From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant for the Misau/Dallas, Bauchi, seat in the House of Representatives, Alhaji Abdul Ibrahim, has said that it would be difficult for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to retain power in the 2023 general elections.

Speaking to reporters on his political aspiration, Ibrahim noted that there are many factors, particularly insecurity and poverty, militating against the APC holding on to elected offices.

He said the PDP government in Bauchi State has done very well in tackling the infrastructural deficit which will make its return to power in the state easy in 2023, adding that if he is elected as a House of Representatives member, he would provide quality representation.

‘The PDP has a very good chance to win the forthcoming general election in Bauchi State and the entire country because APC has failed Nigerians,’ he stated.

‘In Bauchi State, the governor has done very well for the party to retain the governorship seat, and at the federal level, PDP will win because APC has failed Nigerians in very bad ways. Is it security or what, you cannot sleep in most states in the country with your two eyes closed? It is too bad. I am very sure Nigerians will vote APC out of power at the federal level come 2023.

‘My major concern for running or seeking for the seat to represent my people at the federal level is purely because of the many gaps that exist now in my Constituency in the area of quality representation. One is that we have so many youths who have graduated from secondary school, and universities without any job or business to earn a living. So employment is a major problem in my area, so I need to help to fight the battle for my people through quality representation at the House of Representatives. If elected as a member I will do my best to secure employment for the youths if the opportunity comes and also create youths empowerment programmes to alleviate the pains of unemployment. I think as a representative of the people I should be able to introduce empowerment programmes to engage our youths so that they can sustain themselves.

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‘And in my area, there are a lot of projects that need the Federal Government attention but because of lack of quality representation my people are not benefitting anything, so if I am elected I will do my best to lobby for the interest of my people.. And so if I am there to represent my people by the grace of God I will do my best to address critical issues that are affecting my people by lobbying because democracy is all about lobbying.

‘I have declared my intention of interest to the necessary authority in my area and I am getting the necessary support from the youths, and all nooks and cranny of Misau/ Dambam Constituency. I am getting the support of the youths, young, women and old of my area in Misau and Dambam.

‘And also I have sat down and interacted with my people and the party leadership in the Constituency to show my interest of contesting. And now we are waiting for the party to release that date and guidelines for the sale and purchase of form to prepare for the primary election.’

Asked to rate the performance of PDP in Bauchi State, the aspirant said, ‘For me and the majority of the people in Bauchi State, I will rate the performance of His Excellency, governor Bala Mohammed very high because he has touched almost every sector in the state including health, education and infrastructural development. In my village, we have been suffering from bad roads for many years now but this government under the able leadership of His Excellency Bala Mohammed has taken care of it to the joy of the people.. And again if you go to Bauchi town you will see massive infrastructural development going on in almost every corner which is first of its kind in the state and very commendable. And also the health and the educational sector has received massive support and improvement under this administration which is very commendable.

‘You see, before this government came into power, a lot of hospitals were in a very bad condition, but now you will see renovation work going on in every local government hospital, school, and road. And I can tell you people are very happy with the job the governor is doing.’

Talking about insecurity in the country, Ibrahim said, ‘I can say it is possible to overcome insecurity if the government shows enough commitments and zeal to battle the menace, but the APC led Federal Government is not showing much zeal to confront it as quickly as possible.’