The APC-led government is worse than all the previous PDP governments, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim (APC, Yobe East), has said.
Bukar Abba, a former governor of Yobe State who had been in the Senate since 2007, said the APC was no better than the PDP.
Bukar, an ardent critic of the PDP for many years had few weeks to the last senatorial primaries shelved his plans to slug it out with Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, who has since picked the APC ticket ahead of the 2019 elections.
Bukar’s wife and minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khadija has also secured the APC ticket to vie for a seat in the House of Representatives from Yobe.
Speaking during the presentation of a book on his biography ‘Poorlitics’ at the weekend in Abuja, Bukar Abba said the APC should not assume that it could win the 2019 elections “even with massive rigging.”
He warned that the North East zone should not be taken for granted in the coming elections as the zone could vote against the APC.
He said the APC government was blaming the past governments too much rather than concentrating on how to solve current economic problems in the country.
Our correspondent observed that this was the first time Sen. Bukar Abba would openly lampoon his political party since he lost his bid to return to the Senate.
Though the book presentation coincided with his 70th birthday celebration, it was observed that no senator or government official from his state of Yobe was present at the event.
Similarly, none of his wives showed up but some of his children and grandchildren attended the event.
“When I began this process, I had in mind that progressives will be in power and will show Nigeria how to run a progressive nation. Without mincing words, as an elder statesman, I must say that my dreams and hopes have been dashed. We have certainly not done what I dreamed we will do; and in many ways are no better than the PDP that we sought to displace.
“As we move towards the elections, I have to give a dire warning to the APC; things are no longer the way they were in 2015 when we rode to power on a cloud of euphoria, believing that things will change. Simply put, things have not changed, and many things are worse and the people are bitter. We should not assume that we can win even with massive rigging,” he said.
“Our interest in the North East has always been progressive, and I will personally be watching for improvements in the APC, improvements that will guarantee us victory; such as respecting the rule of law and releasing political prisoners.
“If we are fighting corruption, let us fight every corrupt person and not select people in what may be seen as a one-sided witch-hunt,” he said.
