Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that the February 16 presidential election offers a very rare opportunity for the North-East to produce a president in the person of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Dogara, who spoke in Bauchi on Tuesday at the PDP presidential campaign rally, maintained that some people thought that the North-East could never produce someone that would have the golden opportunity of becoming the nation’s president.
“They thought no one from the North-East would come out to take the challenge. Many unpatriotic people wished that a day like this would never come where one of us; a father, a leader from North-East, would contest for the position of the president,” he stated.
He added that whereas Nigeria had become the poverty capital of the world, the North-East had also become the poverty capital of Nigeria, a situation that would change when “one of us, our leader from the North-East, and who is getting a huge acceptance wherever he launches his campaign, is brought to power.”
Dogara stated: “It is now left to us, the people of the North-East, to come out en masse to vote for him. That is the only way to show our total support for a better tomorrow, and whoever votes otherwise has shown that he is not after the development of North-East.
“I want to make it clear to you, we are not campaigning for Atiku just because he is from our zone, no, we are campaigning and supporting him because of our belief that he will work for a better Nigeria.
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“He is the only one that will bring an end to hunger, poverty, insurgency, especially Boko Haram, and also one who will make education a top priority. He will provide jobs to our youths.”
The speaker argued that Atiku would work to unite the country and return it on the path of development, while taking a swipe at the Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, describing his administration as a Pharoah-like.
“It is only in Bauchi that a Pharaoh-like regime is being practiced. If you are a photocopy of Pharaoh, know what happened to the original Pharaoh.
“We are bringing someone (Sen. Bala Mohammed) who will bring back the lost glory of our dear state. It’s unfortunate that over 1.3 million children in Bauchi State are out of school today, which means if care is not taken, we may face another bigger security challenge of our lives in the near future.
“Let us wake up and chase away hunger, poverty, insecurity and a Pharaoh-like government,” he charged.
