Minority leader of the Gombe State House of Assembly and a chieftain of the opposition New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Hon Rambi Ayala has debunked insinuations that their party’s governorship candidate Hon Khamisu Mailantarki collected the sum of N2 billion from Governor Inuwa Yahaya during the last governorship election to pave the way for his victory.
He refuted the claims yesterday in an interview with journalists at the end of the stakeholders’ meeting convened by the party leadership to review its performance in the last elections in the state.
Ayala said the story was fabricated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to tarnish the reputation of the candidate because of his acceptability and popularity among the populace.
He added that their opponents were jittery with the gifts and empowerments doled out by Mailantarki during electioneering hence they came up with the insinuation that he collected money from the governor to sacrifice his aspiration.
According to him, the failure of the party to win the election could be attributed to propaganda and fake court order circulated widely by their antagonists suggesting that court had disqualified the NNPP candidate from participating in the polls.
“PDP was jittery, the government in power and the APC were also jittery. So, they were bringing all kinds of propaganda and lies just to sell their products.
“Let me also say this is one person that shouldered the responsibility of piloting a party, NNPP, hitherto before now non-existent. But within six months, Khamisu Mailantarki made this party to become a party that became a nightmare to APC and PDP.
“This is one person that distributed so many things to people. Let me give an example, we have 114 wards. He distributed motorcycles worth N400, 000 each to 114 ward chairmen. He distributed over 50 cars free. He has given so many goodies to the people with his own money. Something that even the government in power could not do, not to talk about PDP.
“He was seen as a threat that was why they brought all kinds of lies. In fact, the PDP followers said Mailantarki is working for APC. The APC followers said Mailantarki is working for the PDP. Which one will you take?” he stated.
Also, the secretary of the party Comrade Nasiru Baba Sheriff said the meeting was aimed at reviewing their performance in the 2023 elections in the state, and make amends on their lapses and strategize ahead of future elections.
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