Reinstated Dep Gov Vows To Contest Against His Boss

The reinstated Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Garba Gadi, has promised to cooperate with Governor Isa Yuguda to ensure that the electorate reap the dividends of democracy.

Gadi who made the pledge in Bauchi on Wednesday while addressing newsmen after resumption of duties following the June 25 court judgment in his favour, said however that he would contest against Yuguda in 2011 elections if he won the people’s mandate to be the ANPP governorship candidate.

Yuguda and Gadi jointly won the gubernatorial election in 2007 on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), but the former later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) along with members of the state House of Assembly, leaving Gadi in the lurch.

The lawmakers consequently impeached Gadi, forcing him to seek redress in the court, which ruled that he remained the deputy governor on the ANPP platform.

Gadi did not mince words when he told newsmen that “If it is the collective wish of the people of the state, then I will contest the governorship election in 2011”.

According to him “in as much as I cooperate with the governor and government, Iwould not need to defect to the ruling PDP, which was the point of our initial disagreement. “I will remain in the ANPP and do my work as directed. I will attend all government functions, including the State Executive Council and other meetings.

“But I will not attend any political meeting other than those organised by my party, the ANPP,”.

He reiterated that in spite of the various cases pending before the courts, he was the deputy governor of the state until there was a counter court order.

The deputy governor said that as a law-abiding citizen and promoter of the rule of law, he would comply with any order issued by the law court.

Earlier, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Danlami Yar’Adua, had told journalists that “we have restored all his security aides, including full police escort, based on the advice of the Force Legal Department.

Yar’Adua gave assurance that the police would continue to protect lives and property of innocent persons, and warned political hangers-on to desist from causing trouble.

He said that anyone caught disrupting public peace would be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land.

The commissioner refused to comment on the status of Babayo Gamawa, the man who had replaced Gadi before the reversal by the court.