Blueprint publisher, Malami, Buratai, others back Bauchi APC governorship candidate

It was a gathering of who is who in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a night of financial donations as the governorship candidate of the party in Bauchi state, Amb. Sadique Baba Abubakar, unveiled his 23-page manifesto.

Those in attendance at the fund raising dinner held late Friday night in Abuja include publisher of Blueprint Newspapers, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Amb. Tukur Buratai, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami, among others.

Speaking at the event, the governorship candidate, who is also a retired Chief of Air Staff (CAS), lamented that over one million children are out of school in Bauchi State alone, with only 26 per cent school attendance.

He said: “We have about 1,549 pregnant women that are dying every 100,000 births. These are terrible figures and what we simply want to do is to re-engineer the political landscape in Bauchi State so that people will have a sense of ownership.

“The people must understand that the state is all about them and the only way you can do this is to reverse those terrible figures.

“We want to get these 1.4 million children back to school. We want to do everything we can to show support for our women and empower the youth to boost the employment rate in the state.

“By doing these, women and youths will have the skills and capacity to contribute to the development of the state.”

Abubakar also decried the abysmal agricultural production in the state, adding that he would re-engineer the process to boost productivity as well as tackle insecurity in different dimensions.

“This boils down to what I was talking about. It has to do with the opportunity of going back to school, having good health and capacity to involve in agriculture and make money.

“As soon as you tackle those issues, you will discover that it will impact positively on security. On the physical security, we are going to work with all security agencies and the narratives in Bauchi State will change for the better,” he said.

Also speaking, Blueprint Newspaper publisher, who donated N10 million to support the Bauchi APC governorship ambition, said he has no doubt that Abubakar will perform creditably well if voted into office come March 2023.

In his remarks, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Amb. Tukur Buratai, said he had worked with Abubakar in Rivers, adding that he could testify to his capacity in security and protection of oil facilities.

“Now that Bauchi has oil, God has brought someone who has the experience in security and protection of oil resources. He has the ability to move Bauchi State forward,” he said.

Similarly, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, urged Bauchi electorate to vote for Abubakar in order to tackle issues affecting the state.

He recalled that in 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari took over power, Boko Haram insurgents were in control of 17 local government areas of Borno, but Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff, decimated the terrorists.

“The only good thing that the people of Bauchi could do to themselves is to vote for Abubakar. I urge us all to come out massively and collectively vote for him to move the state forward. I also urge you to support him sufficiently,” he said.