The 2027 Bauchi governorship election is already warming up, with the incumbent Governor, Bala Mohammed, shopping for a loyal successor. Many electorate are, however, eager to know if the northern zone will, for once, have a chance to produce a Bauchi helmsman, RAUF OYEWOLE reports.
In Bauchi State, the common argument is that the Central and North Senatorial Districts need to bond to wrest political power from the dominant South zone.
However, the move for a harmonised approach to clinch the governorship seat is hugely limited by the age-long intra and inter-zonal acrimony. This underlying disharmony has remained a ready weapon in the hands of the more populous South to sustain the zone’s stranglehold on the levers of power.
Since the return of democracy in 1999, successive governors hailed from the Southern senatorial zone. The question on the lips of those loyal to the incumbent governor is whether Governor Mohammed will go North or Central or be propelled by population size to retain the governorship in the South.
The governor hails from the same Bauchi South, a zone that has consecutively produced four leaders since the Fourth Republic’s beginning. However, the Katagum (North and Central) zone, the second political power bloc, will be challenged by the consensus burden on how to bring its political heavyweights to support a mutually acceptable candidate.
Further, the Katagum zone, which has Jama’are, Itas/Gadau, Gamawa, Shira, Giade and Zaki, must devise effective strategies to deal with the usual intra-zonal disagreement that has cost the area many opportunities to produce another governor after the stint of Abubakar Tatari Ali, the first Executive Governor in 1983.
Analysts said Katagum, despite its political exposure and numerous elites, particularly at the federal level, still holds the grip of most federal appointments like ministerial and the former Secretary to the Government of Federation. Yet, the zone is finding it nearly impossible to govern the state.
Others claim that the zone has consistently failed to coalesce with six other local government areas, thereby making it easy for the South zone to assert greater political strength.
It should be noted that currently, the Katagum zone seems to be pursuing two different contradictory agendas, including the creation of the Katagum State and the quest for power to rule Bauchi.
However, it is obvious that more attention seems to be focused on state creation.
The recent report of the House of Representatives on the proposed additional 31 states where Katagum is listed will trigger concerns about who controls what. Azare, the capital of Katagum local government –the second largest town in the state has been accused of playing down the chances of other areas.
Political observers said that the Katagum area, due to its influence at the federal level, restricted most of the federal appointments and federal institutions within the Azare, the capital of the council. They further opined that the dynasty had underdeveloped other parts of the zone. The recently established University of Health Sciences was cited in Azare, while its Teaching Hospital (formerly Federal Medical Centre) remains in the local government.
Other key political office holders from the area includes, a former Head of Service of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, who later became the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) between 2008 and 2011.
The former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration appointed two of his ministers from Azare –AdamuAdamu (education) throughout the eight years, and Adamu publicly said that he also convinced the former president to appoint one of his staff, Mariam Katagum (Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment).
President Bola Tinubu spread his two ministers between the North and Central zones. Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar came from Gamawa (North), and his counterpart, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, is from Misau (Central). Both of them have contested and are still nursing governorship ambitions.
Similarly, the Bauchi Central Zone (Ningi, Misau, Darazo, Ganjuwa, Warji and Dambam) is another zone that has yet to produce a governor in Bauchi. It either supports the South or is divided since it cannot singlehandedly win, and Bauchi North is not ready to work it. Politicians from the area play supporting roles and are appointed into key roles like Secretary to the Government or Speakership.
However, 2027 provides ample opportunity for candidates from Bauchi Central to serve as governor. Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi has continued to gather momentum after his spat with the leadership of the 10th Senate.
He has positioned himself for the job. Ningi’s steady appearance in the activities of the incumbent governor is already fueling speculations that he (Ningi) might be the anointed one for the PDP. Yet, in some circles, the fear is that the Governor may be reluctant to throw his weight around a political heavyweight like Senator Ningi, who has a national clout.
Some of the arguments stem from the fracas that played out in the 2023 governorship poll, where Governor Mohammed cried out to the then PDP National Chairman, IyorchaAyu, that some people had launched ‘BalaMustGo’ campaign to dislodge him.
It was gathered that the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who is now in a different camp with Governor Mohammed, had intervened in the issue before the sea was calmed.
An uphill task for Ningi’s candidacy is his running mate selection. The Senator, who is from Ningi Local Government, Central zone, may find it difficult to get Bauchi South’s support without a governorship ticket and deputy. Likewise, picking a Bauchi South deputy leaves Bauchi North without a major stake in his possible cabinet.
A PDP member told The Guardian that Ningi would have difficulty getting the party’s ticket. “You know Ningi is a diehard loyalist of Atiku. He contested in 2019 and was even ready to contest against the incumbent governor in 2023 before he was pacified to go for Senate by Wazirin Adamawa (AtikuAbubakar).
“If you listen to the speech of the Governor during the Iftar session he had, he said he would not support any candidate that will probe and kill him. That is to tell you that he will definitely support a core loyal successor. Mind you, I’m not saying, the Senator is not loyal, but it will be hard. I’m sure you heard what Shamsu (ShamsudeenBala, the Governor’s son) said about the incumbent governor and Atiku’s ambition.”
Within the PDP, apart from Senator Ningi, a serving Commissioner of Finance, Dr Adamu Yakubu, former Secretary to the State Government, Ibrahim Kashim, and others are making moves to succeed Bala Mohammed.
Conversely, the serving Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) stands tall as a stalwart opponent. Pate has been contesting in the past and has not publicly declared not to contest in the coming poll.
Top contenders from the Bauchi North include the 2023 Governorship Candidate of APC, Air Marshal AbubakarSodique (rtd.), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, also from APC. There are indications that the party may not field the former military boss since he is not part of the Tinubu cabinet.
A Public Affairs analyst, Ahmed Mohammed, while noting the shifting grounds in the conversation, said that both the North and Central zones of Bauchi have been unable to come to terms, work together to produce a governor.
He stated: “When former Governor AhmaduMu’azu left office, he gave the party’s ticket to Nadada from the North instead of Isa Yuguda from South. Yuguda left for a new party and won the race with the support of the Bauchi people.
“The fact is that PDP as a ruling party will be sceptical in giving its ticket to a random aspirant.”
As the governor continues to shop for his successor, the Bauchi State electorates remain the resolute cabals that would eventually decide where the pendulum swings.
Past experiences have shown that the electorate resisted any outgoing governors’ imposition of a political son as a governor. Events also showed that in anger, the electorate had denied Mu’azu and Yuguda senatorial victories for attempting to impose a governor on them.
Will Bala Mohammed get his loyal successor into Ramat House in 2027? Only time and the tides in PDP will tell.
