FORMER Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd); Attorney-General of the Federation and minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN and former minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi among others, have declared support for the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retd), ahead of the March 11 governorship election.
The trio disclosed this at a fund-raising dinner and unveiling of the Manifesto of the Bauchi State APC governorship candidate in Abuja on Friday.
Other dignitaries, who attended the event were the State APC chairman, Babayo Aliyu Misau; his deputy, Mohammed Hassan; Bauchi State APC deputy governorship candidate, Shehu Aliyu Musa; APC national Women Leader, Dr. Betta Edu, minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adewole Adegoroye; former Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Ibrahim Muhammad Tanko, among others.
Gen. Buratai (retd) said the recorded success of counter-insurgency operations carried out in Port Harcourt, Rivers State including the fight against oil bunkering, came partly as a result of Abubakar’s resilience, dedication, and cooperation to work with the Nigerian Army.
He urged Bauchi State people to vote for Abubakar, saying: “Today, Bauchi State has oil, and to protect your oil, you have the right person to protect it which is Amb Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar.”
He added: “Just after the commissioning of the oil well, we heard the story of bandits and criminals surrounding that area. Air Marshal Abubakar and my humble self, we fought the militants, the oil thieves, and the pirates on the seas and the creeks, and riverine areas, so those bandits that are saying they will disturb or take over the oil wells in Bauchi State, I think they are telling lies and they will have a big nut to crack.”
Corroborating, AGF Malami said Abubakar has brilliantly performed fighting insecurity as the immediate-past Chief of Air Staff, adding that if elected as governor of Bauchi State, he would improve the fortune of the State.
“The achievement, performance, success, delivery, and value. What do I mean? The fact remains indisputable that as of 2015 when this administration of President Muhammadu Buhari came on board, about 17 local governments in Borno State were indeed controlled by Boko Haram. So, what happened with the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari and the coming on board of Sadique Abubakar as the Chief of Air Staff, the complete turnaround of security architecture, and, by extension, decimating Boko Haram, recovering our territory, the national territory, and the Nigerian integrity, among others.
“So, when you have in place a person that supports the possibility of you going to bed at night with your eyes closed, what else do you need? I believe the only justice that the people of Bauchi can do unto themselves is to vote and vote massively. Vote without exception, Sadique Abubakar.”
On his part, describing Abubakar as a visionary leader, Amaechi said that, there was no other better choice for the people of Bauchi State other than what the APC has presented to them.
He, therefore, called on the people of the State to vote for the candidate that has proven integrity and transparency particularly as it regards public funds.
“When you indicated interest to run for the governorship of Bauchi State, I support you in every possible way that I can, including prayers.
“Today, I ask you people from Bauchi to think twice about governance in Nigeria. It has been very bad.
“The reason why it’s bad is because you vote for people who don’t know what governorship is about. We vote for people who seek employment to make money and unfortunately for all of you, people are not held accountable for anything they do and the worse is Nigeria doesn’t hold anyone accountable for everything.
“So, if you are voted in as governor, then it is your discipline that determines how you behave, not because anybody will check. So, vote for somebody who is disciplined enough to leave your money at home, at Bauchi State Government House since there is no way to check anybody.”
Meanwhile, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the event, the APC governorship candidate, Abubakar, promised to re-engineer the political landscape of the State by making policies geared towards bettering the economic, educational, and security situation of the State.
He added that if the educational, economic and security of the State can be improved, issues bothering insecurity would reduce.
His words: “What we want to do is to re-engineer the political landscape in Bauchi State so that people will have a sense of ownership of the State.
“People must understand that the State is all about them and the only way to achieve that is to reverse the disturbing figures. We want to get those 1.4 million children back to school. We want to do everything we can to show concern and support our women.
“Unemployment rate, especially among the youths, is very disturbing. We want to create a platform where these youths would be empowered, have the skills required and be able to contribute to the development of Bauchi State. In the agricultural sector, the production is so abysmal.
“What we want to do is to re-engineer the entire process so that production will go up and once it goes up, you know the impact of agriculture on the economy. Small-scale industries at the local level will increase. These are programmes that are going to boost the economy of Bauchi State and that way we can help with the security of the State because there is a relationship between security and development.