The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has declared his intention to seek re-election into the Green Chamber. This was contained in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Turaki Hassan.
According to the statement, Dogara said he was doing so in response to the yearnings and aspirations of his constituents in Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency who requested that he should return to represent them.
The Speaker said this while addressing a crowd of his supporters at his Abuja residence, on Tuesday. Dogara told the crowd he considered stepping aside after representing the constituency for 12 unbroken years but because of the overwhelming support he had received from his constituents he had no option other than to accept their request.
He said, “Some people said they will retire us from politics, but we want to inform them that only God and the electorate can retire us.“Because you came, because of your sacrifice, I want to announce to you that I will run to once again represent our constituency. I will soon come to meet you at home to make this formal.
"I am shocked and surprised because I never thought or imagined that when I woke up today I would see this mammoth crowd in my house.“I am seeing faces of people we started this journey with since 2007. I pray God will reward you for this sacrifice. I was almost tired, having been doing the same thing for almost 12 years now.
"But in recent days, I started hearing some rumours and some people were already celebrating that I won’t run again. Nobody can impose leadership on you. Only you, our people, can choose who will represent you.
"I want to assure you that whatever you want us to do that is what we will do. Those who have said that they will retire us from politics, I want tell them that we have just begun.
"We will continue to attract development to our area; build roads, hospitals, schools, and create opportunities for our people to thrive.”
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Politics