Reject Anybody Who Threatens Or Incites Violence At The Polls – Dogara

Leaders and politicians who incite people, threaten violence and engage in hate speech should not be elected, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said.

Speaking at his campaign rally in Dull, Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi State on Thursday,  Hon Dogara noted that northern Nigeria is facing existential threat as a result of unprecedented level of violence and killings and called on the people to resist attempts by wicked, unpatriotic and divisive people to incite them against each other. 

He said it is time for Nigerians to use the 2019 general elections to stamp out killings, kidnapping, armed banditry and other sundry crimes that have engulfed the country, especially the north.

Whilst 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 mammoth 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.

Hon Dogara berated the state governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, for 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 have benefitted immensely from the PDP, he reminded them of how he facilitated the construction of 78km Bauchi-Tafawa Balewa road worth N9.6 billion during the administration of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Also speaking, Senator Adamu Gumba and Hon Ahmed Yerima 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. Why are they moving under the cover of darkness? They have been exposed already and the agenda they came with has failed woefully,” Senator Gumba said.

For his part, Hon Yerima said: ” You should not be deceived, APC  wants to stop the unprecedented developments you are witnessing in this constituency and Bauchi State”.

The Speaker had, two weeks ago, raised an alarm on how the Bauchi State government and the ruling APC are arming thugs with assault rifles ahead of next week’s presidential and National Assembly  elections.

On Tuesday, Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasiru Ahmad El-rufai, also of the ruling APC, threatened that foreigners who interfere in Nigeria’s election will go back in body bags.