The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State has disputed the rumours making the rounds in the state that 21 members of the state House of Assembly are defecting to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The party dominates the Assembly with 21 members out of the 29-member House.
Addressing journalists yesterday shortly after holding a meeting with APC lawmakers, the party’s state chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Uba Nana, debunked the rumour of the defection of the lawmakers to PDP.
Uba Nana described the rumours gaining grounds in the state as baseless and unfounded, saying that they were being orchestrated to destabilize the party.
The chairman informed that the lawmakers had, during the meeting he had with them, not only denied the rumours, but also reiterated their loyalty to APC.
“The APC Assembly members during the meeting reiterated their loyalty to the party and denied any plan to decamp to any other political parties.
“So the rumour that 21 members will decamp to PDP is not true. We, as a party are united and have resolved to fighting for the progress of the party, which is non-negotiable.
Having majority of the members of the House of Assembly, which include three senators and 11 House of Representatives members, APC is poised to unseat the PDP state government in the next election,” the APC chairman said.
Speaking on the last Saturday’s local government elections held in the state which the PDP cleared all the 20 chairmanship seats and 323 councillors, Uba Nana alleged that the results were not declared by the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC).
He, however, vowed that his party will challenge the elections’ results in a competent court, adding that APC does not have confidence in the elections petitions tribunal set up by the state government for the local government elections.