By Abubakar Muhammad (9NEWS NIGERIA, MAIDUGURI)
The Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, UMTH chapter, has re-elected Dr. Sheriff Yahaya Sheriff, the incumbent president to serve a second tenure.
The election took place at the Auditorium, Zainab Shamsuna Child and Adolescent Centre, UMTH on Saturday evening.
At the end of the polls, Dr. Sheriff also known as Dr. Logist, emerged victorious with 132 votes, while his opponent, Dr. Abubakar Mohammed Ngubdo secured 107 votes.
Although he has served in different capacity in the past, the runner-up, Dr. Ngubdo, contested for president of the association for the first time.
Similarly, Dr. Bashir Alhaji Bukar won the Vice Presidential slot with few votes difference. He secured 130 votes while his opponent, Dr. Abdulmalik Alhassan gets 111 votes.
Dr. Abdulmajid Yahaya Ibrahim also won the Secretary General seat after pulling 112 votes to defeat his two opponents, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Mulima and Dr. Musa Jibril Maiva with 68 and 61 votes respectively.
Other winners are; Dr. Jamilat Mohammed Hassan as Assistant Secretary General, Dr. Salau Olamikan as PRO, Dr. Akanbi Oloruntoba as Financial Secretary, Dr. Ahmed Tijjani Mustapha as Welfare Director and Dr. Babagana Kumshe as Treasurer.
According to Dr. Mohammed Abi Abdullahi, the elected chairman of the election said that the election was conducted peacefully, free and fair, as well as in accordance with the rules and regulations of the election.
In an exclusive interview with this reporter, Dr. Abi said that they are happy with the turnout of voters, noting that they registered 284 registered voters but only 242 were accredited.
The newly elected secretary general, Dr. Abdulmajid also confirm Dr. Abi’s comment on the election.
He said that he is impressed with the exercise and the cooperation of everyone involved.
On his victory, Dr. Abdulmajid said that he feels honored to be elected into the exco again, recalling that he had earlier served in two different capacities in the past.
‘He are here to work and my aim is to help create a platform that would ensure professional growth of their members.
‘If you look at our membership, we have different cadres and the aim of everyone in these fields is to ascend to the highest level of medical profession, that is to become a consultant, therefore we will ensure that we key into programs that would attract opportunities for everyone to excel in their fields of practice,’ he said.
Also in an interview, the returning president expressed his gratitude to the election officials, candidates and all voters that participated in the exercise.
He said that he is delighted to be given another opportunity to lead the association and with the new team, he noted that he will ensure they are united in pursuing their responsibilities.
On his return and plans for the future, Dr. Sheriff said that the previous tenure was challenging due to certain factors, ensuring that ‘this tenure is going to be different Insha-Allah.’
‘I am the first president to have a blueprint, it is a roadmap for our plans and we will continue to work on that,” he said.
The president said that his major focus this time would be to initiate and develop their revenue generating sources.
The revenues he said would be used to upgrade the infrastructure in their environment, noting that part of his plans is to expand the ARD lounge in the hospital.
He added that among other things, he will work on enhancing internet services for their members at work place to ease their work.
After the declaration of the winners, the president was immediately sworn-in by the election official, while he also sworn-in the remaining exco members.
