Bala Mohammed Wins Fresh Bauchi PDP Governorship Primary After Losing Presidential Ticket
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has won the fresh governorship primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) conducted in the state.
Mohammed was declared on Saturday as the winner, being the sole aspirant, and polling a total of 646 votes out of 650 votes cast.
“By the powers conferred on me by the constitution of the PDP, I hereby declare Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir as the winner of the PDP gubernatorial ticket for the 2023 general elections,” the returning officer, Hassan Grema, declared.
SaharaReporters had during the week reported that the Bauchi State chapter of the PDP commenced preparations for a fresh governorship primary election.
A former Secretary to the Bauchi State Government, Ibrahim Kashim, had clinched the ticket of the party in the primary conducted last week.
The returning officer, Grema, had declared Kashim, the sole aspirant, as the winner, saying he had a total of 655 votes out of the 656 votes available as one was invalid.
Shortly after the declaration, Kashim said he had accepted the mandate given to him by the delegates.
“The contest has just begun for 2023. The PDP is ready to beat every other opposition,” he had said.
However, there were reports of disagreement between the governorship candidate and Governor Bala Mohammed after the primary.
According to the reports, Kashim refused to hand over the ticket to the governor who lost the PDP presidential ticket to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
Mohammed, a first-term governor, had just 20 votes in the presidential primary.
But PDP spokesman in Bauchi said a fresh exercise would be conducted because Kashim said he no longer had an interest in the election.
He had said, “Former Secretary to the Government of Bauchi State, Barrister Ibrahim Muhammad Kashim, has withdrawn his candidature and submitted his candidature since he stepped down on his own.
“The party is left with no option but to get his replacement through fresh Primary election.”