…VP-Elect, Others Celebrate With Zulum At Declaration
…Pledges More Democracy Dividends To Borno Citizens
…Seeks Forgiveness
By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri
The governor of Borno State and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the March 18 governorship election, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has secured 85 per cent of votes cast after collation was concluded across the 27 local government areas of Borno State.
Zulum polled 545,543 votes in the election, and left his closest opponent, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mohammed Ali Jajari, with paltry 82,147 votes, representing about 15 per cent of the votes cast.
Zulum gave Jajari a gap of 463,393 votes.
The Returning Officer for the election and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State, Prof. Jude Rabo, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Wukari, Taraba State, declared the result few minutes past 6pm on Monday.
He said, “Having satisfied the requirement of the law, and won 25 percent in all the 27 local government areas, I, Professor Jude Samani Rabo, hereby declare Babagana Umara Zulum the valid winner of the March 18 governorship election and returned as validly elected.”
He explained that total votes cast stood at 649,835; while total valid votes were 636,246, out of the total accredited voters of 650,533 accredited voters.
Zulum won in all the 27 local government areas of the state.
… VP-Elect, Others Join Zulum At Declaration
Prior to a live declaration of Zulum’s re-election, the Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, the Natıonal Vice Chairman, North-East of the APC, Abubakar Kyari, newly elected members of the National Assembly and some party stakeholders converged at the official residence of the governor to monitor the announcement.
Led by Shettima, the stakeholders sat around Zulum and rose with standing ovation as soon as INEC’s Returning Officer, Professor Rabo, declared him as re-elected.
There was overwhelming jubilation at the Government House and on the streets of Maiduguri, especially from the collation centre.
…Zulum Pledges More Democracy Dividends To Borno Citizens
Zulum on Monday promised the people of Borno State that his administration would continue to do it’s best in delivering dividends of democracy across the 27 local government areas, devoid of political or religious considerations.
Zulum stated this in his acceptance speech at the Government House, Maiduguri, shortly after he was declared winner and re-elected for second term.
The governor however asked for forgiveness from whoever he or his administration has offended in one way or the other in the discharge of statutory responsibilities.
He said, “I want to start by thanking Allah (God) and the good people of the state for giving me the mandate to serve for second term.
“I want to single out our party chairman at the national and state level, especially Hon Ali Bukar Dalori, APC stakeholders, Borno elders and concerned citizens for their unflinching support before, during and after the elections.
“As human being, we are all bound to make mistake, so we believe in the process of discharging our duties, we might have offended one or more persons, to this regards, I solicit for forgiveness, as we amend our ways.”
Below is the full acceptance speech delivered by Prof. Zulum:
“Bismillahi Rahman Rahim.
“Fellow citizens of Borno State, I address you today with absolute humility, profound gratitude, and reaffirmation of our solemn commitment to serving you.
“I give all the glory and eternal gratitude to our Creator, the giver and taker of power, the Almighty Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, who is the King of Kings.
“In the Name of Allah, Subhanu Wataa’la, The Most Beneficient, the Most Merciful, I accept the mandate to serve you for the second term and I dedicate this renewed call for service to God and the good people of Borno State.
“I thank the leadership of our political party, APC, our teaming supporters and well-wishers for the hard work that delivered this victory.
“I am deeply humbled by the depth of trust and the weight of expectation that we carry through the mandate of the people that has brought us here. From the bottom of my heart, I want to express my sincerest
appreciation to all of you that voted us into another phase of public service.
“Again, I commit to making sure that we, insha’Allah, will work 100 per cent for the benefit of all residents of Borno State, regardless of political, ethnic or religious persuasions.
“I am supremely grateful to Allah, not only because of our latest victory at the governorship and state Assembly elections, but because to my knowledge, the election did not lead to the loss of any life and property across the 27 local government areas of Borno State.
“I therefore congratulate the people of Borno State for once again holding a peaceful election.
“I congratulate my very hardworking and dedicated Deputy Governor, for his highly deserved reelection.
“I congratulate all 28 members-elect of the Borno State House of Assembly for their well-earned victories.
“I congratulate our very determined state executives of the APC led by our extremely strong and committed state Chairman, Honourable Ali Bukar Dalori.
“I congratulate all local government executives of our party, who gave their very best.
“I congratulate all stakeholders, and I want to assure you that I have made deliberate efforts to get accurate reports on the commitments shown by all stakeholders.
“I am aware of those who abandoned the comfort of their homes and families in Maiduguri and Abuja to travel to local government areas where they spent days solving problems within our party, uniting party leaders and members, and mobilizing voters to polling units in villages and towns across our 27 local government areas.
“I am taking accurate roll call of all stakeholders who traveled to their local government areas ahead of February 25th presidential and National Assembly elections, as well as March 18th governorship and state Assembly elections.
“While I intend to take far more measures that will enhance our unity, it will be unfair for us to give equal political considerations to party members who worked hard and sincerely for the party and those who openly worked against the party.
“I however assure you, that we will be fair to everyone. I want to assure you, the good people of Borno State, that the victory you have granted us will neither make us arrogant, nor will it make us to take you for granted.
“What this victory tells us is the reaffirmation that you the people of Borno State hold the power to make or mar the victory of any political party or candidate.
“Let me also recognize that your powers as electorates have been strengthened by recent innovations from the Independent Natıonal Electoral Commission, INEC.
“These innovations, which include the introduction of BVAS, are increasingly making rigging nearly impossible for those who desire it.
“The implication of this important measure is that elected leaders either work for their people or get voted out. Let me commend INEC in general for conducting a credible election across all levels in Borno State.
“For us in Borno State, we have always recognized the need to preserve our covenant with our people.
“As part of this covenant, we recorded huge gains in our nearly four years of serving you, but it is also true that we made some mistakes because we are humans.
“There were things we did wrongly or things we did not even do at all, which was wrong. For whatever may have been our shortcomings, whether at the governor’s level, at the National or state Assembly levels, I beseech you to forgive our shortcomings.
“As you know, the elections are over. My appeal for forgiveness is not aimed at getting votes. It is the product of critical reflection that we must continue to make as leaders, if we wish to succeed, and if we wish to please Allah, who has entrusted us with the mandates of representing you.
“We will continue to do SWOT analyses to look at our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
“We know the mistakes we made and insha’Allah, we will address these mistakes as we go forward.
“As I mentioned during our governorship campaign flag-off on 12th December 2022, our greatest accomplishments, which for me, are far more important than our over 700 capital projects, is the relative peace that we now have across Borno State.
“We are aware that we still have challenges. Not long ago, more than 30 fishermen who were our brothers in Dikwa, were brutally killed by insurgents for nothing other than trying to earn their livelihood.
“That incident is another clear reminder of the realities facing Borno.
“The fact is that Borno is yet to fully overcome its challenges. We have so much to do on security. We have so much to do on reconstruction of communities and resettlement of IDPs and refugees who are brothers, sisters, children and parents currently homeless and with no means of livelihood. We shall, insha Allah, ensure that Borno is more secured than ever before.
“We will continually invest in modern agriculture, ensure growth and development in education, health and general infrastructure. Most importantly, we shall, insha Allah, provide job opportunities to women and youths. We shall strengthen the civil service by ensuring sustainable payments of all entitlements, and we will address key challenges bothering the civil service.
“We have so much to do for Borno’s recovery, growth and development. This is why, every leader from Borno State cannot afford the luxury of time to waste. While others may have the luxury of fun, we have fellow citizens who seek protection from brutal deaths.
“We have fellow citizens who are homelessly living as IDPs and refugees, and they look up to us to get them homes and means of livelihood.
“We simply cannot afford to fail our people in distress and those with needs across the South, North and Central.
“Every community has got realistic needs, and insha’Allah, we will do whatever we lawfully and logically can, to meet these needs.
“As we reflect on the important job of helping our state to be better economically, socially and in all aspect of life that we have been striving to achieve since the last few years, I kindly and sincerely call upon all our supporters to celebrate lawfully and with modesty.
“Democracy is like any social adventure involving the contest of ideas. Those who have not managed to win today are as important as those who have won. It takes courage to come out, to put yourself, your resources and time forward to project your ideas for people to determine which direction they follow. For this singular reason, I pay special tribute and salute the courage of contestants from other parties who participated in this election.
“I say, congratulations and I thank you for being part of the aspiration to lead our state to greatness. I take this opportunity to recognize that during electioneering, our supporters and friends might have said things that were unpleasant during the campaign, I sincerely ask for forgiveness and I apologise to all of you who might have been hurt, impugned or maligned by the statements made in the heat of political passion. From the PDP to the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, and all other political parties, we have been brothers and sisters before the elections.
“We know one another. Now that the elections are over, we remain brothers and sisters, and I call on all of you to join me towards the continued task of rebuilding of Borno State.
“I believe that there should be no political divides in the market of good ideas. To that end, my administration extends a hand of fellowship to everyone to participate, and contribute so that we can unite in the singular purpose of building the society we all pray to have.
“Let me use this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for the support he has given us. I also wish to express my deep
appreciation to the national leadership of our party, to our President-elect, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and to my boss, distinguished Senator Kashim Shettima, the Vice President-elect, for his untiring support. I am also deeply grateful to all former governors, former deputy governors, all serving and elected senators, House of Representatives’ members and former lawmakers that supported us in our re-election bid.
“Let me also mention our House of Representatives candidate for Hawul/Askira for his tireless support.
“Lastly, I thank members of my entire family for their support, especially for tolerating my absence on many occasions.
“Fellow citizens of Borno State, Insha’Allah, we will not fail in our commitment to you. We will make honest efforts to keep every promise made for the benefit of the good people of Borno.
“Insha’Allah, we will not just settle for good, when we can aim for better and the best. Our solemn aim is to achieve the best, and now the hard work continues.
“May God bless Borno State and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Thank You, everyone.”
