Different reactions have trailed the announcement of the winner of the Gombe State Governorship election held last Saturday with major stakeholders unveiling their next steps.
The defeated candidate, Senator Usman Bayero Nafada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told newsmen that he will advise his party against challenging the outcome of the election in Court.
Speaking for the first time, 24 hours after the declaration of the results, Usman Bayero said though his party was massively intimidated by security forces before, during and after the elections, which resulted in the arrest of their party men even after the elections for no just cause, he still attributed the outcome of the elections to an act of God.
Bayero Nafada, a serving Senator, who congratulated the winner, however said challenging the outcome of the elections is the decision of the Party but that he will advice the party against taking such decision.
According to him, he has no intention of going to court but that he doesn’t know what the party may decide. In his words, “That is not in my agenda, but I don’t know what the party may decide”.
Bayero Nafada said: “let me use this medium to congratulate him, but congratulating him does not mean the party may not take action. But as far as I am concerned I don’t have problem with him”.
He called on his supporters and all those that voted him to remain peaceful and calm adding, “This will come and go, we’ve seen many of these, it’s just a matter of four years, whatever it is, we will come back to the field, once we’re alive, we’ll come back, and so there is no problem”.
In his reaction to his declaration as the victor, Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya, who thanked God for the peaceful and successful election said the people of Gombe should now expect better governance from what was experienced in the last four years.
He said, “Having gone round the State, I am wearing the shoe now, I know what they want. You should expect me to work hard together with my team to meet their expectations and to take them to the next level”.
He promised to focus on all facets of development particularly in education, health care delivery, agriculture and security adding that, “If well addressed, it will help to uplift the living standard of the people of the State”.
“We will also give priority attention to rural development so that the rural people will engage more on Agricultural productivity and provide more resources we need to bring Gombe State out of the shackles of underdevelopment,” he emphasized.
