Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya on Saturday expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the All Progressives Congress direct primaries in Gombe State, describing the exercise as peaceful, orderly and a true reflection of internal democracy.
The governor spoke shortly after casting his vote at Jekadafari Nursery School during the APC ward primaries, the venue of the House of Representatives election in Gombe metropolis.
Yahaya said he was impressed by the turnout of party members and the conduct of electoral officials overseeing the exercise.
“Not only have I seen it, I also participated in the exercise, and I’m happy with the turnout and the conduct of the people, as well as the elections monitoring committee and the management of the elections by the party.
“I’m sure that is what is happening everywhere in the state and I believe we shall have a peaceful primary election,” he said.
The governor called on party members to remain united regardless of the outcome of the primaries, insisting that there should be no division within the APC.
“We are one big family. There is no victor and there is no vanquished as far as I’m concerned. They are all APC members,” Yahaya stated.
“I urge everybody to cooperate because for us as one party, we don’t have winners and losers. We shall continue to move together in order to deliver on the yearnings and aspirations of the people of Gombe State.” he said.
Speaking on the party’s decision to adopt direct primaries after earlier consensus discussions, the governor said the process demonstrated the APC’s commitment to democracy.
“The primaries being conducted now are what democracy is all about. Members have embraced democracy and they are participating peacefully,” he added.
On voter turnout, Yahaya said he was “more than satisfied” with the level of participation and orderly conduct displayed by party members.
“With what I saw, I’m convinced beyond reasonable doubt that enough preparations have been made and the people are conducting themselves peacefully,” he said.
Also speaking, Chairman of the APC Electoral Committee, Kabiru Musa, described the exercise as a model election.
“The fact is that this is a model election conducted here in this ward. We are impressed with the turnout and the free and fair atmosphere,” he said.
“This serves as a model that elections can be peaceful, rigorous, free, fair and credible. Everything has gone well.”
Our correspondent observed that voting at Dawarki Ward commenced at about 11 a.m. and was concluded within 20 minutes, while the Jekadafari Ward exercise started at 11:54 a.m. and ended around 12:05 p.m. amid tight security and orderly conduct by voters.
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