NewsNigeriaPoliticsBauchi Speaker Denies Defection Rumours, Says His Loyalty is Still In-tact in APC

Amid defections and political realignment sweeping in some states ahead of 2023, Speaker Bauchi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Suleiman, has denied  rumours being peddled  that he has perfected plans to defect from the All Progressives Congress, APC.

In a statement on Monday by his spokesperson Abdul Burra, the Speaker was quoted as saying that he had no plan to jettison his party, the APC.

According to the statement, ”The Speaker stated this when he granted audience to APC leadership of Guda Ward on a congratulatory visit over his election as Chairman of Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria in his office.

”The Speaker said he remains loyal and grateful to his party the APC on whose platform he contested and won election, calling on them to ignore all peddled rumors that he is leaving the party,” it stated.

The  Speaker   who also dusted off insinuations suggesting that he refused to speak during the party’s grand finale campaign in Dass, said that  prior to the grand finale, all APC lawmakers in the House agreed that Majority Leader Hon. Tijjani Muhammad Aliyu being the Leader of the party in the Assembly would speak on behalf of the APC lawmakers.

“Not only during the Dass campaign, in many events of the party we usually ask the Majority Leader to speak for us.

“Check the programme of events of the Dass campaign, they never mentioned  that Speaker Abubakar Suleiman will speak but mentioned the speech of (APC) leadership of Bauchi State House of Assembly.

“There is nothing wrong if our party leader in the Assembly spoke for us,” the Speaker explained.

He said most of the rumors being circulated were concocted by hell- bent defamatory elements, as “Some of them couldn’t forget what transpired during our inauguration which they see as disloyalty to the party.”

Earlier, Alhaji Ya’u Kafinta, the chairman of the party, said they visited the Speaker to congratulate him over his recent election as Chairman of Conference of Speakers of State Legislature of Nigeria which he said was a great source of joy and pride to all people of the area.

He recalled how the Speaker  contributed immensely to the growth and development of Guda Community even before joining politics, saying with ascendancy to the national limelight, the Speaker is reaping what he sow.

Kafinta added that the people of Guda feel proud that the son of the area became the first Ningi indigene to become Speaker, first Bauchi indigene to become Chairman of Northeast Speakers Forum and first North easterner to become Chairman of Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, forecasting higher positions for the Speaker in the future.