The Bauchi State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress, APC, has berated Governor Bala Mohammed for his criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policies.
The party attributed the governor’s anger to the judgement of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to local governments across the federation.
It pointed out that “the judgement has denied the governor free money the governor and his puppets have been feeding fat on,” a decision that APC believes has curbed the governor’s access to funds previously used for personal gain.
Recall that Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the main opposition party, had criticised the president’s policies in the wake of the #EndBadGovernance protests, saying he is implementing policies that are inflicting hardship on the people.
Reacting to the governor’s criticism of the Tinubu-led administration, the party, in a statement made available to journalists on Saturday by the State APC Publicity Committee Chairman, Malam Saadu Umar, argued that since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office, both the nation’s economy and Bauchi State have seen significant improvements through the implementation of various projects.
Malam Saadu Umar countered Mohammed, stating that challenges are inevitable in any nation.
He added that it is unreasonable for the governor to blame President Tinubu for the removal of the fuel subsidy, a policy he supported as a minister in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
“While there are challenges, President Tinubu’s policies are yielding positive results. For example, these policies have significantly increased the monthly allocations Governor Mohammed receives, with his administration having collected over N87.4 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) between January and June,” the statement read.
APC mentioned that President Tinubu had provided over N135.4 billion to state governments last December to assist the poor and vulnerable, stating that an additional N438 billion was recently allocated to combat hunger in Bauchi and other states.
The party accused Governor Mohammed of mismanaging public resources, stating: “Rather than paying the recently mandated N70,000 minimum wage to Bauchi workers, Governor Mohammed has spent over N11.6 billion on a questionable financial consultant by June this year. Another N9 billion was paid to the same consultant last year.
“Instead of addressing workers’ welfare, the governor has spent over N33.5 billion on overhead costs for his government house and office.”
APC further accused the governor of distorting public spending by focusing on projects like flyovers instead of addressing citizens’ needs, such as the payment of gratuities to pensioners.
Finally, APC urged President Tinubu and the National Assembly to remove governors from overseeing local government council elections, arguing that this is the only way to ensure free and fair elections at the local level.
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