The Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, on Thursday, said he was not aware of the defection of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Dogara officially announced his defection from the APC on Thursday, after submitting his nomination form at the PDP secretariat in Abuja.
However, addressing reporters after completing the screening exercise for sitting governors seeking a second term, Abubakar insisted he was not aware of the Speaker’s defection.
He said: “Well, I don’t know whether he has defected. Has he? Well, I don’t know but I learnt some people presented him with a form, PDP form. But we haven’t heard any specific statement from him that he has defected. So I am waiting for that.”
Abubakar, however, stressed that Dogara’s exit from APC won’t affect his aspiration for a second term in 2019.
He said, “The Speaker represents a constituency that has a total of 70, 000 registered voters. In 2015, I won the election with a margin of 393,000. So, that answers your question.
“The position of the State executive in Bauchi, which they took while I was away in China with Mr. President, was for the indirect primary. The constitution of the party provides for indirect. The last NEC meeting allows for the State executive committees to take charge and determine for themselves what type of primary that they want and Bauchi chose indirect.
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