Opposition has continued to mount over the emergence of Mohammed Ahmed as the All Progressives Congress, APC, senatorial candidate for Gombe Central.
This is sequel to a disputed direct primary that produced him.
Ahmed reportedly defeated the incumbent senator representing the zone and former governor of the state, Danjuma Goje, in the dsputed election.
However, Goje and other stakeholders had rejected the outcome of the primary, describing it as flawed.
In the latest developent, a political group in the state, the ‘Good Governance and Development Advocacy Forum’, has raised eyerows over the process through which Ahmed emerged as winner from the primaries.
The group’s state coordinator, Haruna Hassan, in a statement, described the conduct as a “charade” and an act of disenfranchisement of party members.
He alleged that figures and results were “concocted and allocated to aspirants without the proper conduct of the primaries, saying: “Only government ‘annonited’ candidates were recognised.”
Hassan said candidates “who forced their ways through the fraudulent processes raised credibility questions, especially as they seek seats in the National Assembly to make laws for the nation.
He noted that while court had exonerated Ahmed over allegations of involvement in the extra-judicial killing of the first Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, when Ahmed served as a Assistant Commissioner of Police, the issue remained a matter of public scrutiny.
“In view of this, the electorate should be cautious when voting; they should elect those with history of respect for the rule of law and human rights,” Hassan said.