernatorial race in Ondo State, Governor Abubakar made sure to repay him the favor. As 247ureports.com gathered, immediately it was clear that Akeredolu had won the APC ticket in Ondo, Governor Abubakar led a high powered delegation to campaign in Ondo State.
According to our sources, it was through Governor Abubakar’s influence that the gubernatorial election was won in Ondo State – through unguarded rigging. According to an INEC source, “he played the crucial role in rigging the election as a payback to Akeredolu”.
–
It is feared the APC appointment of Governor Abubakar as the chairman of Anambra gubernatorial election for the Tony Nwoye campaign may indeed be for his penchant and experience to rig brazenly.
