…back Gov Bala Mohammed over criticism
Segun Babatunde, Bauchi
Bauchi State PDP Caucus in the House of Representatives has called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the affected Judges that delivered the judgement on Bauchi Governorship election in 2023 to demand that former Speaker Yakubu Dogara recant his allegation, apologise to the judiciary, the President and the country and undergo counselling to purge him of failure induced melancholy.
This was contained in a statement signed and made available to Journalists Wednesday by Hon. Mansur Manu Soro, representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency, Chairman, and Hon. Sani Ibrahim Tanko, representing Shira/Giade Federal Consistency, as Secretary of the Caucus respectively.
The other members are Hon. Aliyu Aminu Garu ( Bauchi), Hon. Bappa Aliyu Misau (Misau/Dambam) Hon. Adamu Hashimu Ranga, (Ningi/Warji), Hon. Auwalu Audu Gwalabe (Katagum federal) and Hon Mohd Dan Abba Shehu (Zaki).
The Caucus which made the call in statement titled ‘Dogara’s cheap path to Tinubu’s Heart’, severally signed by all Seven of them, stated that, “We further call on the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to take steps to discipline Hon. Dogara for betraying the fundamental principles, values and ethics of the Association through his allegation on Justices of the Supreme Court.”
According to the Legislators, “By insinuating that the President gives them directive on how and who to give favourable judgment to, through his naked dance in the public, Dogara has cast the most damaging aspersion on the integrity of our judiciary,” It stressed.
The Caucus further stated that,”It is disturbing enough to accuse the judiciary of partiality or miscarriage of justice. But when a former Speaker of the House of Representatives pointedly suggests that the President of the country could be a vehicle for the miscarriage of justice, that is a terrible situation. We condemn this extreme desperation on the part of Dogara.”
The caucus went on to condemned the verbal attack on Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir by the former Speaker while responding to his statement titled “On Governor Bala Mohammed’s Latest Tirade and Buffoonery”.
They praised the Governor for his giant strides in governance of Bauchi State and his patriotism which they argued, prompted him to pick holes in the speech of President Bola Tinubu to protesters of #endbadgovernornance.
The Federal Lawmakers believed that the response of Dogara to Governor Bala Mohammed was ill-advised of a former Speaker of the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly.
“We would have ignored Dogara’s statement for what it is: the sour grapes by a sore loser who is capitalising on an opportunity to redeem his battered image as a political retiree,” they stated.
The Caucus added, “However, we shall be failing our constituents who, on the one hand, are victims of the unprecedented hardship the country is experiencing and, on the other, beneficiaries of the giant strides recorded by the people-oriented PDP-controlled state administration under the able leadership of Senator Bala Mohammed.”
The Lawmakers believed that the verbal attack on the person of the Governor by Dogara was borne out of hatred of the rising profile of Governor and a part of motive by the former speaker to warm his way into President Bola Tinubu’s heart after his treachery betrayal.
According to the Caucus, “With what we know as federal lawmakers of the betrayal Dogara orchestrated against Tinubu in the 2015 speakership election between him and President’s Chief of Staff, the Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Dogara should be taking the President Tinubu for a ride if he thinks that maligning Governor Bala Mohammed will erase the treachery and get him the President’s attention,”
The Bauchi PDP caucus stated further that, “It should still be fresh in the minds of both the President and his Chief of Staff on how Dogara and his co-travellers weaponized sectional differences and, deployed a campaign of calumny, to steal the Speakership seat from Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila. Neither the President nor his Chief of Staff will forget the use of calumnious words that we don’t want to mention here again.”
The Caucus added that, “Unlike Dogara who craves personal benefit from the present situation, while pledging to work with the President and all stakeholders towards exiting the present quagmire, let the word go out that we stand resolutely with Governor Bala Mohammed, a nationalist and patriot, a modernising and transformational leader whose iconic footprints on Bauchi’s developmental landscape have changed the lives of our people and his achievements, recognized and applauded by eminent Nigerians including the Federal Government”
The PDP caucus also slammed Dogara for pretending to align with the protesting youths who the caucus said had been at the receiving end of the missteps of the APC-controlled Federal Government.
“The former Speaker begins his statement by attacking President Tinubu and concurring with Governor Bala Mohammed that Nigerians are undergoing excruciating hunger, hardship and insecurity,” the PDP caucus members said.
They stressed that, “Then, leaving the substance of Bala Mohammed’s statement calling for concrete steps to reset the economy, Dogara launches a vicious attack on the person of the Governor.”
“Pray, if Dogara had been motivated by noble and patriotic considerations, why would he prioritize style over content, prose over substance and an individual, no matter how powerful, over the entire society? The Caucus asked.
They added “The substance of the matter is that Nigerians can no longer cope with the high inflation, insecurity, and complete erosion of their living standards that have created a huge confidence deficit across the country.
“That Dogara devoted about 98% of his write-up to sycophantic abuse of Governor Bala Mohammed tells the extent of hatred he has against the person of the Governor”.
