TheCable

BY ADESUWA TSAN

After months of speculation, speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The speaker, while making his defection clear at the national secretariat of the PDP in Abuja on Thursday when he went to submit his nomination and expression of interest forms, gave reasons why he decided it was time to quit his former party, the APC. Chief among the reasons was that the APC had failed to live up to expectations of Nigerians who massively elected leaders from the party with hope that they will make a positive change in their lives and the country in general.

In his remarks, he also stressed that it was not for selfish reasons that he dumped the APC, since he did have a lot of people who were happy with him there. The problem was that the will to fulfill the promises that the party made to the Nigerian people was conspicuously missing. That signaled the beginning of the end for the speaker who is known as one who does not take a promise lightly.

“I do not want to be a prophet of lamentation. I am not known to be lamenting too much but everybody know where we are, particularly in Bauchi State, all the stakeholders are here. It will take someone who has lost his conscience to still support the order that is in the state. I was part of the people that built the APC in the state, I went round the state campaigning for the APC and I can tell you that we have not fulfilled a single promise that we made.

“Nationally, we all know what is happening. I will speak to that, maybe, in another occasion I will tell my story in a way devoid of sentiments, so that the people can clearly understand the reason why I am taking this decision that leads me to the PDP today, and I will certainly do that,’ he said.

With this move, Speaker Dogara has proven to be a man of courage who always chooses the path of honour and integrity even when it may seem the odds are against him. For those who know him, these have always been his pattern of doing things. In fact, he was the first federal lawmaker to dump the then ruling PDP for APC, a move that emboldened 37 other lawmakers to take the plunge in the House of Representatives.

Not one to shy from voicing out the truth, Hon Dogara has taken every available opportunity to warn about the dangers in government not delivering on the promises made to Nigerians, both at state and federal levels.

The Speaker has on numerous occasions, warned that Nigerians would lose confidence in the government and that history would be harsh to the present administration, especially if it fails to stop mass killings of innocent Nigerians and ameliorate their suffering by improving their living conditions.

The Speaker specifically said that it will be disastrous for the country, if APC that promised the people good governance disappoints them by not delivering on its promises and challenged all saddled with leadership responsibility to make conscious efforts to deliver its promises.

He warned that it was the yearning of the people for a positive change in their lives that led to the massive support the APC got in the last general elections.

On one occasion when he received Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar on a courtesy visit to his office, Dogara stated, “Our people have witnessed bad leadership, especially in the last eight years. It will be a disaster if we don’t save this situation.

“Everybody knows the passion of our people in Bauchi State. They embraced us against all odds, against the sitting governor because they feared the kind of situation in which they found themselves under the last regime and they needed change and thank God we came with this promise of change.”

He also challenged the governor then to ensure that he brings together all appointees and elected officials from the state in order to harness their resources for the progress and development of the state, adding,“This time around, we should be careful. Nobody has the luxury to think about himself first. It should be our people first and what will serve the interest of our teeming people from Bauchi State first, is our unity.”

It, therefore, does not come as a surprise that Speaker Dogara has, once again, taken the bold step to seek for a platform that will bring the desired positive change to his people and Nigerians in general since the APC failed to make that happen in spite of spirited efforts from him and other well-meaning Nigerians. He has chosen to return to his first home, the PDP, which has learnt from past mistakes and has shown a deep commitment to the growth and development of the country.

He said while speaking on his defection, “To begin with, I was a founding member of this party, which is what a lot of people do not know. I worked with Professor Yohanna Madaki of blessed memory, as a junior counsel, and we helped to put together the first PDP Constitution. For anybody who doubts that, I have the rough working sheets with me today, I can produce it. So, this is home to me but on account of certain developments, I had to leave the party for another party for Nigeria’s nationhood, then believing that we were teaming with spirited people to build a new Nigeria.

But permit me to say that in the APC that we are leaving, they are not all devils, there are wonderful people in APC but they are equally some people who have what I will call a rebelliously wayward sense of entitlement and these really are the problems with the APC. When it serves their interests, they say the party is supreme, when it doesn’t serve their interest, they castigate the party, including the leadership of the party. These are people who are the lords of the family; they do what they will while others are required to do what they must and in such environment, really, I am disabled. We have a lot of bouncers in the party, these are the bouncers.”

“For me, I knew that I was in a situation where I had a very seared conscience. Even when a lot of people were happy with me, but I can tell you that I would rather be hated for who I am than be loved for who I am not. So, I have decided to come back to my original roots because the truth is that we went back to the APC, after the general elections, there was never an occasion in which we were not reminded that we do not belong. When there are discussions, you will hear reference to the fact that those who joined us from the PDP are our problems. So, that discussion will end as from today.

“So I have decided to join the brothers and sisters of this great party, the PDP, so that we can chart a new frontier in our state, Bauchi, and chart a new frontier for our dear nation, Nigeria. This, we will do, with courage, with commitment, with passion to build a Nigeria that works for all of us, all of us. That is the challenge that is before us. So, I am here, not because as others have said, they have denied me ticket to contest in APC. That is what they will say, but it is not true and I am really not bothered at this moment about contesting elections. What bothers me is the state of my state, the situation in which our people are and the state of this country and so, even if you give me a ticket to work in a situation where my conscience is not totally in alignment with, to be candid, I cannot function effectively.”

Also worthy of note is Hon Dogara’s confidence in his constituents who have, over the years, built his courage by consistently rewarding him for the great representation he does for them in the National Assembly by re-electing him irrespective of the platform he runs under.

A strong believer in using public office to improve the lives of Nigerians and not for selfish gains, he is renowned for rejecting offers that will enrich him but impoverish his people. This attribute has endeared him so much to his followers in Bauchi and Nigeria at large. No wonder his constituents stated when they trooped to his residence in Abuja to offer him the PDP form that no matter what party he chooses to contest under, they will remain with him because they are supporting the man, Dogara, and not the party.

He is confident that he will succeed in the forthcoming elections by the grace of God and the support of his people who have voted overwhelmingly for him three consecutive times.

“I am here with the nomination form, which is for those who said they will retire me from politics, to show boldly that this is where I am. Those who said they will retire me from politics, I am waiting for them at the constituency and in case they do not know, it is Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa,” he challenged.

Tsan is the press secretary to the speaker of the house of representatives