*** ex-Speaker officially dumps PDP
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara says his decision to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a party he dumped in the build up to the 2019 general election for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was fueled by the obvious failure of governance in his home state, Bauch.
In a letter of resignation addressed to the Bogoro ‘C’ Ward Chairman of the PDP dated July 24, 2020, and circulated by his media aide, Turaki Hassan, the former speaker said governance in his state under Governor Bala Mohammed whom he said he helped install as a governor in 2019 had derailed.
He made it clear that the PDP had made several promises to the people of the state during the electioneering campaigns including conducting local government elections within six months, but sadly, those promises have been abandoned.
He said remaining in the PDP would not give him enough latitude to ask critical questions about governance without such being termed as disloyalty, hence his decision to return to his original party.
He maintained that if he abdicates this 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 will be the most irresponsible and unprincipled politician in the state.
Mr Dogara was elected speaker on the APC platform in 2015. He decamped, alongside dozens of other lawmakers, to the PDP in the build-up to the 2019 general election. He won his re-election as a lawmaker on the PDP platform but did not contest the speaker’s position as the APC won majority seats in the parliament.
After his meeting with President Buhari on Friday, the head of APC’s interim management, Mala Buni, who also attended the meeting, said Mr Buhari was pleased with the defection.
“He (Buhari) welcomed him. He’s happy with the development. That’s what he’s looking for. We are rebuilding the party and these are the steps we are taking towards rebuilding the party,” the APC leader said.
