I won’t congratulate Yobe governor –PDP candidate

Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Yobe State in the April 11 election, Alhaji Adamu Maina, has said he will not congratulate Governor Ibrahim Geidam for winning the election.

Maina, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the election which was won by the All Progressives Congress candidate was characterised by irregularities.

The former Minister of Police Affairs said that he would take his petition to the Election Petitions Tribunal where he vowed to press for the reversal of the governor’s mandate.

He said he was angry that his party was shortchanged during the governorship election, adding that there was no way he could have been defeated due to his popularity in the state.

Besides, he said he had a pending suit at an Abuja Federal High Court, in which he was challenging the eligibility of the governor to run for election.

He said that the governor had been inaugurated twice as governor and that it would be wrong for him to return to office in May 29.

Maina said, “I have refused to congratulate the governor since the result of the election was announced. I won’t congratulate him until all issues relating to the election are resolved.

“I have filed a case before a Federal High Court challenging his eligibility to contest the election because the governor, as ruled by the Supreme Court, ought not to be in office for more than eight years and should not be sworn in more than twice.

“The suit is slated for hearing later this week. We will also go to the tribunal to prove that the election was rigged.”

He also said that he would prove to the court that card readers were not used during the governorship election unlike what obtained during the presidential election in the state.

The former minister also alleged that he had evidence to show that the election was also conducted under the influence of money.

According to him, “The nation would be shocked when we present our evidence before the tribunal. But because we are going to court, we won’t want to reveal our strategy.”