Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has refuted reports that he lost his polling unit to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Garki/Babura federal constituency by-election held in Jigawa State.
Abubakar, a former governor of the state and stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisted that his party won at his polling unit, contrary to claims being circulated.
APC’s candidate, Mukhtar Rabi’u Garki, was declared winner of the by-election with 38,449 votes, defeating PDP’s Isa Auwalu who scored 13,519 votes.
According to a statement issued by his media aide, Mati Ali, the minister voted at Polling Unit 002 of Babura Kofar Arewa Primary School, where APC polled 188 votes against PDP’s 164.
He explained that the misinformation arose from a mix-up with Polling Unit 001 in the same location, whose result was wrongly attributed to him.
“Our attention has been drawn to the circulation of an election result from Babura Kofar Arewa Polling Unit 001, mischievously credited to the Honourable Minister.
“This is the handiwork of mischief makers seeking to distort facts and tarnish his reputation,” the statement said.
Ali stressed that Abubakar’s actual polling unit is Babura Kofar Arewa Primary School Polling Unit 002, where he personally cast his ballot.
Also in attendance at the by-election was the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, who hails from Jigawa State.
