By Levinus Nwabughiogu, Abuja

Chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Aliyu Muktar Betara has been reelected for the 5th term to represent Biu, Bayo, Kwaya Kusar and Shani Federal Constituency of Borno State.

Betara, 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 in the last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

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.”

Reacting to the development, Betara expressed gratitude to his constituents for their unwavering support and encouragement.

“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 overwhelmingly 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 my 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.

Vanguard can authoritatively reveal that Betara is one of the front runners for the seat of Speaker of the incoming 10th  House in June this year.