Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Y Suleiman, has explained his refusal to sign the statement released by the APC caucus in the House insisting that it was uncalled for, just as he faulted the strong words it contained.
Amidst insinuation surrounding his refusal to append his signature to the statement issued by the APC caucus, the Speaker said that “the meeting was held while I was away; I did not have opportunity to contribute to the discussions that led to the decisions taken.”
Abubakar Suleiman who was reacting to the insinuation of double loyalty said, “I remain a loyal and committed member of the APC and I will continue to protect the collective interest of the party.”
Explaining his reason for not signing the document, he said that, “there are strong words used in the statement such as ‘coercion and inducement.’ These are uncalled for, they have meaning based on the reader, I pointed these out to them. If I were part of the initial meeting, I would not have allowed the statement to go like that.”
The Speaker stressed that political party membership is a matter of choice saying that, “there is no way someone can be coerced or induced into joining a political party. Though we are not happy that we lost some members to the opposition, there is nothing we can do to stop it because it is a matter of choice.”
He said, “I told them my stand when they called me, I demanded to see a copy after which I told them I will not agree to the content. It is a normal thing to woo members; even we in the APC are wooing members to the party. You cannot tell me that someone who was elected has been coerced.”
“As for the issue of inducement, has anyone who has been induced among the members, left the APC to the PDP? I am not a party to the allegation of coercion or inducement. I don’t think there is any reason for anyone to be uncomfortable with my position, it is my decision not to sign the document and it has not changed anything about my membership of the party,” he added.
He, however, assured that he remains committed to the ideology of the APC and will continue to work in harmony with other members to do the Legislative duties.
Some of the members of the APC caucus in the House had expressed their discomfort over the refusal of the Speaker as a member of the APC to sign the press release on the allegations of coercion and inducement of the members by the PDP led executive arm to join the party.