By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
The just concluded Local Government Councils election in Bauchi State has been described as most peaceful, orderly and successfully conducted across the State.
The declaration was made by the Local Government Election Monitoring Committee, headed by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Abubakar Y. Suleiman.
Addressing Journalists on Tuesday, to give report of the Committee, the Speaker said that the Committee worked with relevant stakeholders before and during the elections to monitor preparations and ensure effective coverage across the 20 local government areas.
He said five-member monitoring teams were deployed to the local government areas and wards to supervise the exercise and report developments from polling centres.
The Speaker commended security agencies, electoral officials, political parties, civil society organisations, election observers and voters for their cooperation, saying their participation contributed to the peaceful conduct of the elections.
He disclosed that about 40 Civil Society Organisations, alongside national and international observers, monitored the exercise across the state and gave encouraging preliminary assessments.
The Committee also noted that legal attempts by the PRP and ADC to stop the elections were unsuccessful, as the courts declined their applications to halt the exercise.
According to him, “Some opposition political parties had approached the court to stop the election. However, the court declined because the processes were duly followed by His Excellency and the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission, BASIEC.”
Abubakar Sulaiman added that the credibility of the election was attested to by local and national election observers. He noted that the outcome produced councilors from several political parties that participated, which he said was proof of a level playing field.
“The fact that opposition parties won councillorship seats shows that the process was open and transparent,” he stated.
The Speaker appealed to the people of Bauchi State to continue to support the newly elected council chairmen, councilors and the Bala Mohammed-led administration for sustainable growth and development across the state.
The Speaker further said the Monitoring Committee had observed the successful conclusion of voting, collation and declaration of results, with APM winning all 20 Chairmanship positions and 319 of the 323 councillorship seats.
He congratulated the elected officials and urged them to regard their victories as a call to service.
The Committee appealed to all stakeholders to maintain peace and pursue any grievances through lawful and constitutional channels.
He commended the Governor, Sen Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed for his commitment to entrenching democracy at the grassroots through regular and transparent.
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