Bauchi Gov Berates North-east for Not Backing Atiku in 2019

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, on Sunday took a swipe at the 2019 general election and submitted that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was the most qualified candidate, but was dismayed that Atiku was even hounded by his constituents in the North-east region of the country.

According to him, “Our man has tried to become president; did we support him very well? No we didn’t! So we shouldn’t blame anybody for our failure. He was the most qualified person in the election, but we didn’t go extra mile to support him, and some of us were even against him as north easterners.”

Mohammed, who concurred with the adage that ‘charity begins at home’, said gone are the days when the Northeast region would be left behind or marginalise by its people.

The governor, at the first-ever held North-east PDP caucus meeting since 1999, which ended in Bauchi yesterday, said: “We are the most visible people in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Most of the positions in the presidency are occupied by the north easterners, so the presidency is being owned and manned by the people, including the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the National Security Adviser among others, so the security apparatus is being manned by north easterners.”

According to him, what is lacking is for the elites to put their heads together and remind their people in the presidency that they are the representatives of the people from the region, which means in Hausa language: ‘Da Bazar Mu Suke Rawa’.

Mohammad outlined the agenda of the Bauchi zonal caucus meeting of the PDP to include discussion on the possibility of changing the enemies of the party; accommodate the lodgers, and allow the continuation of those who did not end their tenures to make more inroads.

The governor, who also recommended the three key agenda of the Bauchi meeting to all the states in the region, kicked against areas that could cause disaffection among party members, saying the current PDP congresses across the states are geared to form structures that could move the party forward.

He observed that the elites are the major problems in the party, “which could be attributed to their ambitions, permutation and or strategies, hence the need for the accommodation of one another and the coming together to forge ahead.”

Mohammed expressed the belief that “as a leader, a governor or deputy, you believe that you must know everybody, then you are going to cause disaffection. Leadership must be in a manner that there is delegation of responsibility.”

Declaring the caucus meeting opened earlier, the PDP North East Zonal Chairman, G.T Kataps, said every party member is a stakeholder to ensure that PDP form the national government in 2023.

The meeting was attended by PDP chieftains across the region among others, including the Deputy National Chairman of the party, Senator Suleiman Nazif Gamawa; Adamawa State Deputy Governor, Mr. Crowther Seth, and the deputy governor of Taraba State among others.