By Safullahi Ahmad Gaya
As people believe, there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance. If asked, most people would admit that they would prefer to be called confident, rather than arrogant.
An arrogant person may end up limiting his opportunities in life, as people wouldn’t want to be associated with arrogant person.
According to self-professed thought leader and author of The Light In The Heart: Roy T. Bennett “Do not let arrogance go to your head and despair to your heart; do not let compliments go to your head and criticisms to your heart; do not let success go to your head and failure to your heart.”
In every election there is loser and the winner but in Nigeria context of election a loser not easily accept either peoples or distinguished delegates verdicts without given an flimsy excuse leading to his losing.
Former New Media aide to President Buhari, Bashir Ahmad contest the seat to represent Gaya/ Ajingi/Albasu/ Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives against the serving member who defeated him with 109 to 16 votes.
The delegates affirmed they preferable aspirant who is the incumbent member representing the constituency but In a true nature of the Nigeria’s politicians Bashir shouldn’t conceive the defeat Spreading different lies.
I can categorically say that to the best of my knowledge the Primary election for the said Constituency was conducted In a very peaceful atmosphere devoid of any security breached.
In the buildup to the primary election, Kano state APC held Kano South Senatorial district stakeholders meeting at Coronation Hall of Kano Government’s House in it’s efforts to have smooth primaries elections.
The serving members and aspirants of different electives positions attended the meeting.
I can recall at the meeting Bashir had spoken arrogantly for more than 10 minutes without recourse to decency and respect to the party stakeholders and categorically shown his candidacy as a phenomenon supported from the Villa as he claimed and implying in his speech before the audience.
Unfortunately, Bashir Ahmad let his arrogance go into his head before Governor Ganduje and other APC stakeholders as he thought the election was winnable on the pages of newspapers and social media platforms.
I am amazed with his desperation at same time pitying him for falling into traps of the sweet mouth of so called heavyweight politicians in the constituency as the best way to describe him like phase used in the nation’s universities of Jonny Just Come (JJC). Really he is jonny in the murky water of politics.
His desperation for the seat beclouded sense of truth and reality of political situation in his constituency.
Amazingly, instead of facing the reality, Bashir resorts to using a very dubious trick of manipulating the fact after losing the election.
His interview with Kano based Freedom Radio and other social media pages clearly show his ignorance of Nigerian Electoral Act 2022. Electoral Act, 2022, recognizes three modes of conducting primary elections towards choosing candidates of political parties, namely, direct, indirect and consensus modes of primary election, your party Nomination of candidates conducted through indirect primaries in which delegates are meant to vote.
In the case of nominations to the position of a Senatorial candidate, a Member of the House of Representatives and a Member of a State House of Assembly, the political party shall, where it intends to sponsor candidates, (i) hold special congresses in the Senatorial District, Federal Constituency and the State Assembly Constituency respectively, with delegates voting for aspirants of their choice in designated centres on specified dates, and (ii) the aspirant with the highest number of votes cast at the end of voting shall be declared the winner of the primaries of the party and the aspirant’s name shall be forwarded to the Commission as the candidate of the party. The act clearly stated that in the Section 84 of the Nigerian Electoral Act 2022, among others, are under Part V of the Act. Part V is titled POLITICAL PARTIES.
How on earth the defeated aspirant came to conclusion that if he had wished Gaya/Ajingi/Albasu/ Federal Constituency primary election would have been conducted in Abuja.
If the act has allowed such special treatment, I am sure the President’s nephew will not have lost his bid to get a re-election ticket for Daura/Sandamu/Maiadua Federal Constituency. Another issued Mr. Bashir raised in rejection of the primary election exercise for Albasu/Gaya/ Ajingi Federal Constituency was the fact that denied access to the voting arena.
However, contrary to his claims on his denied access to the area by political thugs, his supporters were all over the place during the election.
Base on this, one may conclude that this narration is nothing but a defeat hangover as no one but Bashir saw thugs either within the venue or around during the election.
This is because, Nigeria police provided maximum security during the exercise.
Here, I speak authoritatively because I sat very close to him at the Gaya Local Government Islamic Centre during the exercise. Let him understand that elections are not won on social media platforms.
Was he not the one who raised issue before the returning officer that delegates list used at the election was not the same issued to him from Abuja? Let me remind him that section 121(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 forbids the buying and selling of votes.
Was he not the same person allegedly connived with so called political heavyweight from Albasu and Ajingi local government area who allegedly received millions of naira from him with the promises to deliver delegates from the areas their areas in his favour?.
Most amazing and childish utterance made by him during an interview with Freedom Radio has portrayed him as a position mongerwho is afraid of life after office.
There is a need for him to stop spreading the lies and accept the defeat as he bury his head in the sand.
Gaya writes in from the Gaya local government area of Kano state.
