The former Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman, described his victory at the rerun as a vindication that he initially won during the March 18 election.
Speaking with our Correspondent in an interview, Suleiman said he was extremely happy at his constituents for restoring his mandate which the APC tried to steal from him.
He said: “I’m happy and this is an affirmation of my mandate which some people were trying to steal from me but the people of Ningi, especially people from those 10 polling units, rose up and defended the mandate. So, I am extremely happy to my people for doing that.
“I have been vindicated. A rerun that was held in 10 polling units and I won all those areas with a very wife margin shows that I have been vindicated and I thank my good people for restoring my mandate.
“With this victory, my people should expect more valuable representation. I have learned a lot during the two months break and I have re-strategized and I am ready to do more for my people. As their representative, I will continue from where I stopped to provide dividends of democracy and life-touching projects for the people of Ningi Central and Bauchi State in general.”
Suleiman lamented that for the two months he was away from the Assembly, he had no salary, or allowance to do anything for his constituents noting that all he had was finished because he helped them with the little he had.
“One of the things I learned is that my people spent two months without any representation, and as a result of that, I kept assisting them with the little that I had and trying to pursue projects. Within these two months, I was left with nothing, no salary, no allowance and no income that I will be able to do something for my people. So, it’s a lesson learned,” he said.
He said that he did not lose sleep or was not anxious of winning the rerun because he was leading with a wide margin during the Margin 18, 2023 election.
“I was not anxious because of many factors: one, I was comfortably living with 1,801 votes. Secondly, all the places that were declared inconclusive that is the 10 polling units, are my strongholds and the third factor is that I have a very strong connection with my people at the grassroots. Although in elections, anything can happen but in this case, I had absolute confidence that I would return. But it is a life-learning experience,” he said.
Suleiman called on his opponent to sheath his sword and join him in developing Ningi Central constituency, Ningi Local Government and Bauchi State at large.