Both Atiku Abubakar and Bala Mohammed are vying for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
By Emma Ogbuehi
The war of words between the campaign organisations of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and Alhaji Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi State took a turn for the worse on Friday.
Both Atiku and Mohammed are vying for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Though they both hail from the Northeast geopolitical zone, their ambitions have put a wedge between them.
On Friday, the Atiku Campaign Organisation accused Bala Mohammed of publicly supporting marauding undocumented Fulani terrorists that have tormented the South East and the rest of the country; killing, raping and maiming.
Atiku’s presidential organisation spoke through Senator Ehigie Osagie, who was Bala Mohammed’s colleague in the Sixth Senate.
His response was a reaction to comments made by Udenta Udenta, who runs Mohammed’s campaign organisation.
“If Udenta can refer to Bala Mohammed as a consensus candidate of the North, even when the same North has come out to debunk whatever was written and made public by distinguished Professor Ango Abdullahi, it reveals his level of sycophancy and deceit. Why lead someone on, if not to defraud him? My little research on him shows he’s an opportunist,” Uzamere wrote in a letter the Atiku Media Office sent to TheNiche on Friday.
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“Udenta with all the political prowess he has ascribed to himself, should have been running for office and not chasing crumbs. At his age, experiences and betrayals he ascribed to himself dating as far back as Abiola era presidential politics, Udenta should have done better for himself, rather than massaging his greed all the time. Or haven’t journalists risen high in politics in Nigeria?
“And Udenta claiming to be a journalist, I am surprised he did not consider the role of journalists as the conscience of the people, in throwing his weight behind a man, Bala Mohammed, who publicly has supported marauding undocumented Fulani terrorists that have tormented the South East and the rest of the country; killing, raping and maiming.
“How posterity would judge him should be his main preoccupation as a journalist, if he has a conscience. Apparently, Udenta is a man Friday, ready to be hired by the gullible that fall for his doubtful credentials.”
Besides, Atiku also said Bala Mohammed was on bail from EFCC, and insinuated that was enough to stymie his presidential aspiration.
Said Uzamere: “I have read Udenta’s convoluted reasons for working for Bala Mohammed and I can only deduce from his reasoning, a man out to make money. If actually Udenta is a Professor and as learned as he claims to be, he ought to know better than to egg on a man on bail from EFCC, to dream of running for president of our country. Nigerians should hold people like Udenta responsible for the decline in the quality of our democracy.”
The war of words started earlier this week when Governor Mohammed, who is also eyeing the PDP presidential ticket, while speaking on consensus dilemma in the party when he appeared on Channels TV’s Daily Politics Sunday, asked Atiku to step down for him, saying that he is more qualified than the former vice president.
Reacting to Mohammed’s statement, Sen. Uzamere, who represented Edo South Senatorial district of Edo State (2007 – 2011) in the senate warned the governor to be ready to receive in same measure as he has chosen to insult his elders, especially one he must have benefitted from at one time or the other.
Uzamere’s statement read in part: “There is a popular saying that those the gods want to destroy, they first make mad. Those who do not know where the rain started beating them, won’t know when it stops raining. My dear Gov. Bala Mohammed you are dancing naked in the market square, and only a true friend will draw your attention to your foibles, as you begin to derail.
“Nobody is against your contesting for president and squaring it off with Atiku Abubakar and others, but you do not have to descend to the level of insult. You have reeled off your pedigree. What about Atiku, are you comparing yourself with?
“It is always good to remember who we were, where we started from, at what point fortune smiled at us, and who we really are.
“Atiku Abubakar is not the best man on earth, but there’s no basis for comparison between you, Bala Mohammed and Wazirin Adamawa. You were a Special Assistant to Minister Isa Yuguda appointed by Atiku Abubakar and his principal President Olusegun Obasanjo, who (Isa Yuguda) you betrayed and humiliated. Before this appointment, you worked with several ministries and we are yet to see or hear of your extraordinary achievement in any of these ministries.
“You became a Senator in 2007, long after Vice President Atiku Abubakar had served for 8 years as VP. A senator that almost lost his seat through a recall by his dissatisfied people, but for the saving grace of your colleague Senators who recommended you for ministerial appointment to Goodluck Jonathan, or have you forgotten? I’ll remind you. I as convener, together with Senators Emmanuel Paulker, Nasif Suleiman, and Gada formed the National Interest Group (ING), a pressure group that convinced the National Assembly on the emergence of Jonathan as President, under doctrine of necessity. To give ING a national outlook, we invited and persuaded you of then ANPP stock, to Chair the Group. President Goodluck Jonathan had offered the Group a ministerial slot and to save you the embarrassment of a recall by your people, we gave you that slot. This marked a major turning point in your life.
“Before your turning point in life, Atiku Abubakar had won election as Governor of Adamawa State before he left it to become Vice President. Where were you? A journalist chasing scoops from Atiku Abubakar’s office?”
But doubling down on his position, Mohammed who spoke through the spokesperson of the Bala Mohammed Presidential Campaign, Prof Udenta O. Udenta abused Uzamere.
Addressing a Press Conference in Abuja on Thursday, Udenta accused Uzamere of being a meddlesome interloper who peddles political dirt as a way of life.
Mohammed said he holds his fellow PDP Presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar in high regard.
While restating Mohammed’s sterling credentials and unblemished public service record as a Director, Senator, Minister and Governor, Udenta vehemently called on the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, to quickly rein in such rogue political characters before they inflict damage on the culture of civility and cordiality that ought to define the primary campaign process.
He said: “PDP does not need this type of acrimony now. We are having a family conversation. Unbecoming characters like Senator Uzamere, whose stock in trade is to damage people’s reputation as a means of getting on in life, and indeed the campaign organization they are affiliated to or associated with must be cautioned by the NWC to avoid the situation from getting out of hand. The PDP must reign in those using uncouth language against other aspirants.
“We are not sure who Uzamere is working for but enough is enough. This will be our last studied and restrained response to his unprovoked attack against Sen Bala Mohammed. Next time around we will remove our gloves and go bare-knuckles with such unsavoury individuals and the dark political forces and entities egging them on. Make no mistake about it, Sen Bala Mohammed’s campaign organization has the requisite communication skills, robust energy, intestinal fortitude and intellectual depth to take on such sleazy individuals without minding the consequences to party coherence unless the NEC does the needful.
“Bala Mohammed holds Abubakar Atiku in high regard and is sure Atiku also holds Mohammed in high regard and believes strongly that the effort of political clowns and creatures of the night like Uzamere will not damage the respect the two leaders have for one another”.