By Bashir Aliyu
Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar has described the comment credited to the Bauchi State Governor criticizing President Bola Tinubu as ‘mischievous,’ saying the governor should learn to avoid misleading the public regarding national issues.
“Due to the fiscal reforms, the share of Bauchi’s allocation has increased significantly. In October alone, Bauchi received 8.8 billion naira which doubled the amount it used to receive from the federal allocation. Unfortunately, you barely see anything tangible on the ground,” the Mnister lamented.
In an interview with Dokin Karfe TV, The Minister described Bala Muhammad as a desperado who seeks to dominate everything in the state.
“Governor Bala seeks to cause chaos as he did in Abuja during his stint as the FCT Minister.”
The minister added that just like he created massive chaos in land allocation, properties, and so forth, the governor is deploying the same tactics in Bauchi where the state is in dire need of investment in agriculture, health, and education.
“We still have a huge number of out-of-school children in the state. There are no social amenities in Bauchi at all. These are not his priorities.”
The current controversial issue in the state is how the government keeps buying land and evicting the people from their homes despite our ample land in Bauchi. That’s where taxpayer money is being diverted on the pretext of building new infrastructure.” Tuggar said
The minister accused the governor of depleting the state’s resources and wasting money on frivolities which includes the expansion of the Government House while the people continue to suffer because of the apparent absence of policies to alleviate hardship in the state.
“The most disappointing thing is the way farmlands are being taken away from poor farmers and allocated to the inner circle of the governor, using questionable loans for commercial farming as a cover that will never see the light of day. Only the governor and his cronies know what is being done with the money.” Tuggar alleged.
The minister urged the governor to deal with the chaos he created at home because a governor who is inflicting hardship on his people lacks the moral right to speak on national issues.
The minister also rubbished the governor’s presidential ambition, saying his murky records both as the FCT Minister and as the governor of Bauchi have disqualified him from speaking on national issues because people will not take him seriously.
