By Gift Chapi Odekina
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Aliyu Muktar Betara has won his reelection for the seat of Biu, Bayo, Kwaya Kusar and Shani Federal Constituency of Borno State.
Betara who is the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) polled a total of 71,427 votes to defeat his closest rival Mohammed Ibrahim Biu of the People Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 15, 514 votes to emerge second.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the National Assembly elections in Borno State who announced the results on Monday evening said: “Aliyu Muktar Betara of the All Progressives Congress APC having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby returned elected.”
Others who participated in the exercise include one Ahmed Jibrin of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) who polled a total of 661 votes to come third.
Coming at a distant Fourth place in the exercise was Sulaiman Salihu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) who scored 574 votes.
The Lawmaker expressed gratitude to his constituents for their unwavering support and encouragement through the years and the fact that they have demonstrated once their commitment to the social contract that has existed between them for ove a decade.
“I want to particularly express my heartfelt gratitude to almighty Allah for making this day possible. This is a journey that commenced some months ago when they pulled together their hard-earned money to get the nomination forms for me and today they have marched that commitment with further action by voting overehelmingly for me to emerge once again.
“As you can see, there’s no excuse or reason to let my people down when I return back to Abuja, because today they kept their promise of returning me and it’s turn to fulfill my own end of the social contract we have entered into.
“I will continue to do my best to represent their interest and put them first in my legislative decisions and activities in the next four years inshallah.
“I also want to thank the leadership of our great party the APC for the continuous support and encouragement over the years. I pray for total victory both in the presidential and governorship elections so that together we can provide the quality leadership that Nigerian deserve”, he said.
The current election victory will mark the reelection of Hon. Betara to the House for a record 5th term in the history of the constituency.
The Lawmaker who currently chairs the House Appropriation Committee is also regarded by observers as one of the front runners for the seat of Speaker of the incoming House in June 2023.
