BY ADEYEMI AKANJI – Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, vowed that no amount of harassment, intimidation, persecution and or prosecution will make him leave the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
This was as he said that he is not a terrorist and has nothing to do with any acts of terrorism neither does he condone such criminality.
Mohammed, who stated these while receiving an Award of excellence as a Safety Ambassador by the Safety Institute of Nigeria, stressed that politics has be turned into something else in Nigeria.
The Governor said; “There is too much intolerance. The APC-led the federal government thinks they can use the courts, the institutions of government like the EFCC, to intimidate, harass, persecute and prosecute Nigerians that are not in their party. If they don’t stop, we are going to declare war.
“I assure you, we are not going to keep quiet anymore. I won’t allow anybody to criminalise me because I’m not in the APC, and I refuse to join the APC. And I will not join the APC. My family members, my officials have been taken and locked up without any reason,” he stated.
A visibly angry Mohammed particularly said that the current travails of his Finance Commissioner in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is a clear case of injustice to him and his administration.
Mohammed further said; “The ironies of life are full of circumstances, so much ambiguities, issues that come to beat one into each other, and there for us to see the negative and the positives of life. I was just waking up to the realisation where I was told that I’ve been accused of terrorism as a Governor.
“As someone who is the head of the opposition, my commissioner has been kept incarcerated and will not be released by the EFCC. Even when I have immunity as a Governor, my name was stupendously mentioned in a motion in a law court in Nigeria. Me, Bala Mohammed, who is recognized without my inkling for this kind of reputation. God is wonderful.
“I don’t have to say anything, I don’t even have to go to the public court, but certainly, politics has become something else in Nigeria, but with these kinds of people around, Mr Malgwi and his partners, there is still hope in the country.
“Whatever is done to denounce you, to prosecute you, somehow, God will bring something to absolve you of blames, of persecution. Because with the little resources we have and with the work we have done in Bauchi, somebody will accuse us of arbitrariness.
“We have a country where 51 percent of the resources is taken by the Federal Government. In my State they have not constructed a one kilometres road, no water, even the security agencies, I am the one paying them to work for us and yet, they have the guts to talk.
“This is a country when you work, you become a valiant, you become an idiot. I have kept quiet for too long. It is because of peace and security, because as politicians, we should not be seen to be overheating the polity, but I am not a coward,” he stated.
Governor Mohammed said that he had kept quiet all these while for the sake of the common people, emphasising that people don’t have to be denounced and denigrated just to get to power.
While commenting on the implementation of the new tax laws, Governor Mohammed said it is necessary for the Federal Government to critically look at the issue more seriously.
In the words of Mohammed; “In spite of all the impurities we noticed in the tax law, they are still going ahead with its implementation to further impoverish our people, the impoverishment of the sub-nationals, and we are keeping quiet.
“There is no security in Northern part of the country more than what we have in Bauchi state. We have done this together through community development.
“I have APC here, PDP here, and NNPP here. We are living in peace because of democratic governance. We tolerate ourselves.
“This award is inspiring me to talk, I have not talked. I didn’t want to talk, but we still have hope in the courts, and in Nigerians. I thank the Institute for this opportunity, and I assure you, it is not going to make us arrogant. Our humility and modesty will continue,” he assured.
Mohammed said that his administration will use small things to make useful things and live a landmark that will make Nigeria and Nigerians proud, stressing that no Jupiter will stop him from doing it.
Earlier, while presenting the award to the Governor, a Life member of the Safety Institute of Nigeria, Dr Haruna Malgwi, commended Mohammed for the measures his administration put in place for the safety of the people of Bauchi State particularly at the various points of services delivery.
Malgwi said; “We considered four criteria before arriving at the point of acceptance, and, His Excellency met all as he scored excellently well and deserved the award of Safety Ambassador”.
