By Mukhtar Jibril
The call by the National Patriotic Front for Tinubu (NPFFT), a group that says it supports President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for M. A. Abubakar, SAN, to withdraw as the APC governorship candidate in Bauchi State raises an important question: what evidence supports the group’s authority to make such a demand?
The statement announcing the call identifies Castro Ezama as Director-General and Hon. Musa Zubairu as National Secretary. Yet our inquiries so far have yielded little verifiable information about the group’s wider leadership, organisational structure or activities. Nor have we been able to confirm an office address for the group in Nigeria or obtain documents establishing its registration. The identities and positions of the two named officials, too, remain difficult to verify through publicly available information.
These gaps call for clear answers. Who else serves in the group’s leadership? Where is its office? Which authority registered it, and where can the relevant documents be examined? What evidence demonstrates that it has members or meaningful support in Bauchi State?
If NPFFT expects the public to give its intervention serious consideration, it should make its leadership, organisational details, office address and registration documents available for verification. It should also provide evidence to support its claims. Until then, its position should not be portrayed as the official view of the APC or as the voice of the people of Bauchi State.
Within the APC in Bauchi State, no substantiated reason has been presented to justify calls for M. A. Abubakar, SAN, to withdraw his candidacy. He has supporters and enjoys acceptance among voters in the state. There is also concern that groups of this kind may be used to weaken a candidate or deepen divisions within the party. That concern, however, should be examined on the basis of evidence; suspicion alone does not establish wrongdoing.
Those who claim that M. A. Abubakar, SAN, lacks public support and should present verifiable evidence. Ultimately, it is the voters not an organisation whose own credentials remain unclear who will make their choice at the ballot box.
Jibril is the Vice Chairman of Pate Media Centre and reports from Bauchi
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