NNPP pulls out of coalition, says proposal aims at favouring PDP

Samuel Luka, Bauchi

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has declared that the party is no longer affiliated to the recent coalition by some political parties to wrestle power from the incumbent Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State in 2019 general election. The guber candidate of the party, Alhaji Shu’aibu Ahmed Adamu who stated this at a press conference on Friday said that the coalition was aimed at favouring the biggest opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ahmed Adamu explained that, “Our campaign slogan is ‘People First’. We consider the interest of the people of Bauchi State as the prime mover of our actions and utterances. Recently, a group of politicians have approached us with suggestion of forming a coalition that will provide a single opposition front in the state. As listening politicians, we agreed to listen to the proposition”. “We therefore decided to honour the invitation for the first meeting; moreover, it came from the people we hold in high esteemed”, he further narrated. According to him, “out of the 21 persons invited to attend the meeting, 11 were from one political party. He did not take us long to understand that the proposal was orchestrated to favour the PDP which has clearly seen electoral defeat. A few other participants at the meeting had personal scores to settle in their vested interest. The proposal had little to do with the interest of the people of Bauchi State “. Adamu who said that the leadership in Bauchi state has failed added that the state has remained one of the most backward in the country where its people have been denied basic dividends of democracy. “The state has been inflicted with misery and poverty, a direct manifestation of insensitive bad leadership at the helm of affairs. Indeed, the 2017 Oxford University Multidimensional poverty index put Bauchi State as one of the most poverty ravaged states in the country with a rate of 87% ahead only of Jigawa and Zamfara states “. The Guber candidate explained. He added that, “recent statistics from the NBS shows that unemployment is at an alarming rate of 41.4% while the literacy rate of the state is 27% (or literacy rate of 73%)-2nd lowest in the federation”. The NNPP Gubernatorial flag bearer said it was ridiculous to expect 48 of its candidates that were produced through credible, free and fair election to dump their mandates and aligned with frustrated power mongers who were schemed out of a sinking boat‎. He said the objective of his party is not only to snatch power but to produce a credible alternative in the best interest of the people of Bauchi State. Alhaji Adamu who said the alternative cannot be achieved through what he tagged the, ‘so-called coalition’ maintained that what was needed is free and fair election for people to decide on candidates of their choices and not conspiracy against the people. He said that the electorates have now learned to reject the old system of being a former Minister or governor before considering one for election into public office. “You have seen that in the recently conducted Bauchi south Senatorial bye-election. Our party is for the youth, the new breed; it is time to produce a credible alternative. The days of money politics are over. The days of reaching the electorates through political touts are gone. They are gone forever. They will collect the money and vote for the candidates they can trust; after all, most of these formers have skeletons in their cupboards “. Adamu alleged. He urged journalists to help educate members of the public to reject money politics, ethnic politics, sectional politics as well as divisiveness and rule antics of the elites in their desperate effort to perpetuate themselves in power. The guber candidate while distancing himself and his party from aligning with any other candidate or political party said, “in-sha-Allah, in a couple of weeks, Governor M. A Abubakar will be addressed as former governor of Bauchi. We are focused in our campaign to oust this non-performing government and we will remain focused in spite of blackmail and political propaganda meted on us “.