Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Bauchi State governor and chairman, Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF), Bala Mohammed, has said the party is not one man’s enterprise, adding that regardless of the commutations for public appointments by a person or group of persons, the party faithful expects trustworthy leadership from party leaders based on the spirit of reconciliation, discipline and truth.
Mohammed stated this while reacting to a comments made by Samuel Nwanosike, a member of the PDP in Rivers State and former chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, who stated during an interview on TVC, that the Bauchi governor wants to contest the presidency in 2027 with Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, as his running mate.
Nwanosike is a loyalist of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Recall that Wike had threatened to “put fire” in the states of PDP governors who seek to support Fubara to take full control of party’s structure in Rivers State. Wike had singled out Mohammed over his support for Fubara.
Reacting to Nwanosike’s comments in a statement on Wednesday by the director general of the PDP Governors Forum, Dr Emmanuel Agbo, Mohammed said he is focused on upholding the forum’s watchword of unity and ensuring it is an effective organ of the party.
“The Forum is at liberty to advise all PDP members that as long as the PDP is not one man’s enterprise, no matter the commutations for public appointments by a person or group of persons, the common good of our people in the spirit of reconciliation, discipline and truth shall remain the only anchor of the trustworthy leadership our party faithful expect from us.
“Gov. Bala Mohammed will not belong to any clique, or cast of dramatists who would flagrantly plot day by day to thwart the powers of a governor to serve his state and people, contemptuously bend the constitution to propagate their self-ambitions above impactful development the people deserve.
“He has lived by the principle of “live and let live” and by his position in life, will always engage reason and reconciliation rather than burn down a city to ashes just to thrust down the people’s throats what has been described as “seclusive agreements of questionable concerns.”
“The Forum under his leadership will be convergent rather than divergent. It is an oath he swore to, and will always keep, to enhance the vision of the party’s founding fathers making better what we inherited.
“It is our turn to make sacrifices, sincerely creating room for growth and fresh ideas; not heating up the polity, bloating in imaginable thrones, and/or dramatising in garbs of an emperor,” he said.
The statement noted that while Nigerian politics is highly competitive and often marked by intense rivalries, it should not be self-driven transactional patriotism.
Agbo added that PDP is now an opposition known for its centrist policies and advocacy for social justice and economic development.
“Having provided an umbrella for us all, it is beholden of us to allow others breathe and grow in this line of public service, without burning down the party to ashes to achieve personal gains of staying in power forever.
“Many party men and women have benefitted from, transformed into mentors and have been celebrated as statesmen creating a tradition of values which must be respected. Based on this principle, Gov. Mohammed owes no word of apology and will join no issues with political jobbers whose callous insensitivities and arrogance could only bury the future of their constituencies and the country at large, if not checked.
“Looking at our exalted statesmen, their influences on national politics were driven by communality, not self-centred drifting. Inclusivity in any political party as well as the PDP, where we admit we belong, has always been powered by reconciliation and discipline, not chauvinism,” he said.
The dirctor general said the watchword of the governor’s forum has been the unity of its members, with its focus of playing party politics in a multi-party system, anchored on delivering dividends of democracy via good governance to the governed, with integrity on either side at all times, against the vagaries of abuse of power.
“In this light, Gov. Mohammed personally sees politics as a call to service, not a profession, having humbly grown with the mindset that by tomorrow, we shall leave the spaces and positions we see ourselves occupying now, mindful of accountability to our creator and the state. As such, the permutations of Samuel Nwanosike in a daylight broadcast on television is only precariously balanced since he chose to be a bark dog for his employer, more so as he is pained by the expiration of a 3-year term in office without an extension as earlier promised by his sculptors,” Agbo stated.
