Determined to unseat Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar, through the forthcoming governorship election, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, last Sunday, spearheaded the birth of a coalition of six political parties. The coalition did not hide the sole aim of its coming into existence namely, to ensure the exit of the sitting governor. Dogara declared that the end of the road has come for the governor, even as he assured that everything humanly possible would be done to ensure to an overwhelming defeat of the incumbent and effect the installation of a new governor in the state Government House from May 29.
Speaking with journalists at the NUJ Press Centre, Speaker Dogara claimed that Bauchi State has retrogressed in the last three years under the leadership of Governor Abubakar, lamenting that the state presently has 1.3 million out of school children, while the health sector has negatively deteriorated. He further claimed that the state under the leadership of the incumbent governor has not witnessed significant development compared with neighbouring states like Gombe, Plateau, Jigawa and others alleging that every money that is coming into the coffers of the state is being diverted for other means.
He said, “I want you (the Press) to quote me very well, Bauchi is a failed state under Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar. Nothing is working positively here. All the billions of naira brought in to the state have been used to build billboards, print posters and sponsored miscreants to insult elders in the media. Rather than use the money for development of the state, the governor is using the money to buy people to his side. If not so, no sane person will align with the present government. No projects to show; no development of whatever sort, but mismanagement of resources.”
Dogara therefore called on the people of the state to ensure that they vote for positive change during the elections, particularly by ensuring that Governor Abubakar was voted out of office for a better administration. He urged the electorate to guard their votes and resist any attempt to rig the election and assured that,, in the coming weeks before the election the coalition would reveal which candidate should be voted in the governorship election. “We will continue with meetings and consultations here in Bauchi and Abuja after which we will come out with a definite position. The future of Bauchi and its people is our collective concern,” he added.
The Speaker said the governor’s mistake was to think that he could use money to buy every politician in the state to his side, declaring that “Our mission is to stop Governor Mohammed Abubakar and any one that with bring lack of progress and underdevelopment to our dear state will be chased out. The coalition will work to get the best among the candidates to defeat Abubakar; a candidate that will stand by the truth. The coalition is fighting against agents of underdevelopment.”
Unwavering in achieving his aim, Dogara had earlier on Saturday, declared that the coast is clear for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reclaim the governorship seat in the state. He said this while speaking at the flagging off of the PDP governorship in Bununu, Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area. The Speaker, who led other prominent members of the party to the event, expressed optimism that, with a free and fair election, PDP would coast home to landslide victory in the general election as, according to him, the electorate have discovered that the ruling APC is nothing but a failure.
He said the country needs a functional and virile democracy devoid of ethno-religious sentiments, adding that would be guaranteed by PDP. Alleging that the APC-led administration at all levels is against his reelection bid, Dogara however said he was not disturbed by the development, noting, “My concern is how to give my people positive representation and develop the area”.
Also speaking at the campaign flag off, Bauchi PDP governorship candidate, Bala Abdulkadir,, assured that if elected as the governor, his administration would put in place effective measures to boost the economy and security of the state, alleging that the APC-led administration has failed people of the state. He expressed confidence that the party would win the general election, warning that the party would resist any attempt to rig the general election. He called on the stakeholders to ensure free and fair conduct of the elections.
While castigating the APC led administration in the state for ineptitude and bad economic management that has led to the dilapidation of art of governance, the PDP candidate assured that things would become normalised if PDP emerged victorious in the elections in the state. He also declared that the PDP led administration would the judicious use of public funds and prompt payment of salaries and other emoluments.
Also speaking at the event, the Bauchi PDP Governorship Campaign Director General, Senator Ahmed Abdul Ningi, debunked the rumour that he had defected to APC as he declared that he is still in the party and has never ever contemplated leaving for APC or any other party. He further assured that, as the Campaign Director General, he would ensure that PDP won the general election and formed government in the state while the party’s presidential candidate would also get the required votes in the state.
Bauchi PDP chairman, Hamza Akuyam, urged the electorate to ensure that they voted for the party in the general election because, according to him, that is the only way to change the present change that has failed the people of the state.
All other speakers at the occasion stressed the need for the electorates to ensure that they voted for the PDP in order to have a new and positive future. Speaking during the coalition press conference, a former governorship aspirant on the ticket of the ruling APC, Yakubu Lame, described the Governor Abubakar- led administration as a total failure, having allegedly derailed from the tenets of the ruling APC and choose to be self-centered and unproductive.
Lame, who lost the APC governorship ticket in the party primary held last year, assured that he is joining the coalition as an aggrieved member of the party in view of what he described as injustice meted out to all those who aspired for the party ticket.
Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the state, Shehu Barau Ningi, expressed confidence in the coalition, saying it is the only way to change the present situation in the state because, according to him, the APC-led administration has failed the people of the state woefully.
In the same vein, the gubernatorial candidate of the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN) in the state, Mohammed Jumba, described the present administration in the state as a total failure, stating that the present administration had mismanaged the economic resources of the state and thus placed it among the most backward in the country.
Speaking earlier, the convener of the coalition, Muhammad Bello Kirfi, declared that, “key stakeholders in Bauchi State have formed a strong and united coalition to ensure the defeat of APC candidate Governor Abubakar in the March 2 election. This unprecedented move was taken after careful review and consultation on the abysmal performance of the APC government in Bauchi State over the last four years.”
So far, 21 prominent politicians drawn from six political parties, including APC, PRP, PDP, GPN and PDM have signed up for the coalition under the aegis of ‘Political Stakeholders United Against Governor MA Abubakar of Bauchi State’.
While declaring that the stakeholders comprised influential political and community leaders from the all the geopolitical zones of the state, Kirfi gave the reasons for the coalition to include: “widespread and increasing extreme poverty in Bauchi State during this administration as evidenced by statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS); lack of any meaningful infrastructure development to fuel economic revival despite significant capital inflows amounting to more than N50 billion from the Federal Government and other sources as well as pervasive, unaddressed youth unemployment in Bauchi State.
He added that “there is poor educational infrastructure and outcomes resulting in the worst record in out-of school children in Nigeria, insignificant internally generated revenue (IGR), relative to federal allocations, making Bauchi State the 36 out of 36 states in the Nigerian Federation as well as several other concrete failures of the Abubakar-led administration in Bauchi State.”
Bello Kirfi, an elder statesman who is also the Wazirin Bauchi, concluded that, “given these overwhelming evidence of poor governance and gross incompetence, the stakeholders had expected the APC national leadership to encourage and support the people’s yearning for genuine change through due process and internal democracy.
“Unfortunately, APC failed and compounded its mistake by further misguiding Mr President to recently recognise Governor Abubakar as the APC candidate. This was done, despite his emergence through unjust and anti-democratic means. This blunder by the national leadership of APC has heightened the risk of Mr President losing significant numbers of his loyal followers in Bauchi State.”
The resolve of the coalition, according to the Wazirin Bauchi, include, working hard together to ensure that Governor Abubakar is defeated in the state on March 2, 2019; coordinating their efforts in campaign and during elections to foil alleged plans by Governor Abubakar to rig the elections, using vote buying, instigating violence and using machineries of INEC, the police and other security agencies; form a united front of their agents at the polling units to mutually support and protect the votes of the coalition’s supporters in all the elections; expand the coalition to include other independent-minded parties and stakeholders who are interested in the development of Bauchi State and continue to refine the coalitions approach, including but not limited to uniting behind a single candidate at the appropriate time before the election.
and then