The House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government at all levels to make conscious efforts to deliver on its promises to Nigerians, saying that it will be a disaster if it fails to do so.
Dogara, who spoke when he hosted the Governor of Bauchi State Mohammed Abubakar at the National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday, declared that the yearnings of the people for positive changes in their lives led to the massive support given to the APC in the last general elections.
“Our people have witnessed bad leadership, especially in the last eight years. It will be a disaster if we don’t save this situation,” he said.
Dogara further noted that the case of Bauchi State was a typical example of a situation where the people gave overwhelming support to APC in all the elections into the two arms of government because they looked forward to a better life under the change regime.
“Everybody knows the passion of our people in Bauchi State. They embraced us against all odds, against the sitting governor because they feared the kind of situation in which they found themselves under the last regime and they needed change and, thank God, we came with this promise of change.
“To be candid, God has set for us the platform through which we can deliver this change.
“Today, 12 of our (Bauchi NASS) members are all of the APC; our three senators are all of the APC. We have a governor who, together with the whole of his team, is of the APC and, thank God and thanks also to the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, who really saw the kind of love the people exhibited in the course of the campaigns, and to be candid, in his own way, he has discharged all the burdens a father can do for his supporters or children.
“He has given us more than we deserve, I can say that. In Bauchi State, I can even list the number of appointments that we have and I am seated here as the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” Dogara said.
He assured the governor of the support of the National Assembly in building the state, adding that “we must deliver on the promise of change.”
Earlier, Governor Abubakar, accompanied by his chief of staff, said they came to identify with the Speaker for all the good things he has been doing to stabilise the polity.
He noted that having taken over power after 16 years of rule by another political party, the task of stabilising the polity is Herculean and requires men and women who have clarity of thought and the ability to stabilse the polity to occupy the positions such as that occupied by the Speaker.
-Leadership