The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Debo Ologunagba, on Friday, said that contrary to the rumours and misleading information being peddled by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno State, Hon. Muhammed Umara Kumalia is still in the race for the Borno Central senatorial seat and remains the candidate to beat in the February 25, 2023 elections.
Ologunagba, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, condemned the APC for allegedly peddling lies that the party had no candidate for the Borno Central senatorial poll following conflicting Court rulings on the PDP ticket.
Kumalia had emerged winner of the July 15, 2022 primary election, and his name accordingly forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as candidate of the PDP for the Borno Central seat in the 2023 elections.
His nomination was, however, challenged by Hon. Jubrin Tatabe, who had earlier won the May 23, 2022 primary election but later formally withdrew from the race two months after.
Tatabe had in a letter dated July 14, 2022 voluntarily withdrew as candidate of the PDP for Borno Central, a development that necessitated the conduct of a fresh primary exercise on July 15, which produced Hon. Kumalia.
Recall that, while a Federal High Court in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, on Monday, nullified the primary election that produced Kumalia as the PDP candidate, another Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the nation’s capital, the following day dismissed Tatabe’s suit challenging the nomination of Kumalia.
Tatabe’s request that Kumalia be sacked and his name be forwarded to INEC as the right candidate of the PDP was turned down by the Abuja court.
Consequently, the APC in a statement claimed that following the conflicting court judgments, the PDP had no candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial election.
But, reacting to the development, the PDP spokeman told journalists in Abuja on Friday, that it was petinent to address the “attempt by the APC to mislead the public by falsely claiming that the PDP has no candidate for Borno Central Senatorial District Election.”
Speaking further, Ologunagba said: “our party has been made aware of mischievous and misleading claims by the APC, that the PDP has no candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial election scheduled to hold on February 25, 2023.
“For clarity, the PDP states in an unequivocal term that our Candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial election remains Hon. Umara Muhammad Kumalia as confirmed in the list of candidates for the 2023 general elections as published by INEC.”
The PDP National Publicity Secretary was of the opinion that the APC’s resort to falsehood “further exposes the fact that the APC in Borno State is intimidated by the towering credibility and popularity of our Borno Central Senatorial Candidate, Hon. Umara Muhammad Kumalia among the people for which they are eager to troop out enmasse to vote for him on February 25, 2023.”
He advised that the APC should understand that the people have settled for Kumalia and cannot be swayed by their alleged falsehood and misleading claims.
“The PDP, therefore, urges our teeming party members, supporters and good people of Borno Central Senatorial District to disregard and ignore the APC and continue to stand behind our Candidate, Hon. Umara Muhammad Kumalia as he marches to victory in the forthcoming Senatorial election,” he added.
