From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi
A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Bauchi State has dispelled media reports suggesting that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, has shelved his gubernatorial ambition, just has he declared that the minister is still very much in the race.
Speaking with journalists in Bauchi yesterday , Alhaji Danjuma Barde, stated that there was never any time that Senator Mohammed announced his withdrawal from the governorship race.
Barde, a one-time deputy chairman, Alkaleri Local Government Area of the state, said that because the FCT Minister was not among the seven ministers that quitted the President Goodluck Jonathan administration last week did not mean he was no longer interested in replacing incumbent Governor Isa Yuguda at the Government House, Bauchi, as the next governor of the state.
He stated that Senator Mohammed had wanted to quit but was prevailed upon by President Jonathan to hold on for now with a view to enabling him (the President) to sort out some issues concerning the Bauchi State governorship race.
“I can tell you authoritatively that there was no time Senator Bala Muhammed withdrew from vying for the Bauchi State PDP ticket to contest for next year’s governorship election on the ticket of the party,” Barde said.
“What happened was that he was prevailed upon by the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan to hold on a little to enable him resolve some issues bordering on the Bauchi State governorship contest.”
Barde declared that the fact that the minister did not resign by October 20 deadline by the party did not mean that he could not eventually leave the FEC, saying that the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) stipulated that any aspirant ought to resign three months before the election.
He added that as of today, the FCT Minister was the best of the candidates jostling to fly the PDP’s flag in the 2015 governorship election in view of his antecedents and the successes he recorded in the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which he was poised to replicate in Bauchi in order to take the state to greater heights.
He, therefore, advised the ruling party to give its governorship ticket to Senator Mohammed with a view to avoiding the disastrous outing of the party in the 2007 election when it woefully lost to the now defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP).
“Of all the aspirants interested in getting the PDP ticket, Senator Bala Mohammed is the best of them all. Sentiment apart, he is the only one capable of delivering Bauchi State for the party.
“PDP should not make the mistake of not fielding the minister as its standard-bearer in next year’s governorship election to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2007 when the opposition ANPP defeated the ruling PDP in the state all round,” he said.
