Yakubu Dogara, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who returned to the ruling All Progressives Congress, has said he dumped the People’s Democratic Party over the failure of governance, financial impropriety, among others, in his home state of Bauchi, which is ruled by the PDP.
Dogara listed his grievances in a letter of resignation which he addressed to the Chairman of Bogoro ‘C’ Ward of the PDP, in Bauchi State, with Bala Mohammed as governor.
He noted that he could not effectively raise his questions about the poor governance in the state and still be regarded as a loyal member of the party, hence his decision to leave.
He pointed out however that it was his responsibility to say the truth to authorities in Bauchi State, as he had done to previous administrations of former Governors Isa Yuguda and Mohammed Abubakar. Without that he said he would have become an irresponsible and unprincipled politician.
Dogara was one of those who decamped from the APC to PDP in 2018 in the run-up to the 2019 general election.
His defection to the APC was first disclosed on Friday by Mai Malla Buni, the governor of Yobe State and Chairman of the APC Caretaker/Convention Planning Committee, when he led Dogara to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Below is the full text of his letter:
The Chairman
People’s Democratic Party,
Bogoro ‘C’ Ward,
Bogoro LGA,
Bauchi State.
LETTER OF RESIGNATION OF MY MEMBERSHIP OF THE PDP
The above subject matter refers.
I write to intimate you of my decision to resign my membership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
This became necessary because the same reasons why we fought hard in 2019 to effect changes in the Governance of our dear state are festering now.
I intend to bring these issues to the front burners once again as the fight to install decent and egalitarian government in our dear state continues.
Specifically, I intend to ask questions about the following:
a. What has happened to LGA allocations since May 2019?
b. What happened to our campaign promise to conduct LGA elections within six months of the PDP government?
c. What happened to the N4.6 billion loan taken from a bank and paid directly into a private company’s account?
d. Why are we segmenting salaries and why is payment of salaries of state workers outsourced to a private firm as consultants?
e. Why are contracts inflated, awarded, and payment of mobilization done in violation of extant rules on procurement?
f. Why are our highly revered Traditional Rulers and Elders treated with odium contrary to the guarantee we gave during the campaign that such will not happen under a PDP government?
Mr. Chairman, you will agree with me that I cannot raise these issues and many more questions without a charge of disloyalty leveled against me if I were to remain a member of the PDP.
I cannot also fail to raise these questions now, having raised similar ones during the administrations of Governors Isa Yuguda and Mohammed A. Abubakar. If I abdicate this responsibility on the altar of partisan loyalty, I will be the most irresponsible and unprincipled politician in Bauchi State.
Thus, by this letter, I have resigned my membership of the PDP to enable me keep faith with my principle of fighting for good governance in our Dear State.
