Dogara speaks against El-Rufai, others ‘inciting’ violence

Leaders and politicians who incite people, threaten violence and engage in hate speech should not be elected, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said.

His call comes a few weeks after the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai had stated during a TV interview that any foreigners who interferes in Nigeria’s election would leave In body bags, a comment that has been condemned by many Nigerians as a call to violence, and a death threat.

Speaking at his campaign rally in Dull, Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi State on Thursday, Hon Dogara noted that northern Nigeria is facing existential threat as a result of unprecedented level of violence and killings and called on the people to resist attempts by wicked, unpatriotic and divisive people to incite them against each other.

He said it is time for Nigerians to use the 2019 general elections to stamp out killings, kidnapping, armed banditry and other sundry crimes that have engulfed the country, especially the north.

Speaking further, he claimed that he attracted road projects worth over N46 billion to the State, which he said would have taken the Bauchi State government decades to execute.

Hon Dogara berated the state governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, for using the state’s resources to sponsor protests against him in Bauchi, Abuja and Lagos.

Read also: El-Rufai should resign over death threat to foreigners —Ex-APC presidential aspirant

“They said we did budget padding and even Bauchi State government sponsored protests against me but now that they have seen the projects they say it is Buhari’s project. So, was it Buhari who did the padding which they sponsored protests against him?” he queried.

Also speaking, Senator Adamu Gumba and Hon Ahmed Yerima urged the people to reject moves by the APC government to use religion to divide them ahead of the elections.

“Because they’ve nothing to show as their achievement, they now want to use religion but they won’t succeed, our people are wise. They should come out openly and do it. Why are they moving under the cover of darkness? They have been exposed already and the agenda they came with has failed woefully,” Senator Gumba said.

The Speaker had, two weeks ago, raised an alarm on how the Bauchi State government and the ruling APC are allegedly arming thugs with assault rifles ahead of next week’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

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