Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has cautioned stakeholders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state not to dabble in the political feud between the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.
The governor gave this warning while speaking shortly before a stakeholders’ closed door meeting he held with party stalwarts.
He advised all the candidates of the party in the state to respect the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as well as the National Executive Committee of the party.
He 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 not be involved in the current controversy in the PDP at the national level in order not to be consumed by it.
The PDP is currently embroiled in crisis as the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar is having a face-off with Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who lost to the former Vice President in the party’s presidential primary.
Addressing the meeting, the meeting, which started at about 12:00 midday on Saturday, the governor stressed 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 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.
He added, “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.
“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.”
Mohammed added, “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.”