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Tag: Bala Mohammed

  • Bauchi gov names Chinese national as economic adviser

    Bauchi gov names Chinese national as economic adviser

    Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has appointed a Chinese national, Li Zhensheng, as an Economic Adviser to the State Government.

    Mohammed announced the appointment during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Global Promotion Cooperation Research Centre in Bauchi.

    He said the move was aimed at turning Bauchi into a hub for international cooperation, with the partnership expected to drive, investment, infrastructure projects, and bilateral initiatives in agriculture, education, healthcare, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, and trade.

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    Under the agreement, Bauchi will set up a representative office in China to oversee projects and ensure timely delivery.

    The governor noted that the collaboration aligns with the diplomatic framework between President Xi Jinping of China and President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, adding that it would boost foreign direct investment, create jobs, enhance skills, modernise key sectors, and raise the state’s global profile.

    Responding, Zhensheng, who is Chairman of the China Global Promotion Cooperation Research Centre, pledged to mobilise resources for Bauchi’s economic transformation, promising sustainable growth, modern infrastructure, and better livelihoods.

  • Bauchi woos Southeast investors, as gov declares state ‘Haven of peace’

    Bauchi woos Southeast investors, as gov declares state ‘Haven of peace’

    Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has described Bauchi as a “haven of peace” and a rising hub of opportunities, calling on investors from the Southeast to tap into the state’s expanding economy.

    Speaking in Enugu during the Southeast unveiling of the upcoming 2025 Bauchi State Economic and Investment Summit, the governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Aminu Hammayo, said Bauchi has built strong, stable institutions anchored on the rule of law, which have made it attractive to both local and foreign investors.

    The summit, scheduled for October 8–9, 2025, is themed “Rebuilding a Resilient Economy: Optimising Investment & Partnerships.”

    It aims to draw investors, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to explore Bauchi’s untapped potential.

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    “Bauchi is a haven of peace, with great respect for the rule of law. We’ve invested massively in building institutions that are stable, functional, and capable of adapting to societal trends,” he said.

    Mohammed noted that over the past six years, his administration has transformed the state’s economic landscape by investing in critical infrastructure, improving rural connectivity, and ensuring access to social services in previously underserved agrarian communities.

    He highlighted agriculture, livestock, mining, renewable energy, and human capital as sectors ripe for investment. “We are guided by a clear vision and a development plan aligned with national priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals,” he stated.

    According to him, the summit aims to: attract new domestic and international investments; showcase investment-ready projects; promote SME growth through market access and partnerships, and foster strategic collaborations via MoUs and joint ventures.

    He urged Southeast investors to consider Bauchi as a viable destination for long-term investments, promising a supportive, peaceful, and policy-friendly environment.

  • Bauchi governor: His legacy is indelible

    Bauchi governor: His legacy is indelible

    Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has expressed sorrow over the death of former President, Muhammadu Buhari.

    In a message by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado, the governor described Buhari’s death as a monumental national loss, noting that the late leader was a towering figure of integrity, discipline, and unwavering patriotism.

    “The news of the former President’s passing has plunged the nation into mourning,” the statement read. “President Muhammadu Buhari was a statesman of uncommon integrity, discipline, and simplicity.”

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     Mohammed, speaking on behalf of his family, the government, and people of Bauchi, commended Buhari’s life of public service which spanned decades — first as Nigeria’s military Head of State from 1983 to 1985, and later as a two-term elected President from 2015 to 2023.

    He noted that Buhari’s leadership was marked by a relentless anti-corruption drive, infrastructural development, agricultural reforms, and economic repositioning.

  • Suswam’s misplaced anger against Bala Mohammed

    Suswam’s misplaced anger against Bala Mohammed

    By Emma Agu

    The recent statement by a former governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam, accusing the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum (PDPGF), Governor Bala Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi State, of being responsible for the problems of the party, is the height of arrogance, political opportunism and outright hypocrisy.

    Appearing on the Morning Show programme of Arise Television recently, Suswam said that Bala Mohammed and the acting national chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Iliya Damagun should be held responsible for the problems of the party.

    Suswam, I must say, is being clever by half if not outrightly hypocritical. As a former governor of Benue State for two terms of four years each, Suswam knows that Bala Mohammed is not a member of the national working committee (NWC) of the party, the body that has the statutory responsibility for running the affairs of the party. It is also hypocritical for the former Benue State governor to feign ignorance of the genesis of the crisis that has plagued the PDP since the last convention in 2022.

    Suswam knows that the crisis started when a presidential aspirant, in pursuit of his inordinate ambition to be president at all cost, led some members to walk out on President Goodluck Jonathan and the party in 2013. They ultimately joined forces with opponents of the PDP to oust both the president and the PDP from power. Perhaps, if the leadership of the PDP had mustered the courage to punish the perpetrators of that ignoble disloyalty, the party would have been spared the crisis that Bala Mohammed and his colleagues in the PDPGF are trying to resolve.

    Rather than demonise Mohammed as Suswan and his cohorts have embarked on, Bala Mohammed and his colleagues in the PDPGF deserve commendation for standing in the leadership gap, for a party whose existence has been seriously threatened by a multiplicity of factors. In fact, it is insulting to the members of the PDPGF for Suswam to attribute all the decisions of the body to Bala Mohammed. As a former governor, he cannot feign ignorance of the fact that the forum is a body of equals where the chairman, as a ceremonial head, cannot force a decision on other members. It is also common knowledge that all decisions of the PDPGF, as contained in the communique of their meetings, are reached by consensus.

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    It is indeed a sad commentary that while Bala Mohammed and his brother governors have deployed all available assets to re-establish the PDP as a formidable opposition party, ready to take over the reins of government from the All Progressive Congress (APC), Suswam and his sponsors are rather de-marketing the party.

    Reminiscent of the 2013-2015 misadventure, Suswam and his co-travellers have embarked on another round of self-serving negotiations, deceptively couched as ‘coalition’, to create another dubious contraption of strange bedfellows that would further deepen the misery of Nigerians. If the former governor and his mentors are sincere, they should boldly support the decision reached at the Ibadan meeting of the PDPGF, in April, opting for like-minded compatriots to join it, as the country’s leading opposition party with the aim of ousting the APC-led Federal Government.

    Besides, Suswan needs no one to tell him that those who arrogate to themselves the toga of indispensability, those who are consumed with a maniacal sense of entitlement, those who have one leg in the party and the other leg in another party, and those who have a reputation for abandoning the party once they lose either a nomination or an election, are the real problems of the party and certainly not Bala Mohammed.

    For Suswam to cast aspersions on Bala Mohammed as insincere and lacking in leadership and therefore the problem of the PDP, is grossly unfortunate and portrays him as someone with a very poor sense of judgement.

    Contrary to Suswam’s tantrums, the evidence abounds that, all through his political career and public service, Bala Mohammed has scrupulously and persistently prioritized national unity, political stability and constitutionalism over self-interest. If he had not been a talented conflict manager who also places a high premium on inclusion and due process, he would not have commanded the respect and confidence of his brother governors and other party stakeholders at this critical watershed in the party’s history.

    The sublimity of the essential Bala Mohammed was to play out, to the nation’s advantage, way back in 2010 during late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s unfortunate passing. As the nation perched perilously on the vortex of a constitutional implosion, Bala Mohammed rose gallantly to propose the Doctrine of Necessity motion that cleared the path for then Vice President Jonathan to assume office, initially as acting president before he was confirmed as demanded by the constitution. For Suswan to speak so derisively of such a principled patriot raises serious questions about his ability to run the PDP should the leadership mantle fall on him.

    That Suswam has not been able to re-establish a strong foothold in Benue politics since his exit from the senate is an unflattering tribute to a man who aspires to lead the party in a crisis period and a repudiation of his leadership claims. Since charity should start at home, it is also axiomatic that if he could not secure the endorsement of his zone, by the same token, he cannot secure the confidence of other zones.

    It is also axiomatic that those who go to equity should do so with clean hands. Therefore, for Suswam who could not produce a successor and ended up handing a secure PDP state to another party, to now pontificate over  leadership credentials is an insult to intelligent members of the society. To make matters worse, except for the one term he spent in the Senate, Suswam’s diminishing political clout is further demonstrated by the ease with which he has been trounced on those occasions that he offered himself for elective offices in Benue State since he left the gubernatorial seat.

    If Suswam does not know, his recent utterances portray him as a man who is either envious of Bala Mohammed’s ever rising profile or someone who no longer believes in the PDP as a viable platform for achieving the objective of the tendency that he represents. The yarn that he is spinning, about telling the truth, does not give him the impetus to de-market his party otherwise he would not have gloated about the PDP being in ICU on national television. One is strongly tempted to see Suswam’s uncharitable characterisation of the PDP as being in ICU as a smokescreen to validate the continuation of coalition talks with other entities, in a clear defiance of the decision of the PDPGF, ruling out any coalition talks. 

    If I may ask, what has been Suswam’s contribution towards strengthening the party since it lost the presidential elections in 2023? In other climes, the loss of the presidential elections in 2019, and again in 2023, would have triggered a welter of strategic moves towards rebuilding the party. Furthermore, in order to command the confidence of a broad spectrum of the party membership, this rebuilding process would  naturally  have thrown up a new leadership corps of younger elements that has not been serially tainted by defeat or deep-seated cleavages fuelled by personality cults and an entitlement mentality. Sadly, for some people, that is not the case.

    Thus, we are left to wonder which party that Suswam aspires to run: the one that his co-travellers have sent to the ICU or the party that the PDPGF is striving to rebuild? He cannot be approbating and reprobating, he cannot be running with the hare and hunting with the hound at the same time as he is doing and still claim to have the interest of the party at heart. That may explain the trust deficit that, despite his desperation, has denied him the chairmanship of the PDP so far. These are the issues that he should address instead of his misplaced aggression against Bala Mohammed.

    •Agu, a veteran journalist is the media consultant to the PDP Governors’ Forum.

  • Bauchi gov appoints 7 Perm Secs

    Bauchi gov appoints 7 Perm Secs

    Bauchi State Governor, Sen. Bala Mohammed has approved the appointment of seven new Permanent Secretaries, including his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado.

    The announcement was made in a statement signed by Hashim Umar Bulkachuwa, Information Officer in the Office of the Head of Civil Service.

    According to the statement, the appointments aim to enhance efficiency and reposition the state civil service for improved service delivery.

    “His Excellency, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed CON (Kauran Daular Usmaniya), the Executive Governor of Bauchi State, has approved the appointment of seven new Permanent Secretaries into the State Service,” the statement read.

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    The new appointees include Mohammed Nasir Usman (Bauchi LGA), Abubakar Garba Adamu (Darazo LGA), Yusuf Adamu and Yakubu Ahmed (Ganjuwa LGA), Mukhtar Gidado (Alkaleri LGA), Adamu Aliyu Abdullahi (Katagum LGA), and Ahmed Ahmed (Toro LGA).

    The statement emphasised that the appointments were based on merit and urged the new permanent secretaries to justify the trust placed in them by redoubling their efforts in service delivery.

  • Senseless fritter

    Senseless fritter

    •The governor of Bauchi just showed why pork often equates waste

    The news was not novel but it all the same created ripples: Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi State, just appointed a fresh 168 aides to swell his political bureaucracy.

    He won’t be the first.  Nor is he likely to be the last.  But it just shows how many governors often fritter public money on political aides, at the expense of the majority that vote them into office.  It’s the classical self-first — and last — syndrome.

    Now, to the extent that appointing 168 new aides assures the beneficiaries sinecures that pay for their families’ upkeep, it’s empowerment of a sort.  But it’s empowerment of the cynical — if not sinister — kind, that lofts the governor’s political survival over the wellbeing of the overwhelming majority under his care.

    In this case, it would appear oiling a structure early enough for a future political gambit, for which foot-soldiers must have boots on the ground.  But it’s no sustainable empowerment.  Such money, thrown into frying pork, if thrown into investments that create sustainable jobs, could have served the Bauchi people better.

    Which was why the Bauchi opposition, from the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), poured ice-cold water on Governor Mohammed’s gesture.

    “We, as PRP, see these appointments as an irresponsible act by the state governor,” Wada Abdullahi, per a report by ‘The Punch’, fumed.  “At a time when the state is grappling with economic problems, we shouldn’t be prioritising political convenience over public interest.”

    But the governor’s camp — hardly surprising — countered with characteristic humbug.

    “The appointments are aimed at reinvigorating the machinery of governance and ensuring greater inclusion,” Muktar Gidado, Governor Mohammed’s special adviser on media and publicity, enthused. “The newly appointed aides, many of whom are former office holders across various levels, were selected based on merit, political experience, and leadership capabilities.” 

    Giving a breakdown, Gidado said of the new beneficiaries, five were principal special assistants (political/community relations), one principal special assistant (pensions), 60 senior special assistants (political/community relations), one senior special assistant (labour), 38 special assistants (political/community relations), and 63 personal assistants (political/community relations).  Cant — as pork — is sweet!

    Even with the Gidado sweetener of the appointees injecting vim and vigour into the Mohammed government and boosting the governor’s vision of responsive and effective government, it’s clear Bauchi could do with far less boys — and girls — for the job! 

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    The additional jeopardy here is that all of the beneficiaries are likely ruling party partisans, getting well-earned pork, for helping the governor to win power.  That’s no crime.  But there’s something awry about lavishing state resources on the partisan few in power, to the detriment of the majority, who just crave equal opportunities to live honest and productive lives.  That’s clear discrimination.

    Still, no one can in all good conscience say the governor should not reward his loyalists.  Pork and winning parties in politics go hand-in-hand. 

    In this case, however, the worry is the huge number — considering that these are unsustainable jobs — and the timing: almost two years into the governor’s tenure.  This is when he should be concentrating on improving the lot of the ordinary, apolitical Bauchi person, to secure his gubernatorial legacy.

    Besides, Governor Mohammed should be more circumspect with deploying state resources, giving Bauchi’s dire developmental demographics.  Bauchi belongs to the poorest geo-political zone in the country: the North East.  He should think more of inclusive and aggressive anti-poverty policies and programmes, rather than fattening a few cronies.

    The governor needs a healthy balance, even if he must reward his supporters.  These 168 appointments — and their timing — jar against such balance.  That’s why it’s a senseless fritter of scarce public resources.

  • I’m ready to work with Peter Obi, Bauchi Gov declares 

    I’m ready to work with Peter Obi, Bauchi Gov declares 

    Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed, has hinted at a possible collaboration with the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, ahead of 2027.

    Mohammed who doubles as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, declared his willingness to work with Obi, a former Anambra state governor, when he paid him a courtesy call in Bauchi on Thursday.

    However, the governor did not make any direct statements suggesting a formal alliance between their parties. 

    The focus of their discussion appeared to be on governance, economic issues, and areas of mutual interest.

    Nation reports that Obi arrived at the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport in Bauchi, about 10:00 am where he was warmly received by the Deputy Governor, Mohammed Auwal Jatau. 

    He was accompanied by former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman among others.

    He was later escorted to the Government House, where he met with Governor Bala Mohammed behind closed doors.

    Addressing journalists shortly after the closed door meeting, Mohammed described Obi as a “foremost statesman” with deep economic knowledge, a clear political vision, and a commitment to good governance.

    This is as he called for the need for unity in opposition parties to rescue Nigeria from its current state.

    “We in the PDP, as the chairman of my colleagues, the governors, have always admired him. We have always shown interest because behind the scenes, I have been meeting him,” Mohammed said. 

    “This is not the first time. In fact, I was going to meet him in Abuja, but out of his humility, he decided to come here.” He added.

    Mohammed stated that Obi’s leadership as the face of opposition in Nigeria is crucial for national progress, adding that their collaboration could help bridge political divisions, strengthen governance, and combat poverty and ignorance.

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    “As for me, I am ready to work with Peter Obi to ensure we close ranks, bring good governance to the country, and give a vibrant opposition with knowledge, vision, and sincerity,” Mohammed declared.

    In his remarks, Obi described his visit as part of consultations to address Nigeria’s challenges, stressing the importance of collaboration across party lines.

    “We must invest in critical areas to pull people out of poverty and reduce criminality. The North is a critical component if we are going to get it right in this country.”Obi stated.

    He criticised the ruling party, All Progressive Congress,APC for focusing on trivial issues instead of addressing hunger, poverty, education, and healthcare.

    “It is time to preoccupy ourselves with discussions that affect the people. That is why I am here,” Obi said.

  • The Ballad of Bala Mohammed

    The Ballad of Bala Mohammed

     Nyesom Wike has been a generous man. In spite of all his acts of grace to Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, he never said a word about the good he did to him. If former speaker Yakubu Dogara did not issue a statement, we may never have known that he once knelt and bowed to the same Wike for money.

    Dogara’s writing is like a ballad over a bad act. It is not Bala’s kneeling that bothers this essayist, it is his ingratitude. He is also making a drama of his moral purity by calling Wike a traitor.

    By the whole story, it was Wike that made him a governor. He is guilty of what psychologists call a fear of gratitude. Generosity elevated him, and having risen, he got too dizzy up there to remember he was once below and beggary.

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    He is a caricature of the desperate politician.

     He is also a creature of moral failure. The man who you did not give land in Abuja as FCT minister and you gave all others in the cabinet, the man who came to your office for office space request and you kept him waiting for hours but didn’t grant his request.

    That same man helped you out in your quest for office. And he granted it. Bala may think he stooped to conquer. But he was a buffoon of a winner, and that is the definition of a loser. No wonder he has had no good response to Dogara’s revel

  • How Bala Mohammed knelt to Wike for money, by Dogara 

    How Bala Mohammed knelt to Wike for money, by Dogara 

    Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has alleged that Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed knelt before former Rivers State Governor and current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, in 2018 to seek financial assistance for his gubernatorial campaign.

    Dogara accused Mohammed of betrayal, claiming the governor is now “biting the hand that fed him.” 

    He highlighted that Wike’s unconditional support was crucial to Mohammed’s victory in the 2019 governorship election.

    This revelation comes amid the ongoing leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). 

    The two party chieftains have been at odds, with Mohammed accusing Wike of betraying the PDP by allegedly supporting the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 presidential election and calling for his resignation as FCT Minister.

    Wike, in response, labeled Mohammed a hypocrite, pointing out the governor’s history of switching from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to the PDP while benefiting from a PDP-led administration.

    The dispute between the two leaders is also linked to the lingering Rivers State crisis.

    According to Dogara, Bala Mohammed’s chances of winning the primaries were slim as his major opponent, Senator Abdul Ningi, controlled the party structure in the state. 

    Dogara said he reached out to Wike, who assured him of full support and facilitated the process by appointing his ally, Chief Dan Osi Orbih, as chairman of the primaries conducted by the party. 

    The former Speaker revealed that a fundraiser organized at Sheraton Hotel in Abuja raised a meager N48 million, leaving the team stranded. 

    Desperate for funds, Dogara led a delegation to Port Harcourt, where Wike again came to their rescue.

    During the visit, Wike reportedly expressed his displeasure with Bala Mohammed, citing past grievances, including alleged mistreatment during their time as ministers under President Goodluck Jonathan. 

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    The ex-speaker in a statement issued on Tuesday through his media aide, Turaki Hassan, said despite the grievances, Wike provided financial assistance to support Bala Mohammed.

    “Wike bore all the costs, from providing a private jet to flying Chief Dan to Bauchi, to personally ensuring Mohammed’s emergence as PDP’s flag bearer,” Dogara revealed. 

    “It’s shocking that Bala Mohammed, who had no financial capacity for his campaign, now has the audacity to call Wike ‘transactional.’” he added.

    The former Speaker  described Bala Mohammed as a “psychopath” and a “serial betrayer,” accusing him of turning on his benefactor Wike and others, including elder statesman Alhaji Bello Kirfi. 

  • How Wike funded Bala Mohammed’s 2019 governorship election, by Yakubu Dogara

    How Wike funded Bala Mohammed’s 2019 governorship election, by Yakubu Dogara

    Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, revealed on Tuesday that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, was instrumental in funding the 2019 election campaign of Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed.

    Responding to recent remarks by Mohammed, who accused Wike of being a transactional politician and a serial betrayer, Dogara recounted how Wike, then Rivers State Governor, directed Chief Dan Orbih to secure the PDP governorship ticket for Bala Mohammed and helped raise funds for his election campaign.

    In a statement personally signed by him, Dogara alleged that the Bauchi governor “practically knelt before Wike in Port Harcourt” to solicit financial assistance for his campaign.

    He said: “Governor Bala Mohammed’s recent outbursts against His Excellency Nyeson Wike, the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory though not entirely surprising have only served to expand the vistas of ingratitude and treachery based on what I know.  

    “As I witness this gross injustice, the questions I ask myself, are: is my comfort more important than saying the truth and is my fear of conflict worth allowing harm to go unchallenged? 

    “I have learned enough over the years to know beyond reasonable doubt that in the face of situations like this, if I choose to prioritize my comfort, I will fail the victim and fail myself. This is because injustice itself is a festering wound, it only grow its worse when brushed aside.

    “As someone who knows so much because I was the provocateur of the events between the two that I will speak to, I consider my silence not just cowardice but complicity. Therefore, I am not afraid to stand alone or risk conflict. 

    “I should not be misunderstood to be defending Wike but simply stating the raw truth that I know and I really don’t give a damn if the truth makes Wike look good. I have learnt to say the truth as I enjoy my freedom from being a slave to human opinion. 

    “For starters, need I remind Governor Bala Mohammed that in 2018 PDP Gubernatorial primaries, when we were not too sure he will win because, his then major opponent, Senator  Abdul Ningi was the one who constituted the State party structure and had a bosom friend as Party chairman, it was Wike we turned  to for help. 

    “I had called Wike to plead with him to help us in Bauchi without necessarily disclosing to him that it was Bala Mohammed that we wanted delivered. His response to me, was that are you sure you are in control of the process 100 percent? I said, I wasn’t too sure and he said to me leave it to me, I will help you sort it out. 

    “To do it, Wike first of all made his bosom friend and close ally, Chief Dan Osi Orbih the Chairman of the Panel for the Primaries and said I should discuss whatever I wanted with Chief Dan. 

    “We got talking and on the eve of the Primaries, Chief Dan was in Benin city and we needed to get him to Bauchi for the assignment, it was to Wike that I turned to again and his response to me was, my brother, I have told you not to bother about this. Tell Chief Dan to come to meet me in Port Harcourt. I did just that and amazingly Wike provided the private jet that flew Chief Dan to Bauchi and out of Bauchi for the assignment. 

    “I can say without fear of any contradiction that Wike bore all expenses for the exercise. It’s therefore shocking that this so called transactional character called Wike did not place any condition whatsoever for his support.

    “That is just the beginning of the story, I hate to tell, but I must. After the emergence of Bala Mohammed as the party flag bearer and having promised to sponsor all the party candidates if he gets the ticket, we were rudely awoken to the reality that Bala Mohammed had no money for his own campaigns let alone for other candidates of the party.  

    “Initially, I thought it was some kind of a funny joke but as time went, I realized to my utter bewilderment that it was true. It turned out Bala Mohammed had lied to us about his financial capacity.  

    “So we had a meeting at my then residence at Wuse 2 Abuja to help raise money and we thought since Bala Mohammed was one time Minister for nearly 6 years, he must have built enough goodwill we could harness if we organised a fundraiser for him.

    “A committee was put in place and we spent N20 million to organize the fundraiser at the then Lady Kwai Hall, Sheraton Hotels, Abuja. 

    Before then, I had asked  Bala Mohammed to give me a list of some of the people he  had helped while he held sway as Minister for FCT.

    “He obliged me with the list and after calling just four people on the list that I know so well, what they said to me jolted me and I reserve that for some other day. But suffice to say that I knew the fundraiser will be a flop. Do, I was already thinking of alternatives. 

    “And as predicted, we had the fundraiser and to cut the long story short, all we raised from the fundraiser was a paltry N48 million and If you deduct  the N20 million invested in organising it, that leaves you with a net of N28m. I have the records and our stakeholders are there to bear witness to this. 

    “When it was obvious the masquerade will soon turn to a human being, I told our then two serving Senators who are alive and can testify that the only option we had was to go to a friend and brother, then Governor Wike for assistance. 

    “We got tickets and flew to Port Harcourt with Bala Mohammed without informing Wike that we were coming with him.  On arrival, we were ushered into the Government house and asked to take our seats and wait for the Governor who was still upstairs to join us shortly. 

    “As soon as Wike walked down the stairs to join us and saw Bala Mohammed his visage changed and I noticed he was cold to me for the very first time.  He asked us to join him at the dining room for breakfast, but excused me while those on my delegation waited. What happened next was nerve raking and humbling, I must say!

    “He was like, Speaker why did you bring Bala to my house without even caring to find out what our mission was.  I said to him, I thought he is your friend since both of you served in the same cabinet under President Jonathan. 

    “He said to me let me tell you what you don’t know. When we were ministers, Bala Mohammed allocated plots of land to all Ministers except me. He also recalled how he humiliated him when he went to see him in his office as a colleague Minister just to get an approval to increase the number of floors on a building he had in Abuja, not to beg for plot which he refused to allocate to him. 

    “He said Bala Mohammed kept him in his waiting room for hours and later sneaked out of the office. That from that day, he made up his mind never to have anything to do with him again. 

    “He added, I wish, you had told me it’s Bala you were rooting for but whatever you want I will assist you guys because I don’t say no to a brother but I assure you, you will regret your decision if Bala Mohammed becomes Governor. The rest is history. 

    “He said to me let’s join them at the dining so that I can confront  him with these issues for you to know that I am not making things up. We joined them at the dinning and Wike confronted Bala with these issues in the open and in our very presence. 

    “Bala admitted and pleaded for forgiveness assuring that he is now a changed man. The two Senators with me that day can confirm this to anyone who wants to establish the veracity of these narratives.

    “To cut the long story short, we passed the night at the Government house and the next morning Wike called and directed that his cash assistance be handed over to me to pass to Bala. I said, your Excellency, it’s better I call him so that he can collect the assistance himself least he thinks you are still angry with him. 

    “I sent for Bala and when he came Wike’s aide handed over the package to him and he collected it while almost kissing the ground. Wike therefore gave us the lifeline we needed to kick start Bala’s campaigns. 

    “If Bala has forgotten how much we left with that day, I will remind him. Wike didn’t stopped there, he gave us a private jet to ferry us back to Abuja. And I must add that was not the only time Wike helped  Bala with resources and logistics. 

    “What is baffling is that the so called transactional Wike did not demand for anything in return nor place any condition for all that he did. Believe me this is not the end of the story but let’s leave it here.

    “With all these, my question to Bala is what happens to the golden adage that you don’t attempt to break the calabash from which you once sucked honey? For Bala, power is a poison and anyone who questions how he wields it, for that reason, is an eternal heretic that must be crushed at all cost. 

    “Every sane person knows that true freedom doesn’t insist on expressing itself to the harm of others especially those that stood by you in your time of desperate need. For it is not in vain that they say, “a friend in need is a friend indeed”. 

    “Unfortunately, for those of us who know Bala too well, there is no room for debate about whether he is a rogue or mere scoundrel, as much as there is no debate about his moral bankruptcy, rooted in a contempt for truth. 

    “His mental pathology reveals a man that harbours grand delusions to the extent that he would not recognize the truth, whether about his private or political life, if confronted by it in an identity parade. As someone who is false to his friends and neighbours, it is impossible for him to be true to the public. 

    “Between Wike and Bala, Bala should be told in unequivocal terms that it is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. It is obvious that Bala is not near anything that he is projecting to the public. 

    “When Wike was his benefactor, he said he knew Wike had done better than him and referred to him as, “ someone who is courageous, focused and determined, a person qualified and competent to help salvage Nigeria”. His words not mine. 

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    “Now that Wike cuts off the benefits, he is a dead wood, former friend and a “transactional politician”. As a known wimp, he believes that Wike is now on the robs and he is punching so hard so that he can appropriate the glory from whatever pyrrhic victory that may ensue. 

    “Is it not ludicrous for someone who is mostly disliked for no reason other than he is shady, to call someone transactional? Time will not permit me to list those Bala has betrayed which includes his known godfather and our father, Baba Waziri, Alhaji Bello Kirfi, Elder statesman and former minister under President Shehu Shagari in the second republic. 

    “Bala represents everything but decency which I said before that I doubted he will ever have. Those who thought I was too harsh including an ally of Wike who pleaded  with me not to talk about Bala again are increasingly noticing this. 

    “I am sure they are now convinced that we cannot continue to run a therapy session for a troubled pyromaniac nay reptilian brat like this who consistently seeks to elevate himself by putting others down and who inhales rather than think before he talks. 

    “After all, it was saint John Chrysostom who said, “we must not mind insulting men, if by respecting them we offend God”.