The senator representing Bauchi South senatorial district under the New Nigerian People’s Party, Lawal Yahaya Gumau, has defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state.
Gumau, a former member of the House of Representatives representing Toro Federal Constituency, contested and won the senate seat under the All Progressives Congress.
However, after failing to get the APC ticket to contest the Senate seat in the 2023 general elections, he decamped to the NNPP and got the ticket after serious wrangling between him and the current Member of the House of Representatives representing Bauchi Federal Constituency, Yakubu Shehu.
He was said to have been favoured by the national leadership of the NNPP and its presidential candidate, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, ahead of Shehu.
But after losing his re-election to the upper chamber and obviously because of the abysmal performance of the NNPP in the presidential and National Assembly elections, the lawmaker, along with his campaign coordinators and supporters dumped the party and joined the ruling PDP in Bauchi.
He announced his defection into the PDP during an interactive session with the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed.
The lawmaker declared his support for Mohammed’s re-election bid and directed his supporters across his senatorial district to massively vote for the governor and all the House of Assembly candidates in the March 11 elections.
He said the governor has performed above average and expectations, hence the need for all and sundry to support him to succeed in his re-election bid for the execution of more developmental projects for the best interest of the state and its people.
“The most important thing is not about the party, it is the personality that attracted us to the party. I returned to PDP because of Kauran Bauchi who is my leader, mentor and a person who I always follow for me to succeed in politics.
“I joined the governor now because I want my people to feel the impact of democracy and after thorough investigation, I realised that Kauran Bauchi is the best and his performance is the main reason for us to come to him.
“My supporters should thank God that we have a reliable leader who we can trust. Governor Bala Mohammed is a kind of leader that, even without asking him, he will remember that he has a duty to do things.
“He is working not necessarily on what people ask him to do, he does what he believes is good for his people and therefore we must vote for His Excellency to enable him continue doing his good work for our dear Bauchi State,” he stated.
Governor Bala Mohammed, in a response, welcomed Gumau and all his supporters and campaign coordinators to the ruling PDP in the state and promised to provide them with a level playing field to contribute positively towards the victory of all the candidates of his new party in the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections in the state.
