Dogara’s return to APC elicits reactions

The defection of the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) came as a surprise to political watchers.

Recall that Dogara who represented Bogoro/DassTafawa Balewa federal constituency of Bauchi State in the House of Representatives, had defected to the PDP alongside former Senate president, Bukola Saraki and incumbent Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in 2018.

He alongside Saraki fell out with the leadership of the APC over their controversial emergence as leaders in the eight National Assembly, a move that was against the interest of the party.

Throughout the four years, the duo did not have a cordial working relationship with the Buhari-led executive, culminating in the ruling party working assiduously so that Saraki and other lawmakers who defected to the PDP did not return as federal lawmakers after the 2019 election.

Observers say Dogara’s decision to dump the PDP may not be a surprise considering that not much has been heard about him in the party lately.

There are insinuations that Dogara is not comfortable with the way some leaders of the PDP have hijacked the structure of the party.

However, Dogara’s defection to the APC less than two years after, perhaps justifies the popular held belief that Nigerian politicians are after pecuniary gains, personal interest while lacking self-respect.

Reacting to his defection, analyst Ayo Kusamotu said he was not surprised about Dogara’s defection from the PDP because it was politics, saying that the circumstances that led him to leave the APC could have changed.

According to him, “Politics is fluid and fair, and we are developing; he may have his reasons, the situation could have changed. Maybe, his family, community have resolved their differences with the party.

“Dogara is a young brilliant politician, future leader; I want to believe he knows what he is doing. He did well as speaker, there was no scandal around him as a speaker; that is politics; we can’t be too strict at this stage of our politics.

“There is nothing like ideology here, in other countries, you can be a republican for a generation. Let’s give him a chance,” Kusamotu said.