Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State
The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed has said that as an opposition governor during the 2023 general elections, he jumped in jubilation over the victory of President Bola Tinubu, believing that is Uhuru but in the long run, “freedom and development are eluding us.”
Mohammed said that Tinubu came to power without a blueprint or a manifesto, adding that he is surrounded by people who are “misfits.”
He said this while responding to questions from journalists when he received the Founder and General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Bauchi on Wednesday, during his two days crusade in the State.
His words: “I respect President Tinubu so much. But someone must rise to the occasion and tell him the truth that he is surrounded by misfits and I can now understand from the Man of God, definitely, he (Tinubu) came into governance ill prepared, without an agenda and without a manifesto.
“We believe so much in him because of his pedigree and antecedents as a Lagos State Governor who was able to do the magic. I was jumping when he became the President even though from a different party.
“I thought the Uhuru had come, but I have seen freedom and development eluding us and I must advise as a statesman, as a responsible citizen, as a head of a sub-national, that you cannot stifle the aspiration of Nigerians by making all the citizens of Nigeria just customers in a bid to actualize your aspiration.”
Mohammed maintained that he has no personal grudge against the President whom he noted he has so much respect for, but was only against policies introduced by his administration which will have negative consequences on the people.
“First of all, I want to seize this opportunity to clarify in the presence of a Man of God, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, I don’t have any personal grudge against the President. I am one of those who respect the institution of leadership, especially that of the President.
“You know my antecedents in the Senate when I rose for the Doctrine of Necessity. It was to dignify that office of the Vice President, where my boss (Goodluck Jonathan) became the President.
“We should see Nigerians as citizens not as customers, we should not bring policies that will divide us, we should live and let live. We should respect our diversities. We should not practice impunity where people feel that they are shortchanged, we should practice inclusivity the way Prophet Suleiman is going around, a global icon, a universal preacher, a young person who has risen to the occasion going to all the nooks and crannies. He heard voices from doubting Thomases but he still came to Bauchi,” he said.
The Governor said: “That is why I want the President to believe me, I mean well. I’m just trying to say that, in your governance, you can do it better by accommodation, by inclusion, and by coming up with a strict vision where you want to take Nigerians to.
“It should not be a fire brigade approach where you will be running after policies and programmes that are alien to us, that are not understood and may be misconstrued.
“It is because they don’t have any clear-cut vision, they are always taking us to a road of perdition and destruction. And that is why when I talk, I talk about the tax, it is not because I don’t want reforms, but I want a reform that will have a positive impact on us. I don’t have anything against the President other than respect.”
