Seven Reasons Why Governor Abubakar Lost

 

 

Mukhtar Muhammad Mk

 

With the announcement of Senator Bala Muhammad Abdulkadir of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the Bauchi state governorship election by Professor Kyari Muhammad, Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar set a record of a first incumbent governor lose reflection in the history Bauchi state’s constitutional democracy.

Though, Governor Abubakar in an interview with BBC Hausa said he lost the election because of irregularities that favored PDP candidate Bala Kaura in the strongholds of the PDP most especially in Bauchi and Tafawa Balewa local governments. However, there are some reason associated with governance and policies of Abubakar’s administration that truncated his government after its first four year. A situation that’s against the run of play in Bauchi state politics. Here are seven of them;

 

1.Slow Execution of Projects: Governor Mohammed Abubakar has awarded contracts of hundreds of projects. These projects are real and are appropriate to the hopes and aspirations of the people of Bauchi, and are in line with the APC’s change agenda. The painful reality is that most of these projects did not attain 40 percent of completion.

For instance, the dualization and rehabilitation of Federal low cost road awarded in 2016, hitherto the road remain death trap. Similarly, road construction projects in Misau, Jama’are, Itas/Gadau, Darazo, Bauchi, just to mention a few are neither abandoned nor completed. And if the current speed is maintained, most of the projects might not reach 80 percent of completion in 8 years.

 

2.Revolt of Civil Servants: Bauchi state is agrarian with a high dominance of civil servants in the elite class. Having the civil servants objecting to any government spells near defeat for such administration.

The people of Bauchi state complain endlessly of non-settlement of civil servants entitlements which they say has been the bane of Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar’s administration. From promotion to arrears, gratuities to pension and above all seemly endless workers verification created a wrong impression in the eyes of the state’s civil servants. The Revolt of this class has contributed a lot to the collapse of the administration.

 

3.Cabal: Throughout the tenure of Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar as the governor of Bauchi state, allegations were routinely made in political circles and the news and social media that Governor MA Abubakar was not in charge of his government; that a cabal of unelected person has seized control and is calling the shots in Ramad House. To the extent that he is the one in charge. That the governor listens to him disproportionately before he gives his

nod to appointments, policies, projects, sacks, dissolutions, reconstitutions, and foreign travels. The central character of the allegations is Alhaji Ali Kumo, Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar’s uncle.

I personally don’t know where those making the allegation get their news from. But in so many occasions the governor’s aids have testified the presence of such cabal. Mallam Isah Abuh Yusuf, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on political organizations has lamented how the said Ali Kumo steers the affairs of the government at the detriment of the people of the state. And to what would add substance to the allegations, Governor MA Abubakar has never came out and clear the air by officially denying  that anyone has seized power from him.

Whether there has been a cabal in charge or not, there have been  strategic miscalculations noticeable in the administration’s political and governance posture which are solely credited to the alleged cabal and contributed a lot to the fall of the administration.

 

1. Indigene/Settler Syndrome: This has been the lingering contradictions of the Nigerian state about the phenomenon of indigenes and non-indigenes or natives and settlers among the same people who lay equal claim to Nigerian citizenship, and who have been engaged in cultural, religious, economic and political exchanges. Whereas the so-called settlers or non-indigenes, are part of the society in every respect, worshipping with, socializing with, trading

with, paying taxes with, and marrying the so-called indigenes, but when it comes to sharing of resources, including ownership of land, scholarships, placement of children in colleges and universities, employment in the civil service, and political appointments, including appointment as VCs and Rectors of academic institutions, commissioners and advisers of state governors (that are supposed to be purely on merit), the indigene/setter syndrome is thrown up and the so-called settler often suffers the grave injustice of discrimination and persecution. There is widespread believe that Governor Abubakar’s family are Ebira by tribe, a tribe based in Kogi state. Governor Abubakar has suffered discrimination in his effort to secure second term as the governor of the peal of tourism. Some misinformed citizens believed that by voting Abubakar out, they are doing a good work of reclaiming Bauchi from settlers.

 

5.Sycophants: This is the group of praise singers that put Bauchi state on an imaginary pedestal with their mellifluous words that flows seamlessly. Their words of praises remove every constraint and reservations in the eyes of Governor MA Abubakar, making him break limits, shift barriers and does things which didn’t match his intellectual capacity. Also, they act very fast in pointing out the enemies of the governor. Because of their need to protect and consolidate their positions before the governor, They perceive anybody who tries to take his attention away from them as a foe.

 

6.Intrigues Within APC: Throughout the tenure of Mohammed Abubakar as the governor of Bauchi state, there has been long-standing mutual hostility between the governor and federal lawmakers voted under the aegis of the All Progressive Congress. In 2018, another palpable misunderstanding arises between the governor and the stakeholders, appointed and elected officers on the platform of the ruling APC. The fiasco originated from the party’s congress resulted the decamping of Speaker Yakubu Dogara along with two other reps and three senators to the opposition PDP. To make the house more rowdy, in October 2018 the National headquarters of the party succumbed to the demands of some members of the party and adopted direct primaries in the state which governor Abubakar and his anointed candidates manuplated and emerged winners.

At the end the result of the APC primaries continued to place Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar-led government against most of the  APC members in the state. While some aggrieved members decamped to other parties to pursue their political ambitions, others stayed and fought the governor from within the party.

 

7.Perception of Corruption: Like many Nigerians, Bauchians have consistently remained supportive and convinced that APC led administrations are on power to tackle ‘sinful’ acts of corruption. Being a deeply religious state, a corrupt person is tagged as a sinner while those that had not held public office and lived within their means are referred to as saints. The initial appointments of little known and strange people into top positions by Governor MA Abubakar was hailed as a departure from the past. However, when the allegations of the emergence of cabal who tempered the nominations of cabinet commissioners and advisers as well as allocation of contracts, the perception of corruption started developing. Through, all these allegations are conceived and died on social media, the governor’s media aids never take the matter serious to debunk it. However it plays an unprecedented role in collapsing the administration. When I tried personally verify the veracity of the allegations, all the people who know Abubakar say he is a pious and religious man, while those who worked with him say he has financial discipline. The wonder is that how the good man watched his reputation ruined by a cabal.

 

Mukhtar Muhammad Mk is writing from Bauchi