Rep. Dalhatu-Tafoki vows to empower youth, combat banditry

Rep. Shehu Dalhatu-Tafoki (APC Katsina), has reiterated his commitment to prioritise youth empowerment and support the Federal Government’s efforts to end banditry in the country.

Dalhatu-Tafoki made the assertion in an interview with newsmen on Saturday in Katsina, while reacting to a Court of Appeal verdict that affirmed the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal in his favour.

Dalhatu-Tafoki, the incumbent member representing Faskari/Kankara/Sabuwa Federal Constituency defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Jamilu Mohammed to clinched the lower chamber seat during the 2023 general elections.

The lawmaker, who was the ex-Deputy Speaker of Katsina State House of Assembly, pledged to focus attention on his legislative responsibilities and promised to surpass his previous achievements while at the State House of Assembly.

According to him, since the litigation was over, he would continue to prioritise youth empowerment with a view to making them self-employed, adding that he would continue to discourage the youth from indulging in all forms of crimes and societal vices.

The lawmaker, who is also the Deputy Chairman, Committee on Climate Change, pointed out that he would also create enabling environment for socio-economic activities to continue to thrive.

Dalhatu-Tafoki thanked Gov. Dikko Radda for his unwavering support All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftains, loyalists, National Assembly members and the constituents.

He prayed for God’s intervention in ending the menace of banditry and other forms of criminalities in his constituency, the state and the country at large.

The lawmaker urged people to support all initiatives by both the state and federal governments geared toward ending the security challenges and other developmental programmes.

He recalled that the legal tussle began sometime in June 2022, as a pre-election matter and reached its conclusion by the Court of Appeal judgement which upheld and affirmed the legitimate and rightful legislator.

The lawmaker narrated that his court struggles started at the Federal High Court when Murtala Isah-Kankara, challenged his candidacy as the APC flag bearer for 2023 election.

“The legal dispute was resolved by the Supreme Court, which confirmed me as the rightful party candidate for the constituency.

“In the aftermath of the 2023 general elections, the PDP candidate, Jamilu Mohammed, was initially declared the winner.

“However, I challenged the result at the election petition tribunal that the election was not concluded in some polling units across two local government areas with over 10,000 registered voters,” Dalhatu-Tafoki explained.

It was reported that a rerun election was conducted in the polling units in two Registration Areas in the constituency where result declared indicated that Dalhatu-Tafoki of APC scored 49,807 votes, while PDP candidate scored 49,067 votes, indicating a merging of 740 votes.

The polling units were in Garagi registration area in Kankara local government, while the remaining were in Daudawa, Faskari local government area of the state.

The registered voters of all the affected polling units stood at 10,659, while the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected were 10,652, respectively.