Bauchi Gov may join G5. Says Atiku ‘punishing’ him for contesting presidential primary with him
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed is aggrieved and may join the G5 based on his letter to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hierarchy claiming Atiku Abubakar has “sidelined” him and threatened to “teach me a lesson.”
He alleged Atiku’s grouse is that he dared to contest against him in the PDP presidential primary, even though Atiku won.
Mohammed and 12 others contested against Atiku in the primary held on 28 May at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja where Atiku got 371 out of the 767 votes of the delegates.
Mohammed received 20 votes. He was later named Vice Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
But he wrote and signed a letter with reference number GH/OFF/09/V.I dated 3 November 2022 in which he claimed he is “excluded from the activities of the PCC” as regards his position on it.
The letter was addressed to PDP National Chairman Iyorchia Ayu; copied to his Deputy Baba Tela; Bauchi Assembly Speaker Abubakar Suleiman; state PDP Chairman Hamza Akuyam; and 30 others.
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‘Deliberately sidelined’
“I was deliberately sidelined from the reach-out campaign of the PCC in Kaduna, which interacted with major stakeholder groups and the northern political establishments such as the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders’ Forum, Sadauna Foundation, Arewa Research and Development Progress, etcetera,” Mohammed wrote, according to reporting by The PUNCH.
He also alleged he is being targeted by political gladiators endorsed “directly or indirectly by the presidential candidate of our party, Atiku Abubakar ….
“Atiku Abubakar and his political cohorts insist that I must be ‘punished’ for contesting against him during the presidential primaries of our party.
“The self-acclaimed ‘kingmakers’ around the Waziri Adamawa want a pound of flesh from me because I have refused to capitulate to their unbridled sense of entitlement which is pregnant with selfishness and dictatorial tendencies.
“The last group of the ‘Bala Must Go’ campaigners are those whose egos have been bruised by my continued political relevance, rising national profile and the groundswell of public acclamation that have trailed unprecedented developmental strides of the PDP-led administration in the state.”