By: Ishola Michael, Bauchi
Immediate former House Speaker Barr Yakubu Dogara has expressed confidence that the people of the state will remove the current Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, who has failed them for the past 4 years.
Yakubu Dogara made this known on Saturday in an interview with reporters in his hometown of Gwarangah, Bogoro local government area of the state, shortly after casting his ballot at his Gwarangah Primary School Voting Unit 007.
On his expectations about the election result, the former president said he expected the people of Bauchi State to remove the incumbent governor.
According to him, “Well, let me say that my expectation is that, as we have always done in Bauchi, no one teaches us how to free ourselves from the clutches of bad government and this (the ruling People’s Democratic Party in the State) is one of them.” . from them,”.
Yakubu Dogara added that “I hope the people of Bauchii will come out in droves to say that they have rejected Governor Bala Mohammed.”
However, he alleged that the gubernatorial and state assembly elections in Bauchi state were being marred by vote buying.
“Mass vote buying is taking place in state voting units and we have briefed security officers on the development,” he alleged.
He stressed that “from the information we have received there is a massive purchase of votes in Alkaleri and Darazo. The same thing is happening in some local government in Bauchi North.”
He said “I hope the EFCC and the security officers can handle it so we can have a free and fair election.”
He further said that “we want to set a precedent that once we elect a governor and he is not complying, we have a maximum of four years until we find someone who complies, someone whose priority is workers, someone whose priority is the economy.” of the State and someone whose priority is the transformation of the State. I don’t see the Bauchi people endorsing failure.”
Yakubu Dogara said All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Air Marshal Saddique Abubakar, whom he supports, will only accept the result of the gubernatorial election in the state if it is free and fair.
“We know how elections are conducted,
Once the election is free and credible we shouldn’t have any problems. Everyone should agree because ultimately the people determine who wins.” Yakubu Dogara said.
He added that “We will evaluate the situation. If the Vietnamese buy is too bad or intimidation is bad, as we have seen in a voting unit in Tafawa Balewa where someone imported thugs and even deflated the tires of the INEC vehicle. The guy who imported the bully belongs to a support group for the Governor.”
According to him, “So, it will be foolish to accept the election result if you are married. That would not translate into the will of the people and would not give the government the legitimacy to govern.”
“We want a situation where the people of Bauchi are the ones who decide who will govern them,” he stressed.
The former president concluded that, “if the malpractice exceeded what we call decency in terms of the electoral process, I would advise my candidate to stand up and defy him and fight for the people of Bauchi until the mandate is restored if it is stolen.”
