…rigging won’t save APC in 2019, says Sen. Ibrahim
The lawmaker representing Yobe East Senatorial District, Senator Bukkar Abba Ibrahim, has warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) not to assume that the North-East geopolitical zone will vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 like it did in 2015.
The states in the North-East are Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba.
The senator said the issues for which people of the North-East voted for Buhari and APC had not been addressed.
According to him, they are getting worse.
Ibrahim, who was governor of Yobe State for three terms within two dispensations and now serving his third term at the Senate, stated that rigging would not save the President and the party from the imminent defeat.
The senator issued the warning at the Internet launch of his book, ‘Poorlitics,’ and 70th birthday celebration held in Abuja.
Ibrahim, whose wife, Khadijat, is currently the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said the North-East should not be taken for granted “since it is not a must for the zone to support Buhari.”
He said, “As we move towards the elections, I have to give a dire warning to the APC that 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 for better.
“Simply put, things have not changed and many things are getting worse and the people are bitter.
“We should not assume that we can win, even with massive rigging. The economy has gone down because of our action and inaction, and we are blaming the past too much rather than solving the present problems.
“I am going to give a dire warning. Let the North-East not be taken for granted that we must support APC.
“Our interest in the North-East has always been progressive and I will personally be watching for required improvement in the APC before the elections.
“Improvement that can guarantee victory such as respecting the rule of law and releasing political prisoners as well as non-selective war against corruption, as against one sided witch-hunt.
