The Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara has challenged leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at all levels to reciprocate the gesture of Nigerians in the last general elections by delivering on the promises of ‘change.’
Dogara spoke when he received members of the Buhari Campaign Organisation from Bauchi state led by Dr. Danjuma Dabo, who paid him a courtesy call in his office in Abuja on Wednesday.
‘If we fail to deliver, they (Nigerians) will reject us all; but they will start with you before they come to Abuja. That is why you too must work hard to deliver change.
“Our people sincerely believe that change is possible and now is the time to truly transform this country. If we fail this time around, I don’t think we can ever have change in our lifetime.
“We need prayers because some of the myriads of problems bedeviling the country can’t be solved by mere human wisdom; we need divine intervention and courage,” Dogara said.
Mr. Turaki Hassan, his Special Adviser on media and public affairs, quoted the Speaker in a statement as reminding his guests that those holding elective and appointive offices in the APC government owe a lot of debt to the ordinary people who defied all odds and made sacrifice to bring about the much-expected ‘change.’
He said Bauchi state gave APC the fourth highest number of votes in the 2015 presidential election, adding that the only way to reciprocate the gesture was for the leaders to deliver on their promises.
Dogara also expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing sons of Bauchi State into sensitive positions in his government while urging them to justify the confidence reposed in them by the President.
“We have to utilise these offices to change the living conditions of our people. It is our responsibility to translate that to better the lives of the people. If we can’t do that, we cannot blame President Muhammadu Buhari for that,” he noted.
The Speaker urged the people of his native Bauchi State to not only profess peace but also practise same.
He regretted that the desired unity was not achieved in the last eight years because “those state actors were busy fighting themselves, a house divided against itself cannot stand. I pray that we invest in unity and not just talk about it.”
For his part, the leader of the delegation, Dr. Dabo, commended Dogara for supporting the organisation since its inception, saying: “We wouldn’t have achieved that success without your support.”
“We want you to do more to support and assist the President to succeed and achieve the lofty goals of his government as the Speaker,” he said.
-Leadership