By Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse
The Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has dismissed reports suggesting that he lost his polling unit during last Saturday’s Babura/Garki Federal Constituency by-election in Jigawa State.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Comrade Mati Ali, the Minister described the claims as “false, untrue, and deliberately misleading,” insisting that official results from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed the All Progressives Congress (APC) won at his polling unit.
“Our attention has been drawn to the circulation of an election result from Babura Kofar Arewa Polling Unit 001 mischievously attributed to the Honourable Minister. For the avoidance of doubt, the Honourable Minister’s actual polling unit is Babura Kofar Arewa Primary School Polling Unit 002, where he personally cast his vote,” the statement clarified.
According to the official INEC result released at the unit, APC polled 188 votes against the PDP’s 164 votes.
“This result confirms that the Honourable Minister secured a clear and convincing victory in his polling unit in favour of the APC. The false claims are nothing but the handiwork of mischief makers seeking to distort facts and tarnish the Minister’s image,” Ali added.
He urged the public, party members, and the media to disregard the misleading reports and rely only on the results officially declared by INEC.