Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State who emerged as one of the northern Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) consensus candidates picked by the Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida-led arrangement, has defended the process, insisting that the former military president never tried to force himself and former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on the North.
He maintained that the four aspirants who subjected themselves to the process did so on their own volition.
The governor spoke at a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday pointing out that his emergence alongside Saraki as the northern PDP consensus presidential candidate does not undermine the integrity of other aspirants who are free to pursue their ambitions.
Recall that two aspirants, including Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and former bank managing director, Muhammed Hayatu-Deen, who initially agreed to abide by the Babangida initiative, have denounced it.
Speaking on his behalf, Prof. Udenta Udenta, who is the Bala Mohammed Campaign Organization spokesman, explained the involvement of the former military president, saying that the consensus is not an end in itself but a means to an end.
He explained: “Four leading PDP Presidential aspirants, on their own volition without pressure from anybody came together to say we need to streamline this, reduce the numbers and then fly out to the country in order to reach out to our colleagues in the south to build some new, inclusive model of campaigning and the approached General Ibrahim Babangida to broker the consensus arrangement.
“They asked him to choose a team of Northern leaders, they ask him alone to do it for them and they’ll be bound by the procedures and modalities.
“So, he asks Professor Ango Abdullahi whether as the chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, whether as an individual who is highly respected, to help him do it and gave him the leeway to consult broadly among northern stakeholders and then reach a conclusion and he reached a conclusion and send it back to General Babangida.
“And Senator Bala Mohammed and Abubakar Saraki emerged as the consensus aspirants without undermining the integrity of the other contestants who are free to pursue their political ambition to the best of their ability, including other individuals who do not participate in the consensus arrangement who of course are not bound by this decisions.
“The consensus arrangement among these four was not an end in itself, but a means to an end.”
Meanwhile, Tambuwal has observed that the relationship between Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari is like a forced marriage, noting that the President does not understand the country just as the citizens do not understand him.
He said if Buhari knew the country better, his appointments would not have been lopsided in a country where inclusiveness is paramount.
Addressing political stakeholders including former ministers in Abuja on Wednesday night, he said: “I had cause to say that President Muhammadu Buhari is the President of Nigeria today, but between him and Nigeria is like forced marriage. He does not understand Nigeria and Nigerians, probably, up till now do not understand president Muhammadu Buhari.
“Otherwise, how can, in a government of the Republic of Nigeria, we can have from number one to almost number nine without a representation from a whole geopolitical zone: from the President, Vice President to the speaker, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker, SGF and Chief of Staff and including the National Chairman of their party. They don’t have BoT. So, I will not count BoT for them.
“None is from the southeast and you expect people to be happy with you and be clapping for you where there’s a clear case of exclusion which is a very important component of any democratic governance or any leadership. At whatever level, you must include people, you must involve people you must have people around the table discussing and taking decisions for their communities, for their country before they feel that sense of belonging to that community or to that country.
“That is the situation of this country under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We have never had it so bad and the general economic situation of the country is all so very bad. We know as at 2015 when PDP government led this country and we know the situation today.”
The Sokoto governor regretted that insecurity has driven his people to find refuge in the neighbouring Niger Republic, saying that the PDP must work together to rescue Nigeria.
He added: “We have never been this divided. The fault lines have been overstretched and Nigerians are wondering what they’re doing in this country.
“I’ll tell you that. That is a general concern, virtually in every nook and cranny of this country.
“Where I’m presiding over as governor of the Sokoto, neighbouring Niger Republic, we have communities that are not more than 10 kilometres to each other in Nigeria and the Niger Republic.
“As I speak to you some of those communities, once it is evening, move into the Niger Republic, where they can sleep with their two eyes closed and in the morning, they come back to Nigeria.
“So, I quite understand how precarious our situation is, in terms of insecurity and displacement of people of this country. I have multitudes of IDPs in my state, and we have been managing a very, very troubling situation in my state.
“But you know, our limitations as governors we cannot do much, possibly the much we will only be able to do and thank God quite a number of you have had the experience of being governors. I can see Gov. Mimiko, Boni Haruna. We are very, very limited on what we can do as governors.
“Reason being that the entirety of our security architecture is centralised within the purview of the federal government at the centre and of course, we know what’s happening with the federal government.
“A few weeks back, I was asked in Yenagoa, and a journalist alluded to the fact that Nigeria is on autopilot, I said no. When you are on autopilot, at least you are sure that you are being technologically driven and you may land or have a safe landing. That is not the situation in Nigeria. It is exactly what has been described by the chairman.
“It is rudderless. We are in the ship without its Captain, we are in a ship that is clearly sinking. And it behoves all of us, irrespective of whatever our leanings are, irrespective of where we’re coming from, to rally around together to rescue our country. And it can only be done by the collective and collectivity of all of us.:
“People, first in the PDP and second layer the public of Nigeria who understands the gravity of the situation of our country today and indeed even those who are in the system today but are not happy with what is going on, we must all come together to make sure that we rescue our country.
“But we can only do that for us in PDP if we’re able to prove our processes and particularly our national convention throw up a candidate that understands all of these issues. A candidate that understands Nigeria.”
Credit: Nigerian Tribune