Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has advised Nigerians not to vote for leaders and politicians who incite people, threaten violence and engage in hate.
Dogara, who spoke at his campaign rally in Dull, Tafawa Balewa Local Government area of Bauchi State on Thursday, said that northern Nigeria had been facing existential threat as a result of unprecedented level of violence and killings.
He called on the people to resist attempts by wicked, unpatriotic and divisive people to incite them against each other.
He said it was time for Nigerians to use the 2019 general elections to stamp out killings, kidnapping, armed banditry and other sundry crimes that had engulfed the country, especially the north.
While expressing gratitude to his constituents for their patience and sacrifice in electing him for three consecutive terms, which enabled him to be elected as the Speaker, he pledged to ensure the completion of all projects in the constituency when they re-elect him.
He informed the crowd of supporters how he attracted road projects worth over N46 billion to the state, which he said would have taken the Bauchi State government decades to execute.
Dogara accused the state governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar of using the state’s resources to sponsor protests against him in Bauchi, Abuja and Lagos.
“They said we did budget padding and even Bauchi State government sponsored protests against me. But now that they have seen the projects, they say it is Buhari’s project. So, was it Buhari who did the padding which they sponsored protests against him?” he queried.
While arguing that his people had benefitted immensely from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he reminded them of how he facilitated the construction of 78km Bauchi-Tafawa Balewa road worth N9.6 billion during the party’s administration.
Senator Adamu Gumba and Ahmed Yerima also urged the people to reject moves by the APC government to use religion to divide them ahead of the elections.
“Because they’ve nothing to show as their achievement, they now want to use religion but they won’t succeed, our people are wise. They should come out openly and do it.
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“Why are they moving under the cover of darkness? They have been exposed already and the agenda they came with has failed woefully,” Gumba said.
Yerima said: “You should not be deceived, APC wants to stop the unprecedented developments you are witnessing in this constituency and Bauchi State.”
Dogara had, two weeks ago, raised alarm on how the Bauchi State government and the ruling APC were allegedly arming thugs with assault rifles ahead of next week’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
On Tuesday, Kaduna State governor, Nasiru Ahmad el-Rufai, also of the ruling APC, threatened that foreigners who interfere in Nigeria’s election would go back in body bags.
