By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara has hinged his Monday’s purported suspension as a traditional title holder of Jakadan Bauchi by the Emirate council to mere hearsay.
“As of today, Tuesday, I am yet to be served with any letter of suspension and more tenuously, I was never informed that there was an allegation of wrong doing against me pending before the Emirate Council”, he said.
Reacting to the orchestrated suspension Tuesday by the emirate council, Dogara explained that he decided to state his own side of the story as several well-wishers and even the press have inundated him with request to respond so that he is not convicted in the court of public opinion.
He attributed the purported suspension to a ludicrous and legally inchoate criminal complaint filed against him and others by the Governor of Bauchi State and his money bag lackey whom, he said, are at the centre of it all.
Dogara noticed that the letter of suspension as seen on social media is not contained in the real letter head of Bauchi Emirate Council. That speaks volumes. More so, the reason for the suspension, if true, was that my “name was mentioned,” which clearly is hearsay”.
The former speaker noted that Bauchi Emirate is one of the oldest of its kind in the country, and expressed doubt that it could take a decision based on hearsay, especially when he can be invited to face any allegation of wrongdoing against him.
He therefore described the suspension as a violation of his constitutional right to fair hearing. It is additionally alleged in the letter under reference that I didn’t sympathize with the two Emirs over the unfortunate incident involving them, which is totally untrue”.
He reproduced a text message sent to the emir on the day of the incident thus; “Allah ya taimaki Mai Martaba, ‘I wish to write and extend my sympathies to you over the unfortunate incident involving your entourage while making your way from Bauchi to Bogoro earlier today. It is a huge embarrassment to all of us in my constituency and the entire state which I totally condemn and disavow”.
“It is worth noting that I would have loved to personally visit to extend my apologies on behalf of my constituents but I know that such a visit would be misconstrued as was the case in the past when the gates of some palaces were shut anytime I visited as Speaker”.
Dogara, who submitted that the sympathies were sent to both the two emirs of Bauchi and Dass through a proxy for obvious reasons, assured he had witnesses that the messages were delivered and acknowledged.
According to him, it is pointless to emphasize that the incident was totally avoidable as he had requested the security agencies to obtain security guarantees from the organizers of the event failing which they should advise them to postpone the event in the interest of peace.
“It was therefore mindless in the first place, for anyone to have encouraged you to put yourself in harm way, especially when it was obvious that security breach was more probable than likely granted the tension generated by the recklessness of those who were supposed to show leadership”, Dogara said.
Dogara further observed that remorse comes as a consequence of guilt, saying “The Emirate council cannot convict me over hearsay without investigation and without inviting me to face any allegation against me”.
He added, “I maintain a clear conscience before God that I have nothing to do with any mayhem in Zaar land, not least the incident involving the two Emirs as I had no inkling whatsoever that they would be attending an event that was already marred by crisis before it began”.
“I make bold to say, without any equivocation, that I did not know the Emirs have been invited to attend the event and even if invited, that they would indeed attend because none of the two Emirs is accustomed to attending any such event in Zaar land. Therefore, how could I have been responsible for any incident involving them?
He stated that those who should show remorse are those who insisted on going on with the event and unconstitutionally flooded the area with soldiers whose actions led to the breakdown of law and order in the area.
Dogara said he was aware that both the emir and his council members were under pressure from the state government to withdraw the traditional title conferred on him for quite some time now.
The former speaker noted that the action of the emirate council is part of a smear campaign to portray him as insensitive and convict him in the court of public opinion for the political gains of some desperate characters.
He recalled that Governor Bala had before now illegally revoked two titles to his land, as he did to a colleague, Hon Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi and a former Governor of the State who also doubles as his mentor and benefactor.
“Suspension of traditional titles of political opponents at the behest of the Governor has become routine now. Before mine came, our father, the Wazirin Bauchi, had been suspended. Likewise, my comrade in the APC, the Wakilin Birni, had been also been suspended. The Emir of Misau was also suspended by the Governor”.
“The question is who is next? This has become the brand of infantile politics of the kleptocracy in Bauchi State. We are not only witnessing the brazen decimation of our State resources, of which hard evidence abounds, but our revered traditional Institutions and culture”.
Dogara puts it thus; “Thankfully, for any Pharaoh there would be a Moses and I am happy to be one of the Moses in Bauchi who will content with this Pharaoh until the reproach that has become our lot is lifted”.
He conclusively observed that the mission cannot be deterred or delayed by all the shenanigans of the modern Pharaoh and all his puppets.
