Barrister Labaran Magaji
By Francis Nansak,Lafia
The war of words and level of defamations and character assassination before and after the court judgment which nullifies the June 4, 2022, APC primary election from Nasarawa West Senatorial district is becoming more dramatic, with lots of anxiety on the air
It would be recalled that the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) primary election that held in May 26, 2022, was allegedly marred with irregularities; ranging from doctoring of delegates’ list, among others leading to some aspirants dumping the party for other political parties in the state.
However, with the rescheduled primary, which Barrister Shuaibu Labaran Magaji and Arc. Shehu Ahmed Timur, as aspirants fully participated on June 4, 2022 , the result was declared in favour of Tukur, who polled 179 to defeat Barrister Labaran Magaji who scored 114 votes.
But in no distance days from the concluded Nasarawa west APC primary for senate, Magaji,expressed his displeasure in the exercise that named shehu Tukur, as the elected candidate of the APC in a petition he filed before the national headquarters of the APC, seeking redress and urging the party to cancel delegate list from Keffi and Nasarawa LGAs claiming that there was an infiltration of the original delegate list. He also pray the party to recognize him as the winner of the said primary election.
But, the party failed to consider the petition, a situation that prompted the petitioner to approach a court with the hope that he was going to be giving a fair hearing.
Consequently, the high court sitting in Lafia while ruling on the matter, in it wisdom, nullifies the APC primary from Nasarawa west senatorial district, and directed that the party conduct a fresh primary within 14days.
Looking ahead of the primary as directed in the judgment of the High court Lafia, mix reactions from supporters of both parties are already filtered on the air.
Recent social media report, allegedly credited to supporters of Barrister Shusibu Labaran Magaji, had accused Arc.Tukur for parading fake Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s documents.
The social media report, also had it that Arc. Tukur, was interrogated at the Force Criminal headquarters in Abuja, over the falsification of INEC’s documents in his favour.
However, in a Swift reaction on social media, Arc.Tukur’s Campaign media director, one Jafaar Loko, states that” As part of their desperation for power, the Social Media handlers of Barr Labaran Magaji resorted to spreading fake information by twisting what actually transpired at the Force Headquarters concerning a petition written by their paymaster alleging Arc. Tukur of involving in what they referred as forging INEC document.
“To set the record straight, Arc. Shehu Tukur and few others were invited to clarify issues contained in a petition submitted by Barr Magaji. In correcting the erroneous misconception, as law abiding citizen Tukur honoured the invitation to halt the curiosity of the petitioner who sees disqualification as the only option for him to attain the selfish desire since all hopes has been dashed out.
“Preliminary investigation at Police Headquarters has exonerated the defendants (Arc Tukur and others)as they are not INEC officials neither do they have direct access to INEC documents or in receipt of any contrary communication from the Headquarters of the electoral umpire. Same investigation also revealed an attempt for conspiracy to falsely dent the personality and drag Arc Shehu Tukur into the matter which he knew nothing about, just to incriminate him and pave way for a desperate motive of a first time contestant.
It continued “There was nothing like investigation or detention of either Arc Tukur or any of his ally at Force Headquarters today as mischievously reported by the agents of power monger. It is indeed becoming glaring that the action of Barr Magaji and his coherent is exceeding the limit, the attack on the personality of Tukur and the level of character assassination is beyond an ordinary politics and called for a serious concern” He reacted.
The media director of l Tukur,while dismissing the allegation urged the general public to disregard the lies by the pedlars, saying, it is their usual ways of misleading their followers with fake information in an attempt to sustain deceptive method of keeping hope alive.
Also, and from other quarters a group which alleged that Barrister Shuaibu Labaran Magaji,is an agent of disunity, have received stiff opposition and condemnation on their views and opinions.
In reacting to the condemnable allusion of the faceless group, the Matawalle Ikon Allah Campaign Organisation, while dismissing the allegations said their attention has been drawn to a news report making the rounds on social media titled “2023: Magaji An Agent of Disunity, on Million (sic) to Destroy APC-Group” and credited to a faceless group, Progressive Youth Forum.
“Ordinarily, the Matawalle Ikon Allah Campaign Organisation would have ignored the said report, but for the fact that, some people may be misled by the blatant falsehood being propagated.
“And for the avoidance of doubt, our amiable and resourceful candidate, Barrister Labaran Magaji, is a loyal and bona-fide member of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“In spite of every attempt by his detractors to truncate his senatorial ambition, through clandestine process of substituting the list of delegates that participated in the primary election to nominate their candidate for the Nasarawa West Senatorial District, our candidate has remain resolute and determined to provide the much desired representation for our people.
The Matawalle campaign organisation further stated that, “Being the law abiding, honest and fanatically loyal party member, Barrister Labaran Magaji, only approached the court of law to seek redress and to uphold the tenets of democracy as enshrined in our party’s constitution.
“The claim that Barrister Labaran Magaji is being sponsored by the opposition in order to cause disunity within the APC, is therefore not only farfetched but a figment of the imagination of the originator of the report.
“Our senatorial candidate is a loyal party man, who instead of leaving his party, the APC, the way many others left after finding out that the primary election was manipulated in favour of some vested interest, approached the court of law to seek redress.
“The allegations raised by the faceless group only amounts to turning the facts upside down, as they attempt to exonerate those who committed the now proven offences of illegal delegates substitution and forgery, only to seek to blame our candidate for upholding and broadening the frontiers of democracy by going to the court to ascertain his rights.
“Being the celebrated legal luminary that he is, Barrister Labaran Magaji, will not relent in his avowed commitment to follow the due process to reclaim his mandate and no amount of propaganda can change that.
“It has therefore become necessary to call on our supporters and well wishers, to discountenance the news report authored by this faceless group”Magaji’s team replied.
If not for politics and the interest to contributing their quota to the development of Nasarawa west senatorial district, both personalities are men of proven integrity who have made a mark in their professional careers, anonymous stakeholder from the zone confined with our correspondent.
He added that supporters of both candidates should not heat up the process, though their prayers and wish is to have their choice being authenticated as the rightful candidate and not to be enemies. He concluded by saying, politics is but a game, where winners and losers are announced
