The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will, in the next 24 hours, hold a by-election to fill the vacancy created by the killing of the member representing Dass constituency in the Bauchi State House of Assembly.
Musa Mantai Baraza, a member of the All Progressive Congress Party (APC), was killed in his House some months ago by gunmen who also abducted his two wives and son. The wives and the son later regained their freedom.
Though the election on Saturday, December 5 is actually between Bala Ali Lukshi of the APC and Lawan Wandi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
APC candidate Hon. Bala Ali Lukshi, PDP candidate Lawan Wandi, it is also seen as a political battle for supremacy between Bauchi State Governor Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir and former House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara.
Even the two leading contenders are hoping to gain from the influence of the two Bauchi political titans who worked together ahead of the 2019 election but fell apart shortly after, leading to Dogara’s exit from the PDP and return to the APC.
Dogara, who dumped the APC for the PDP ahead of the 2019 election, is believed to have played a role in the defeat of former Governor Mohammed Abubakar of the APC by Bala Mohammed of the PDP, while the former speaker retained his Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal constituency seat.
Who takes the day?
Dogara also has a large followership in his constituency and has never lost an election there since 2003. Some attributes the former speaker’s influence to his numerous empowerment programmes for his people. He may also enjoy the support of the federal agencies that are stakeholders in the election.
In his zeal and desire to win the by-election for APC, Dogara stormed Dass township for the party’s grand campaign rally on Wednesday in the company of dozens of serving members of the National Assembly, as well as top APC stalwarts from within and outside Bauchi State.
Those in Dogara’s entourage included Senator Halliru Dauda Jika, an APC Senator from Bauchi Central , and a pupolar lawmaker, Rep Gudaji Kazaure, from Jigawa State, who spoke at the occasion, Captain Bala Jibrin and many others.
Dogara told the people to vote APC candidate to enable the Federal Government to complete some of the ongoing projects in Dass local government.
He said if people of Dass vote for the APC candidate it will help the to mount get more development projects to the people of the area like the construction of the mighty bridges and construction of Dam and other social amenities.
Governor Bala Mohammed, on his part, relies on the apparatus of power, his popularity in the state and Jarawa son to win the election. The governor enjoys the support of the people of the area and his kinsman when he contested Bauchi Senatorial seat and won the election in 2007, and they also gave him support in 2019 when he contested the governorship seat.
While leading the PDP’s grand rally on Thursday, at the same venue, Governor Bala Mohammed said he would not join issues with Dogara even as he tried to downplay the former speaker’s role in his emergence as governor.
“I am in no way his (Dogara’s) equal, and no one assisted me to attain what God has blessed me with. I was once a senator, and then a minister and now a governor, and all credits go to God. Good governance is not about food or sharing of motorcycles, good governance is about establishing infrastructure that will benefit the people,” he said.
The governor also said his government will upgrade the building of the emir’s palace and make it a model, establish a tertiary institution of agriculture in Dass to provide employment, adding that “We are building 150 houses and schools here in Dass; we want to empower the youth to be self-reliant.”
Governor Bala Mohammed also said “The late state lawmaker was a good man, we are in different parties but he never did any wrong thing and I mourn his gruesome murder. When he was killed I went to the Inspector General of Police who sent a special squad that arrested the killers. But I have said that we must support his family. So I have approved the donation of three vehicles for his children to use as a means of income generation.”
“We are not afraid of anyone. I am ready to face the big players from the national level, not here in the state” the governor added.
It would be recalled that when Dogara left PDP not long after he helped the party to form a government in Bauchi State, his defection to APC became the biggest embarrassment to the ruling party PDP in Bauchi.
Meanwhile, both leaders and their supporters have intensified lobbying with the hope of convincing the electorate to vote for their candidate in the by-election on Saturday as the outcome has implication for the political fortunes of Bala Mohammed and Dogara.
