Post-Election Crisis: Bauchi women, children threaten to embark on hunger strike
Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as well as the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, have been called to as a matter of necessity remove their “pseudo hands” from the post-election legal tussle trailing the just concluded gubernatorial election in Bauchi State which the party lost to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Bala Muhammad Abdulkadir.
The call was made by a coalition of women flanked by their children known as “Women Coalition for Sustainable Peace and Viable Democratic Gains in Bauchi State” after offering a special prayers in an Eid praying ground at cattle market Bauchi on Monday, declaring that if the trio refused to do what they requested they will be left with no option other than to embark on an indefinite hunger strike to drive home their demand.
The coalition declared that the electorate in Bauchi State have made their choice of who to lead them for the next four years by electing Senator Bala Muhammad Abdulkadir as the next Governor of the state and so their collective wishes should be respected.
Spokesperson of the coalition, Fatima U Muhammad, while speaking to newsmen said: “We will go on to embark on hunger strike if President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Comrade Adams Oshiomole and their Lieutenants do not remove their hands from enforcing the leader rejected by Bauchi state people upon them.”
“They should not do anything that will disrupt the peace we are enjoying in Bauchi state. We are not unmindful that going to court is Governor Abubakar’s constitutional right but for him to say he has conceded defeat because he believe its Allah who gives power to whom he wishes and then at the same time he reversed himself and claimed that it was Buhari, Osinbajo and Oshiomole that asked him to go to court they even hired four Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) for him this is a clear sign of conspiracy to ensure injustice against the peace-loving people of the State which we will not succumb to that evil conspiracy”, she said.
She further said that the coalition organised this Special Prayers to seek for Allah’s blessings and to seek for Allah’s help from the actions and inactions of the State’s outgoing Governor, Mohammed Abubakar who lost the last governorship as his effort to cause confusion in the State using the name of President Buhari directing him to challenges the choice of Bauchi people at the election petition tribunal.
Malama Salamatu Bappa said that the Women and their children and the entire state have suffered in the last four years spent by Governor Abubakar as Governor of Bauchi state alleging that the state was governed in a process that is devoid of ideology as the Governor did not pay back the electorates that voted for him in to power in 2015.
She added that the Governor did a great disservice to the people of the state by his refusal to execute meaningful projects or services that will improve the living standard of Bauchi state people pointing out that the electorate in the state decided not to allow a repeat of another wasteful four years by Governor Abubakar and the only way to do it was to use their Voters cards and voted out what they called a failure government out of the Government House.
Also in their separates remarks, Mallama Fatima Bala Muhammad, Maryam Aminu and Mohammed Bala prayed to Allah to bring sustainable peace to the state explaining that Bauchi People decided through the ballot boxes never again to leave the destiny of their State in the hands of those who lack the vision, the motivation, and the capacity to drive the change the people of the state desperately need.
They said that they have changed the leadership of the State adding, “all we need now is a leadership that would ensure justice and fair distribution of state resources and channelled it to the development of the State.”
It will be recalled that weeks after conceding electoral defeat and even wished the Governor-elect, Bala Muhammad well, incumbent Governor, Mohammed Abubakar made a U-turn declaring that the President and the National leadership of the APC have asked him to challenge the results of the gubernatorial election at the tribunal and as an obedient and loyal party man he has decided to go with the decision.
