Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party, 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 behind a closed-door, the governor advised all candidates of the party in the state to respect the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar as well as the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP.
Bala Mohammed advised, “I don’t want any 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.
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Recall that the party is currently facing serious challenges as the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar 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 started at about 12:00 midday on Saturday, emphasized 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 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.”
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 I 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.
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According to him, “We are confronted with a long period of electioneering and campaigns. It’s going to take a lot of time so we have to strategize. We have so many projects and programmes we have not completed. We have fulfilled 80 percent of our promises but the party is not going to win at the Government House but at the villages where we come from”.
Bala Mohammed added that, “The candidates are the most important variables now because the party has finished its own, meaning we must manage scarce resources. The people appreciate what we have done but we cannot afford to be complacent.”
However, observed that the party leadership at the local government is not doing as was expected as the general election approaches.
