Gov. Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi on Saturday refuted speculations that he was jittery over the decision of the National Executive of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to conduct direct primaries in the state.
Speaking on the issue while announcing the outcome of the presidential primaries conducted in the state, the governor said he was fully prepared to slug it out with other contestants.
“I want to correct the negative impression that I am afraid of Direct primaries.
“I am not afraid of Direct primaries as speculated by other governorship aspirants on the platform of APC.
“I am ready to confront other contestants in Direct primaries and people of Bauchi are also ready,” he said.
Speaking on the presidential primaries, the governor said President Mohammadu Buhari polled 786,032 votes in Bauchi out of the 825,380 members that were accredited.
“The result was collated comprehensively from the 20 local government areas during the direct primaries in the state.
”The exercise was conducted peacefully in the state without any rancour or confusion; I must commend people of Bauchi state,” he said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential primaries commenced very late in the state, resulting in collation being done Friday night and the outcome, announced on Saturday.
Meanwhile, state chairman of the party, Alhaji Uba Nana,has alerted members of the party about fake membership registration card being circulated in the state.
“We will not hesitate to deal with whoever is responsible for the circulation of the fake membership registration card in the state,” he warned.