Gov Mohammed warns Bauchi PDP against taking sides in Atiku, Wike feud

Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed has warned PDP stakeholders in the state to steer clear of the political feud between the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar and the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.

Speaking shortly before a stakeholders meeting he held with chieftains of the party which was held behind closed doors, the governor advised all candidates of the party in the state to respect the Presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as well as the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP.

Bala Mohammed advised, “I don’t want anyone of us to get involved in the controversy at the national level. It is above us. Leave it to me to handle it as your leader the way l am handling it as your leader. Certainly, we cannot afford it because it will have disparaging consequences on us”.

The governor stressed that the PDP candidates in the state must steer clear of the current controversy in the PDP at the national level in order not to be consumed with it.

The party is currently facing serious challenges as the presidential candidate, Atiku is having a face-off with the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike who lost to the former Vice President in the party’s presidential primary.

The Bauchi State governor while addressing the meeting, which took place on Saturday, emphasized that all the candidates in the state must stay clear of the raging controversy.

He then urged the candidates to focus on the challenges in the state saying, so far, the administration has been able to address grievances that arose in the aftermath of the party primaries amicably.

He further advised that candidates to accept the fact that the party is supreme to any member, hence any complaint must be addressed within the ambit of the party guidelines saying, “Whatever we become we must remember the party is supreme. We have problems but it’s about swallowing our problem for the greater benefits of the bigger picture”

Read also:Saraki, Tambuwal, Bala Mohammed form Unity Team ahead of 2023

The governor also said that he convened the meeting in order to confront the challenges ahead of the 2023 General elections and ensure that the PDP does not lose the state in 2023.

“We have done quite well but l believe we will do better. I called for this meeting to for us to sit down, reminisce, discuss and address new challenges, especially looking at the electoral act, our party guidelines, and of course our personal challenges to regroup and refocus”, he added .

He however observed that the party leadership at the local government is not doing as was expected as the general election approaches.

“The elected local government chairmen are not supporting our candidates as much as we want . That gap should be closed down. The party leaders should close rank with our councillors,” he advised.

The stakeholders meeting was attended by the party bigwigs and candidates contesting on the platform of the party in the forthcoming general elections including the State PDP Chairman, Alhaji Hamza Akuyam, the Deputy Chairman, Alhaji Bala Hadith and newly appointed Campaign Director General of the party for the 2023 election, Honourable Farouk Mustapha.

Other PDP bigwigs who attended the meeting included the Deputy Governorship candidate, Auwal Jatau, Speaker of the State Assembly Honorable Abubakar Y Suleiman, the Deputy Speaker, Danlami Kawule, and candidates contesting in the State and National Assembly as well as the 20 LGCs Chairmen.

By Yemi Kanji

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