Bauchi Governorship Debate: Overriding National Function Prevents My Attendance, Says NNPP Candidate

By Khalid Idris Doya 

New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) Governorship candidate in Bauchi, Senator Halliru Dauda Jika has dismissed the insinuations that he is shy or afraid of electoral debate, saying he doesn’t fear any of the candidates aspiring for the state’s coveted seat.

Senator Halliru Jika explained that the date Wednesday 25th January, 2023 concord with the date the nation’s Upper Legislative Chamber, the Senate was having a debate on the confirmation of the newly nominated chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) in the person of Dr. Solomon Arase.

Speaking with Journalists yesterday in Bauchi Senator Jika said “It is believing that Solomon Arase who is a season lawyer might be able to resolve the impasse of supremacy now going between the police and the commission which issue is already a litigation before a competent court of law, and I don’t want cut contempt”.

According to the Senator, there was a heated debate and a public hearing on the issued which he chaired as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, coupled with the issue of taking the police out of the Contributory Pension Scheme.

Jika submitted, “Those are the two critical issues which I have to stay in Abuja and address before coming to Bauchi. These are the major reasons for me not attending the State Governorship Electoral Debate on Wednesday the 25th January, 2023”.

 The Senator therefore expressed his remorseful regrets for the inconveniences his absence at Wednesday’s State Gubernatorial Candidates Debate might have caused to organizers of the event and the electorate in the state in particular
The Dokajin Bauchi attributed his inability to feature in the state governorship debate to the Senate sitting for the confirmation of the nomination of ex-IGP Arase as the new chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) which the date Wednesday clashed with the Bauchi Governorship Debate.

Jika explained that as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, he must be at the Senate sitting slated for the confirmation of the PSC chief which he made commitment to attend, describing as a function of an overriding national importance. 

Senator Halliru Dauda Jika said that he was equal to none of the governorship candidates in Bauchi state in terms of commitments to democracy as, according to him, none of the candidates had good blue print and complete readiness to both deliver and positively transformation of the state than him.