Yobe: PDP produces Senatorial candidates at two parallel primaries

…Gaidam, Lawan emerge APC senatorial candidates for Yobe East & North

 

Former Minister of Police Affairs and Minister of State Agriculture and Water Resources, Adamu Waziri and the current Senator representing Yobe South Senatorial Zone Mohammed Hassan have both emerged as candidates of the PDP for the Zone B senatorial seat at two parallel primaries held in Potiskum, Yobe State on Tuesday.

Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam and the Senate Leader Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan also emerged unopposed for the Yobe East and Yobe North primary elections of the APC respectively, was also held across the state on Tuesday.

While the two primaries of the PDP were both held simultaneously in Potiskum town, both Sen. Mohammed Hassan and Adamu Maina Waziri claimed victory at each of the exercises amidst their supporters and party fateful.

Yobe South Senatorial district has four local government areas of Fune, Fika, Nangere and Potiskum.

At the Idrissa Cinema Centre in Postiskum, where the Waziri led primary was conducted, Adamu Waziri emerged winner with a wide margin of 341 votes followed by Sen. Mohammed Hassan with 15 votes. At the other venue, where a similar election was also held, Adamu Waziri and his nephew Haruna Bawa Waziri trailed with 3 and 5 votes respectively from Sen. Mohammed Hassan who pulled 324.

The chairman of the PDP Electoral panel for the Yobe State Senatorial primary election Mohammed Yunusa who declared Mohammed Hassan the winner of the election told journalists that he is not aware that another primary election was also held in Potiskum.

“We are a committee of five people sent from the PDP National Secretariat to conduct this election. As you can see, four of us are here conducting this election. I am the chairman of the committee. The other person, Dr. Shettima Umar is the only person that is not with us here. I called him informing him that we are in Potiskum and I haven’t seeing him and he told me he is on his way.

“I have not seen him uptil this moment. Even his appointment letter as a member of the committee is with me. He is not picking his calls again. I don’t know why,” Mr. Yunusa informed.

Interestingly, The Nation checks gathered that Dr. Shettima Umar, was the one PDP official from the National Secretariat that took charge of the primary election that produced Adamu Waziri as the winner.

Shettima in his narration informed journalists that he has not seen the other members of the committee and therefore decided to go ahead to conduct the primaries.

“I didn’t see the other members so decided to do my job here. I called the chairman of the committee but i have not heard from him. His no is switched off. Maybe he is on his way,” Dr. Shettima said.

In his reaction, one of the aspirants Haruna Bawa Waziri who was at the Adamu Waziri staged a walk out and said he didn’t know he was in a wrong place.

Mr. Haruna also accused members of the committee from the national secretariat of the party of hoarding information from aspirants for the election.

“I decided to walk out of the elections because of the fraud that was taking place at the venue of the election. I saw a lot of shabby things going on and I decided not to be part to that fraudulent arrangement. I also discovered I was in a wrong place so I left the venue and i disassociate with the two primaries that were held”, Haruna said.