Lawan Majakura, a 33-year-old Yobe-based volunteer teacher in Yobe State ruffled feathers with Ahmed Mirwa Lawan, Speaker, Yobe State House of Assembly, in the just-concluded March 18 polls and floored him.
Hitherto, Majakura claimed that some political allies of the speaker had approached and offered him N100 million to step down from the race, he disclosed this in an interview with Daily Trust.
The lawmaker-elect under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he was able to win the election following the massive support he receives from the people of his constituency despite his poor background, Platinumpost reported.
“During our campaign, there were intimidation and harassment from some people out of political differences, but thank God that despite all the challenges, we were able to win the election,” said Majakura. ”It was not an easy task to challenge a Speaker of the state House of Assembly.”
He continued: ”To be honest with you, he (Speaker) did not contact me to step down for him by himself, but a government official and some people I thought were his representatives came to me two times, telling me to step down. They promised to give me N18 million, but I refused. Later on, they came back and offered me N100m, but still I refused.
“I told them that my village people bought the nomination forms for me because they believed I would do better, so I did not see any reason to step down for anybody. I told them to meet my people if they actually wanted me to step down for whoever sent them to me. I even told my people what we discussed but we all agreed that I would not step down, so we moved on with our campaign.”
Majakura said he earlier contested for a councillorship position in 2021 under the All Progressives Congress (APC) but could not make it.
He said: “I contested for a councillorship seat in 2021 when I was in the All Progressives Congress (APC) before I joined the PDP, but I didn’t get the ticket. Our people, specifically the youth, asked me to run because they thought I could do better. But God didn’t give it to us. So we prayed for a better position.
“I had a diploma in Public Administration and Management from the Atiku Abubakar College of Legal and Islamic studies, Nguru in 2013. After that, I moved to the Federal Polytechnic, Damaturu for a National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Administration and Management in 2020.
“But age limit disqualified me from the National Youth Service scheme; that’s why I received an exemption certificate. I engaged in fish selling and other things that would give me something to sustain my demand. I have a wife and four children.”
