Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has been declared winner of the rerun governorship primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state.
The rerun primary election took place on Saturday at the Zaranda Hotel, Bauchi.
Ibrahim Kassim, the former SSG, secretly resigned his position to contest the initial governorship primary election as a way of retaining the seat for the governor.
Kassim, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, was the sole aspirant who was declared the winner of the first governorship primary election held last week, but stepped down to pave the way for Governor Mohammed to go for a second term.
Recall that Mohammed, who contested the PDP presidential primary election, lost to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, having got only 20 votes.
As a way of rewarding Kassim, Mohammed on Thursday reappointed him the SSG.
The Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the election, Murtala Damagum, while declaring the results of the election, said there were a total of 656 delegates in the state, explaining that 20 of them were national delegates from each of the 20 local government areas of the state.
He added that the remaining 636 delegates cut across the 323 electoral wards of the state.
Announcing the results, Damagum, said 10 delegates were absent, 650 accredited while 646 delegates voted.
According to him, Governor Mohammed scored all the 646 votes that were cast.
In his acceptance speech, Bala Mohammed, expressed gratitude to the Secretary to the State government, who had won the first governorship primary election held last week, but stepped down for him.
He said, “You are aware that I had gone on a solo trip to run for the presidency of Nigeria and that did not work but today, I must thank my brother, the Secretary to the State Government who felt that I should be given the opportunity to go for a second term by stepping down for me.
“What he did is not only a sign of loyalty, but a spirit of comradeship which he expressed and I will not take that for granted. I am very grateful to God, I’m grateful to the PDP family, I’m grateful to him (SSG). I will not disappoint him and I must also thank our national leadership for also accepting.”
