A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has explained why he returned to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Dogara, who returned to APC from PDP on Friday, in a letter of resignation addressed to Bogoro ‘C’ Ward chairman of the PDP, Bauchi, dated July 24, 2020, alluded to failure or breakdown of governance in his native state of Bauchi under the administration of Governor Bala Mohammed.
He said he could not successfully ask questions about those issues without being accused of disloyalty if he were to remain in the PDP.
He argued that if he abdicated the responsibility of telling the truth to power in Bauchi State, having done same under the administrations of former governors Isa Yuguda and Mohammed Abubakar he would be the most irresponsible and unprincipled politician in the state.
The letter reads: “I write to intimate you of my decision to resign my membership of the PDP. This became necessary because the same reasons why we fought hard in 2019 to effect changes in the governance of our dear state are festering now.
“I intend to bring these issues to the front burner once again as the fight to install decent and egalitarian government in our dear state continues.”
Dogara raised questions on the utilisation of local government funds, campaign pledges and N4.6bn loan allegedly taken from a bank and paid directly into a private company’s account.
“Why are we segmenting salaries and why is payment of salaries of state workers outsourced to a private firm as consultants? Why are contracts inflated, awarded and payment of mobilisation done in violation of extant rules on procurement? Why are our highly revered traditional rulers and elders treated with odium contrary to the guarantee we gave during the campaign that such will not happen under a PDP government? “ he said.
“ If I abdicate this responsibility on the altar of partisan loyalty, I will be the most irresponsible and unprincipled politician in Bauchi State. Thus, by this letter, I have resigned my membership of the PDP to enable me to keep faith with my principle of fighting for good governance in our dear state,” he added.
The Bauchi State Chairman of APC, Alhaji Uba Nana said the party has since commenced planning of a special reception for Dogara.
Defection is in Dogara’s blood – Bauchi PDP
Media aide to Governor Bala Mohammed, Mukhtar Gidado was unavailable for comment as he did not pick calls by our correspondent. Also, he did not respond to our correspondent’s text message on the matter.
But the State PDP Publicity Secretary, Yayanuwa Zainabari, described Dogara’s allegations against Governor Mohammad as baseless, saying defection is in the blood of the former speaker.
He insisted that the governor was running an all inclusive government in the state in consultation with critical stakeholders including Dogara.
Meanwhile, more reactions have continued to trail the return of Dogara, to the ruling APC.
The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, said the defection was a good omen for the APC.
Okechukwu, a chieftain of APC, said he was excited about the return of Dogara after a short stint with the PDP and predicted more defections to APC as the 2023 elections approach.
However, the North Central Youth Movement for Good Governance (NCYMGG) for Sule Lamido, has said that Dogara was neither an ideological nor brave politician.
The group’s coordinator, Nafiu Ya’u Jos, who described the development as unfortunate, said they were not surprised by the development “because Dogara was among those who came to the party for their personal interest rather than the country’s.”
