LEADERSHIP
Bauchi State governor, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed was re-elected for another tenure of four years in the recent governorship election in the state against the wish of aggrieved political kingmakers in the state.
Two Bauchi former governors – Isah Yuguda and Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu; a former speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; former Wazirin Bauchi, Alh Muhammadu Bello Kirfi and a host of other heavyweight political gladiators collapsed into a single united front to scuttle the re-election bid of the Duguri-born Bala Mohammed.
They supported Bauchi APC governorship candidate, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar (rtd) who came second at the end of the election with 432,272 votes.
However, following INEC’s declaration that Bala won his re-election without the clear support of those aggrieved Bauchi political heroes who are oftentimes seen to be capable of doing and undoing anything within the political spaces in Bauchi was shocking.
Governor Bala, in a write-up he personally signed and published on Thursday March 23, 2023 titled: “We will Not Be Distracted: Power Belongs to God” maintained that “I can understand the refusal of people who were never schooled in the tenets of democracy refusing to accept that the voters do not follow orders in choosing their leaders. I can sympathise with people whose over-bloated ego precludes them from accepting defeat. I can understand the disappointment of those whose pre-election utterances bothered on playing God but who have now been compelled to swallow the bitter reality that power belongs to God. But I cannot understand desperation and lies.
“We went into the elections without the security paraphernalia boasted or brandished by some of our opponents; we went into the elections without the resources, both internal and external that our opponents mustered, we went into the elections without any godfather, let alone an Armada of ‘kingmakers’ who arrogated to themselves the power to make and unmake leaders. Rather, we went into the elections trusting in Allah, who gives power to whom he chooses and takes it away from whom he chooses. It was in realisation of the omnipotence of Allah that I pledged, on the eve of the election, to accept the outcome of the exercise. Even now, I reiterate that position.”
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the governor’s motivation were the physical infrastructure that his administration delivered to the people of Bauchi State in his first tenure. The projects, cutting across towns and villages, speak volume for the robust political commitment and mindedness Bala has.
A Bauchi-based political analyst, Abdul Yahaya, explained that the projects that incumbent Bauchi State governor was able to provide to the citizens ‘campaigned’ for him.
He said the successes recorded by the PDP during the presidential and national assembly elections placed the party’s governorship candidate on a competitive stage more than any of his opponents.
“The PDP won presidential elections in Bauchi and about eight or seven members of the national assembly out of 11 that Bauchi State has. This is in addition to two senators elected under the party.
“This political setup covering all possible areas and places in Bauchi greatly favours the party,” he said…
