Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has called for more inclusion of stakeholders in governance, saying it remained the most effective way to bring development to Nigeria.
The speaker said this while commissioning a multi-billion naira dual carriageway and fly over in Rivers State on Friday night.
While commending the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, for completing the project for the construction of Woji / Elelenwo Road which was awarded in 2009 but abandoned for 6 years until his administration took up and completed it, he noted that the state is working smoothly because the governor works with stakeholders in his state and has by that, earned their support, thereby making the governance process smooth and easy.
Dogara debunked sentiments about his presence at the commissioning, saying though he belongs to the APC while the governor is of the PDP, as a parliamentarian and a leader, he does not play politics according to tribal rules, but as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria working for the common good of Nigeria as a whole.
He stated, “I must thank them for a wonderful thing I have seen and I think, perhaps, that is one of the things that I will be taking back with me and that is the very exceptional spirit, very infectious spirit of brotherhood and friendship that I have seen existing between the government and some of the stakeholders of this state.
“No wonder Rivers is working, no wonder the governor is performing, I want to thank those stakeholders and the people of Rivers State for the support that they are giving the governor, which translated to what we are seeing.
“The governor made a very important observation; he said I belong to a different political party. It is true that I belong to the APC but I am member of parliament and in the parliament we represent the whole of Nigeria.
“There are no tribalists in the parliament, we only have citizens. You know when you have tribalists, their allegiance goes to certain people and those were the pre-civilisation people and democracy does not have a place for tribalists, only citizens.”
Earlier, Governor Wike thanked the speaker for honouring the invitation of the state to commission the road project. He said the choice of the speaker was reached after the consideration of his unbiased love for democracy and unity and development of Nigeria as a whole.
The governor said, “I see you as somebody who believes in democracy, who wants Nigeria to be united and who wants Nigeria to move in the right step and so, I said that we will invite you, irrespective of the party involved. The only way we can move this country forward is when we compare notes and see what we are doing and that way.”
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