By Rauf Oyewole
The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed has cautioned one of the party’s senatorial candidates from addressing the federal government led by President Bola Tinubu as “useless”.
While speaking at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium on Saturday, the senatorial candidate pitched for Seyi Makinde to take over Nigeria and “let’s flush out these useless people out”.
Mohammed who swiftly interjected the candidate said “don’t call them useless”.
Mohammed immediately commenced his remarks about Makinde, he said that the presidential candidate of the Allied APM, Seyi Makinde, would run an inclusive government that guarantees fairness, equity and balanced representation across Nigeria if elected president.
He added his administration would ensure that appointments and opportunities in government were not concentrated in one ethnic or religious group, but distributed fairly across the country’s different sections in line with the principle of federal character and merit.
Mohammed, who described APM as a movement bringing hope to Nigerians, said his proposed government would prioritise knowledge, competence and inclusiveness in leadership recruitment.
According to him, more than 100,000 positions would be available for appointments, insisting that no single tribe or section of the country would dominate the process.
“There are over 100,000 positions to be filled. It will not be filled by one tribe alone. It will not be skewed to one tribe alone. There will be balance. There will be federal character and there will be selection based on merit, putting square pegs in square holes,” he said.
The Governor said Makinde’s proposed Reset Nigeria Agenda was developed through extensive consultations, professional expertise and practical understanding of governance challenges.
He said the presidential candidate had demonstrated leadership capacity through his experience in Oyo State, adding that his performance had earned him recognition among political leaders in the South-West.
He also highlighted the importance of a unity government, saying the initiative would promote national cohesion by accommodating different interests and addressing the problems of tribalism, religious intolerance and political exclusion.
“The gentleman is ready to manage diversity. He has also spoken about a unity government. That is inclusion, throwing away impunity, tribalism, which is the bane of our problem, and religious bigotry,” he said.
He further assured political leaders and residents of Bauchi State that their interests would receive adequate attention under his proposed administration.
He appealed for support from the state, saying Bauchi and other states in the North-East deserved equitable treatment in the distribution of federal resources, appointments and development interventions.
He lamented what he described as the difficulties experienced by opposition-led states, particularly in accessing federal interventions, adding that Bauchi should not be neglected because of its political affiliation.
“We have chosen that line. We want to be in the mainstream, and you are the centre of the mainstream. So we are at your mercy and the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala,” he said.
He appealed to the presidential candidate to remember Bauchi State when distributing opportunities and development interventions if elected, stressing that political support should be rewarded with fairness rather than exclusion.
“Whatever that is coming, don’t take it to Oyo alone, take it to Bauchi too. That is how we do politics,” he added.
He also praised the consensus arrangement adopted by the party in Bauchi State, saying its candidates, from the State House of Assembly to the governorship level, emerged without rancour or serious disagreements.
Mohammed said the party was committed to building a political platform that accommodates different interests while promoting unity and collective responsibility.
He, however, cautioned against a situation where a new administration would reproduce the same political exclusion and impunity Nigerians had experienced, expressing confidence that the proposed Reset Nigeria Agenda would place the country on a sustainable development path.
