Borno Rep, Betara, Reelected For 5th Tenure

The chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Aliyu Muktar Betara, has been reelected to represent Biu/Bayo/Kwaya Kusar/Shani Federal Constituency of Borno State for the 5th consecutive tenure.

Betara, who was 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 Peoples 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 included one Ahmed Jibrin of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), who polled a total of 661votes 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 victorious 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 over 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 Insha Allah.

“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 in the incoming 10th House of Representatives later in June 2023.