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Yakubu Dogara, former Speaker, House of Representatives
By Akanji Olowolodu, Bauchi
Immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barr Yakubu Dogara has alleged that the Bauchi State Police Command is collaborating with the state government to make things difficult.
The allegation is coming 3 days to the conduct of the gubernatorial and state assembly elections as tension continues to build up between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi State.
Yakubu Dogara who addressed Journalists on Wednesday at the residence of the APC gubernatorial candidate, Saddique Baba Abubakar said that, “I don’t want to say it, but, it is glaring that there is a collision between the authorities and the state government to come hard on members of the opposition particularly the APC.”
He stressed that, “The Governor has been telling a lot of lies in order to cover his tracks, why is the authorities going after members of the APC knowing that he has lost. They want to assist him, we don’t know but it is a conjecture, but otherwise, why are you breaking the law?”
Yakubu Dogara also said that the allegation levelled against the serving APC member representing Bauchi Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Yakubu Shehu, Abdullahi popularly known as ‘Yakubu Wowo’ who was declared wanted for criminal conspiracy, disturbance of public peace and culpable homicide, was all based on a bucket of lies.
Recall that The Police also announced a N1 million reward for anyone with useful information that could lead to the 45 year old lawmaker arrest.
According to Yakubu Dogara, the Police in the state failed to follow the due of process of arresting a serving lawmaker, instead it went ahead to to declare his arrest, making the whole situation suspicious.
According to him, “Nobody is accusing that they saw him with guns and that he shot people to death, they are saying that he imported some people with sticks but they did not say that he killed anyone.”
He alleged that the Police was partnering with the government in order to come hard on members of the APC knowing that the incumbent governor was losing out already, adding that the governor is telling lies in a bid to cover his tracks in which the police is trying to assist him.
According to him, “We are here to respond to the allegations against Honourable Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi who is being accused of some allegations by the Police. Everybody knows that he is a sitting member of the House of Representatives and I was once a speaker of the House of Representatives, I know the process of inviting a member who is accused of commiting an offence and this a mere accusation.”
The former Speaker added that, “The Governor was told some of these things, some of us were there, is not hear say, I was part of the campaign team that went to Alkaleri, the Governor’s hometown in Duguri. I want to ask why is it that some of these incidences of violence always happening in particular locations.”
According to him, “Air Marshal has gone to all the local government areas of the state for campaigns, but the incidences were isolated and it happened in Akuyam which is the hometown of the Chairman of the PDP, it happened in Warji which is the local government of the present Commissioner of Local government and everybody knows that this man has been threatening violence against APC members in all his videos”
“The last incidence of violence was at the hometown of the sitting Governor in Duguri. When we set out for campaigns, we started from Tafawa Balewa town, held rallies at different villages. If we were going there to kill people, by the time we got to Duguri, maybe we would have killed a thousand, but the people received us with a rousing welcome and we addressed those rallies with any single incidence of violence,” he stressed.
Yakubu Dogara also said that, “Let me say this, I saw it myself, not that I was told, because I was there. When we got into Duguri town proper, apart from the fact that we visited the District Head’s palace, we went to his house for the Muslim brothers to say their prayers, so if we wanted to kill people in Duguri, we would have started from his house.”
He claimed that,”But by the time prayers were said, we went to Duguri town to address the people of the town that gathered at the venue of the rally and we saw this young man holding a loud speaker , he was telling people to come out with weapons to fight the APC members.”
He further alleged that, “I was there addressing the crowd on the stage when I started hearing gunshots from within the town, so, it is not that somebody told me. The governor is basing all his allegations on hearsay, but I am a witness.”
The former Speaker added that, “The point is that the casualties we took, were used as security details, so does it makes sense for you to now say that it was our own security personnels that were shooting their own colleagues? Does it make sense?so, if you say some people were shot own their own side, then who shot our own people? Where are they? Have they been declared wanted?”
“So,.for a member of the House of Representatives to be invited by the Police, they know the law, the Legislative privileges and immunity act is there, they know how to invite him and the police is supposed to be enforcing the law and not breaking it,” he stressed.
He also said that,”For you to invite a sitting lawmaker after just few hours, you declare him wanted, when you know that you are even violating the law in the process of inviting him because any member who is to be invited to appear before any authority, a letter has to be written to the Clerk of the National Assembly and then forwarded to the speaker for approval.The police rushed quickly to judgement on a basis of a mere allegation.”
“Why is the Police breaking the law in relation to Honourable Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi? If he has committed any offence, give him that opportunity and follow the law, invite him, let him answer to those accusations. I was there, I saw Yakubu, he was in the car, he did not have a dane gun, he didn’t have one single weapon, not even a stick, so why are you accusing him of killing who or for orchestrating what” Dogara said.
The former Speaker then vowed to take action against the Police to ensure that the right thing was done stressing that injustice will not thrive just as he expressed optimism that the Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir will be defeated on Saturday.
