Buhari’s 2019 Returning Officer in Gombe State Quits APC
Khamisu Ahmad Mailantarki who was President Muhammadu Buhari’s returning officer during the 2019 elections in Gombe State has resigned his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mailantarki announced his resignation in a letter addressed to the APC Chairman of his Herwagana Ward of Gombe Local Government Area, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY yesterday.
He was a founding member of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Gombe State who won the House of Representative seat for Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye federal constituency in 2011, with a massive 122,987 votes, which was the highest winning votes then.
He had contested and won again in 2015, but was removed by the Supreme Court, which had declared Yaya Bauchi Tongo as authentic winner of the APC primary election of the Gombe/ Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency.
He had also participated in the 2019 APC governorship primary election along with Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya who won the primary election then and later emerged victorious in the governorship election.
The letter read, “With gratitude to the Almighty Allah, I hereby wish to notify you of my decision to resign my membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“I thank you and the entire membership of the party for your support while my membership lasted.”
Confirming his resignation to THISDAY, Mailantarki said his decision was for the best interest of the state and his political future adding that, he would not, otherwise, have left the house he built with passion.
“As the only member elected under the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), I personally funded the entire process of merger in Gombe state and I was the returning officer of President Buhari’s election in 2019 in the state.
“Even after the Guber primaries in the state, we supported President Buhari and Gov Inuwa Yahaya and made sure APC won to an extent that we converted Gombe State from fully PDP to a fully APC state,” The former lawmaker added.