There are indications that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Yakubu Dogara, may have dumped his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The Bauchi legislator who is reported to have picked the nomination and expression of interest forms of the PDP on Wednesday, to contest the party primary for a return to the green chamber of the National Assembly, has been absent from the activities of the ruling party in recent times.
Following this development, he is expected to formally announce his defection at the resumption of the National Assembly later this month.
He had made public on Tuesday, his decision to re-contest the Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa federal constituency seat when some of his constituents visited his Abuja home. They prevailed on him to run for a fourth term amidst speculations that he wasn’t going to be seeking re-election.
The number 4 citizen, had in response, accepted the request and appreciated the show of support from his people, who travelled all the way from Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa local government areas in Bauchi State to Abuja, but failed to announce the platform he will be contesting under.
Mocking those who he said were working to retire him from politics, the speaker said:
“To those who have said that they will retire us from active politics, it is imperative to know that all power belongs to God and it is up to the electorate to decide, not them. The people have always spoken through the ballot and 2019 won’t be any different.”
It was a heartwarming moment today when I received hundreds of constituents who visited my Abuja home, imploring me to recontest in 2019. pic.twitter.com/VtCQGm5Unv
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) September 11, 2018
The voice of the people is the voice of God; even though I had been considering not running this time around, now that my people have called upon me to do so, I feel compelled to heed their call. pic.twitter.com/3EEPdSMPD4
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) September 11, 2018
Dogara emerged as the Speaker of the lower house of the legislature against the wishes of his party leadership in June 2015, with the support of the PDP representatives of the house, along with embattled Senate President, Bukola Saraki and has had running battles with the leadership of the APC in his state and at the national level.
Temidayo Taiwo-Sidiq is a Journalist, Political Analyst and Satirist with major interest in Nigerian Politics, Governance and Sports.
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