ALLEGED N400BN THEFT: I may sue Dogara, he speaks without thinking —Gov Abubakar

Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar has said he may soon drag House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, to court for accusing him of fraud.

The governor, apparent aggrieved over the graft allegation levelled against him, described Speaker Dogara as a sinking politician who is only trying to save himself by clutching at straws.

He stated this to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday when he visited the national secretariat of his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to meet with the office of the National Legal Adviser on a court case regarding the Bauchi South Senatorial ticket of the party.

Dogara had recently lambasted the governor, accusing him of incompetence and also displayed a paper documents that claimed Governor Abubakar employed 1,200 ghost workers to divert N400 billion belonging the state since 2015.

In his response to Dogara’s attack the governor said, “First, I want people to know that Dogara comes from a very tiny part of Bauchi state and he is contesting for one of the 12 House of Representatives seats in the state. I am contesting for the governorship. So, our paths, even if they meet, they will meet in that tiny enclave only.

“I understand where he is coming from. He is a sinking man. Therefore, he is grabbing at every straw. I am not his opponent in Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro. One other thing to understand, in 2015, Mr. President didn’t win election in Dogara’s local government council.

“I didn’t win election there. But today, Muhammadu Buhari is president and I am governor of the state. Secondly, people should understand that Dogara represents a total of 80,000 registered voters. I won election in 2015 with over 300,000 difference. So, do your arithmetic and place it very well.

“Dogara is clutching at straws. Go to the website of the Federal Ministry of Finance and download the total allocations to Bauchi State from June 2015 till date. And, then do a calculation.

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“You will have a total of the entire allocation to the state. It is not up to N400 billion. Dogara, as the number four citizen of Nigeria, should be careful with his utterances. There is no way the number four citizen of Nigeria can be reckless in everything he says. I have, incidentally, while I was at the office of the legal adviser, my lawyer, Ahmed Raji called me in respect of the matter. I am considering suing him”, he added.”

Abubakar also frowned at Dogara over recent attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari following his stance on the shooting of would-be ballot box snatchers on Election Day.

READ ALSO: #SnatchAtYourOwnRisk: ‘Those who kill deserve to die,’ Presidency sides with Buhari on ballot box snatchers

“As the number four citizen, he cannot afford to be reckless in his utterances. He speaks without seriously thinking of what comes out of his mouth. And Mr. President is the Chief Security Officer of the country. Anybody who snatches ballot boxes is a common criminal under the Electoral Act. Therefore, stopping a criminal is not an act that should be politicized. We keep on complaining of lack of free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria and Mr President is bent on ensuring that the 2019 election is free, fair and transparent.

“If it takes stopping criminals to ensure the transparency of that election, so be it. There is nothing wrong in stopping criminals. You as a citizen, you have the right under the constitution to arrest a criminal in the act of committing an offence,” he said.

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