Re: Between Tukur, Nyako and ACN

Category: Comments Published on Saturday, 02 June 2012 06:00 Written by Ahmad I. Sajoh Hits: 5934

Granted that the writer wants his readers to see the ACN as more democratic than the PDP, he has inadvertently ended up telling such a blatant lie that even he may have found it hard to believe. At least as witnesses to the events in the Media, what we saw was different from the opinion expressed. Whereas the PDP held an open primary election at the Lamido Cinema, which was witnessed by all relevant stakeholders including the Media; the ACN never conducted any primary election prior to the February elections. They relied on the earlier one which was announced at a press conference rather than at the very venue of the primaries. Those who disputed the said outcome such as Professor Tukur Liman openly protested.

It is indeed a great abuse of a writer’s desecration to speak so assuredly of a matter before a competent judicial Tribunal saying “the truth remains that the elections was marred by under aged voting, over voting, ballot stuffing, and gross electoral malpractices ”. If anyone has such an overwhelming evidence of electoral offences, why not volunteer it to the Tribunal? In truth, actually, Maliki Saluadeen was only exercising a writer’s licence to say what he wants to say. As for the reports of the accredited observers and other electoral monitors, none contained any of the statements made by the writer. These reports are public records.

Some writers have a very ingenious way of making their presentations. And to give credence to their ingenuity, they use such terms and terminologies as “Authoritative sources”. What are these sources? If anyone is certain of his sources why not mention them? Imagine the apparent contradiction in the following statement, “the major reason PDP governors and stalwarts of the party stormed Adamawa 24 hours to the election day to the election day was to manipulate the process in favour of its candidate. Their strategy may not be unconnected with the apparent loss of confidence in the candidacy of Nyako”. For God’s sake how could any responsible set of people lose confidence in a person and then rally round that same person in support? Even an insane person will find that hard to swallow.

Worst still, it is definitely out of place to connect the re-election of Governor Nyako with the eventual emergence of Bamanga Tukur as the National Chairman of PDP. The party had zoned the Chairmanship to the North-East without any condition as to the party in power in the state in question. If that were a pre-requisite why will the National Vice-Chairman of the PDP in the North-East, come from Yobe State that is controlled by the ANPP? What of the National Secretary of the party who is from a state controlled by the ACN?

Apparently continuing with his contradictory statements, the writer spoke of “PDP’s alleged grand design to manipulate the outcome of the Governorship Election Tribunal’s verdict in favour of its candidate in spite of the glaring evidences filed by the ACN”. What a funny statement to make. Has the ACN on whose behalf the writer seems to be making the said statement lost confidence in the judiciary? Why take your case to the Tribunal when you believe it could be manipulated. If Nyako and the PDP could manipulate the Tribunal, why did he loose his case at both the Tribunal level and Court of Appeal previously? Certain statements just do not add up.

All the talk about the son of the Governor and that of the National Chairman contesting the seat of Governor in 2015 is just balderdash. The excessive character assassinations contained in the write-up are what they are, simple attempts at character assassination. The use of Fulfulde language is in character with recent Adamawa ethno-religious campaign. To claim that Nyako will foist his son on the people of Adamawa as governor defies logic. It is just mere extension of street gossip to the realm of the Media. As for Bamanga Tukur, his son Awwal is already a politician who won elections twice without his father being National Chairman.

When the writer said the ACN lost with just the margin of difference with the PDP, he was displaying a clear evidence of lack of knowledge of the electoral system. For the avoidance of doubt, the ACN did not lose the election by just the margin of different between their candidate and Nyako, but by all the votes of the other three parties that contested the elections which is 2,846 for the ADC, 3,885 for the ANPP and107,546 for the CPC, because by implication they had all rejected the ACN as an option.

Ahmad Sajoh wrote from Adamawa State University in Mubi.