Shortly after the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja nullified his election, Deputy Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Jamilu Umaru Dahiru Barade, PDP, has called for calm among his supporters.
Our correspondent reports that a panel of three justices of the Court of Appeal jettisoned the earlier judgement delivered by the Bauchi State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal which affirmed the election of Barade to represent Bauchi Central Constituency in the State House of Assembly for the second time.
The Appeal Court in a summary judgment ordered INEC to conduct a rerun election in some polling units following a complaint by the appellant, Aliyu Abdullahi Ilela, APC.
Addressing a press conference at his residence in Bauchi on Wednesday, Barade said as a lawmaker, he will strictly abide by the decision of the appellant court.
“I want to call on voters from Bauchi Central to overlook my past mistakes and vote for me again to represent them for another tenure.
“You should sieve between competence and integrity and vote wisely during the rerun election.
“Throughout my political career, I was never taken to court until when the latest came up,” he said.
Barade said the kind of support he received across party divides following the pronouncement of the judgement is tremendous, adding that it is a reflection of the kind of representation he institutionalised over the last four years in Bauchi Central.
WikkiTimes recalls that the Court of Appeal also nullified the election of the Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Sulaiman, PDP; in another judgement, the appellant court also nullified the election of the member representing Zungur/Galambi Constituency, Sa’idu Yusuf Ahmad, PDP.
