Bauchi ministerial slot: Don’t reward sabotage – Tinubu/Shettima groups urge Tinubu

By Musa Baba Adamu

Members of the coalition of Tinubu/ Shettima Support Groups and Supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bauchi State chapter, have appealed to President Ahmed Tinubu not to fall for the gimmick of some individuals from Bauchi State, who abandoned the party and the presidential candidate during the 2023 election.

In a statement issued yesterday by Kaleb Gambar and Mohammed Nasiru Isah, the Coalition said those individuals did not believe in the success of APC during the elections, only to return and demand for compensation now that the presidential election has been won.

Mentioning such individuals, the Coalitions said “We are aware that our former Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, who was the campaign coordinator for Mr. Jack Rich during our Presidential Primary and could not secure a single vote out of Bauchi’s 60 delegates votes, is lobbying for ministerial appointment.

“It will be a sad day for our party if such a person is considered because he was no where to be found when he was needed the most during the primaries, for he did not work for the emergence of our candidate.

“We also heard that a former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Ali Pate, is reportedly going around telling people that he can guarantee an increase in intervention funds from the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation because of his closeness to Bill Gates if he is appointed minister by President Bola Tinubu.

“He even went to the ridiculous extent of leaking a report that he turned down an international job to make himself available for selection. This is not surprising because we know success has many sons and daughters and failure is an orphan. We want to ask one question, where was he during the campaigns and elections? What was his contribution to the party’s success?”, the Tinubu/Shettima Support groups said.

On this note, the group pleaded with President Tinubu on the stressed need to appoint party loyalists who genuinely share his democratic ideals and political philosophy of progressive governance.

It said they are mindful of the fact that the party’s poor reward system during Muhammadu Buhari’s administration almost cost APC the last election, given that those who never wanted the party in power were given sensitive positions which they used to frustrate the President and the party’s good policies.

“We must not allow a repeat of this ugly situation. It is on this premise we wish to urge President Tinubu not to fall for the cheap blackmail by individuals hiding under the guise of technocrats to sneak into his government to the detriment of loyal party men who are technocrats on their on rights and are not only competent, but equally qualified to hold office and also hold the party together in words and in deed.

“For us in Bauchi, we know there are thousands of eminently qualified party men and women who gave their best before and during the 2023 general elections to deliver more than 31 per cent of the votes during the presidential election for APC”, the group said in the statement.