As the 2023 Governorship elections draw closer, the Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Niger state, Dr Joshua Bawa has challenged other governorship candidates to submit themselves to a drug test to prove to the people that they are not conducting campaigns or holding meetings under the influence of drugs.
It should be recalled that the Chairman/Chief Executive, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier-General Buba Marwa had urged political parties to make drug integrity tests part of the screening requirements for aspirants seeking to contest various political offices in the 2023 elections on their platforms.
While speaking during a Peace Empowerment Security Summit organized by a group of youths under the aegis of Mandate Youths in Minna, Bawa said that the call is necessary following the behaviour of some of the youths who follow these politicians around.
According to Bawa “the NDLEA in the State would conduct the drug test and the results would be made public so that the people would know how drug clean the candidates they are supporting are.
“I am ready to submit myself for the drug test and I challenge the governorship candidates in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and all political parties in Niger state to also submit themselves. It would enable the electorates to know the state of their candidates.”
Bawa while declaring that speaking under the influence of drugs is very dangerous, said the use of drugs influences the decision of the people and also motivates followers.
Bawa further stated that when he becomes the governor of Niger state, he would ensure that parents who encourage and abate their wards to use drugs would be rehabilitated alongside their wards and only reintegrated back into society when they are discovered to be changed citizens.
He then admonished that no youth should be called a thug but rather, the affected youths should be referred to as victims of challenges in society.
“There is no thug in Niger state. Instead of calling these youths thugs, refer to them as youths that are victims of social challenges in society because it is not their fault that they turn out the way they are.
