Report of Defection to Support APC Gubernatorial Candidate False, Say Lawyers

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Members of the Body of Bauchi Lawyers of Conscience (BOBALAC) has declared their unflinching support for Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, denying purported defection of some of their members from the legal team of the Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Muhammad.

BOBALAC in a statement jointly signed by Abdullatif G. Isa and Abbakar S. Idris, chief and secretary respectively, vehemently stated that none of its members has left nor contemplating leaving.

According to the statement, “Fellow learned colleagues and comrades! Gentlemen of the noble legal profession, and gentlemen of the press. This statement is necessitated by the growing speculations and fake information being shared across social media platforms in the state to the effect that some members of the legal team that have been involved in defending legal matters for Governor Mohammed have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 elections.”

It further read: “The height and extent of the speculations which dominated the public space last week was such that the leadership of this body had to address a couple of inquiries on the issue from Lagos where they attended NBA’s Annual General Conference.

“In order to put the issue in perspective, we hereby categorically state that none of the members of this esteemed group at any level has defected from the governor’s side to any other camp.”

BOBALAC added that: “For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to make it clear that the entire structure and membership of this noble entity remain supportive of the Governor Mohammed-led administration in the state and shall continue to play to discharge the role of learned wise men as the times and circumstances may demand.”

According to the group, “We further encourage the governor and the entire political leadership to continue to deepen the on-going engagement, rapprochement, alliances and confidence building across all strata and stakeholders in the state such that as much as possible, genuine issues or differences are ironed out in the greater interest of the state.”