We’ve tested our political strength in Bauchi– Dogara

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said he is leading the campaign for the ousting of the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed because the political stakeholders in the state have tested their strength and have emerged on top of the contests.

Mr Dogara, who spoke on a Channels TV programme Politics Today on Wednesday night, also said the governor and not himself should be described as an “unstable politician.”

The former speaker and other top members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) including former minister Bello Kirfi, a former Bauchi Governor, Isa Yuguda and a former senator, Sulaiman Nazifi, are supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate, Sadique – Baba Abubakar against the governor and candidate of the PDP

While responding to the questions raised by the anchor, Mr Dogara said he has not left the PDP or rejoined the APC but he is leading the fight to ensure the APC candidate wins

He said the coalition against the incumbent has tested its strength against the sitting governor and they found out they are stronger than him through the people’s support.

“But the truth as I was telling you is that we’ve tested our political strength here in Bauchi. We’ve two races. In the first place, there was a rerun election in Dass local government area. He came out and cast the narrative as a battle between himself and myself. The election was held and I can tell you my candidate came top.

“In this election (2023) he fielded a candidate to take over my seat (House of Representatives ticket), I fielded my own candidate (under APC) and we defeated him. His member from his local government (Alkaleri/Kirfi federal constituency) is from the APC. The Senator who will take over now is from the APC. We defeated him (Mr Mohammmed)…

“For now, I must tell you I’m supporting candidates. I’m not doing any political party for now. I’m supporting candidates. Everybody knows that I backed Atiku Abubakar (PDP) for the presidency, a reason I told the whole world. But in Bauchi state, before primaries we’ve concluded. I’ve supported the aspiration of retired Air Marshal Sadiq who is the candidate of the APC and I’ve my candidates for the House of Assembly. I have a Senatorial candidate and House of Representatives candidates,” Dogara said.

Speaking on Mr Mohammed’ earlier comment on Channels TV that Mr is an unstable politician jumping political parties for personal gain, the former speaker said the name fits the governor.

“He is unstable, when he ran for Senate, was he in the PDP? We saw what happened at the level of the national assembly when he moved the so-called motion and then later he moved across to PDP. So, if he’s moving to the PDP from the party that took him to the Senate didn’t qualify him to be called politically unstable, he can’t now say that I’m suffering from instability,” he said.

The duo of Messrs Dogara and Kirfi are considered the two most powerful godfathers in Bauchi state politics. In 2019, they led a coalition to oust then-governor Mohammed Abubakar and supported Mr Mohammed.

They’re now been at loggerheads, which has led to the sacking of Mr Kirfi as the Wazirin Bauchi, an influential traditional title in the state. Mr Dogara was also suspended as Jakadan Bauchi.