Bauchi governor’s comments on national issues mischievous, says foreign minister

Bauchi governor’s comments on national issues mischievous, says foreign minister

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has criticized Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed for his recent comments against President Bola Tinubu.

Tuggar described the governor’s remarks as “mischievous” and advised him to refrain from misleading the public on national issues.

The minister’s remarks were made in an interview with Dokin Karfe TV. Tuggar expressed disappointment over the governor’s performance, citing the significant increase in Bauchi’s allocation due to fiscal reforms.

“In October alone, Bauchi received 8.8 billion naira, which doubled the amount it used to receive from the federal allocation. Unfortunately, you barely see anything tangible on the ground,” he said.

Tuggar accused Governor Mohammed of seeking to dominate everything in the state, creating chaos as he did during his stint as the FCT Minister.

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“He is deploying the same tactics in Bauchi, where the state is in dire need of investment in agriculture, health, and education. We still have a huge number of out-of-school children in the state, and there are no social amenities in Bauchi at all. These are not his priorities.”

The minister also criticized the governor’s handling of land allocation, accusing him of diverting taxpayer money to build new infrastructure while evicting people from their homes. “The most disappointing thing is the way farmlands are being taken away from poor farmers and allocated to the inner circle of the governor, using questionable loans for commercial farming as a cover that will never see the light of day.”

On the governor’s presidential ambition, the minister said his records as the FCT Minister and governor of Bauchi disqualified as people wouldn’t take him seriously.

The presidency had earlier responded to Governor Mohammed’s criticism, urging him to retract his remarks, which were allegedly interpreted as a threat over the proposed Tax Reform Bills.

The governor and other northern leaders are of the opinion that the bills before the national assembly if passed, would further impoverish the northern region.