Gov. Bala Mohammed’s confusing signals

By Zainab Suleiman Okino

In 2023, it was first mentioned that Governor Bala Mohammed was nursing a presidential ambition. Though still in his first term as governor of Bauchi, it was nearly inconceivable that a governor at first term level would throw his hat in the ring if he wasy100 percent sure. He couldn’t have been because Tinubu almost had the APC ticket gratis, and Mohammed was no match for Atiku in PDP. However Mohammed’s declaration that he would not run if his former principal Goodluck Jonathan was in the race endeared him to a lot of people, who saw in his rare quality of loyalty, in a shark-infested political atmosphere like ours where ambition overrides loyalty and coat throat competition for power trumps all.

Fast forward to 2025, his party, the PDP, is trying hard to recover from intensive care unit, it has been since 2023 when Atiku emerged as the party’s flag bearer, an action that turned at least five governors against their party and deodorise internal rebellion and exacerbated internal implosion in the party.

That time, Mohammed was non-committal governor in the PDP’s warfare seemingly sitting on the fence and consumed only with his own survival before he finally won his second term election.

Now that obstacle is over, PDP is repositioning and shopping for a sellable candidate. And the Bauchi governor is in the forefront of calls and zoning to the presidential to the South, and Jonathan’s name is being touted again. And Atiku? Almost out of the PDP game and Mohammed’s true intention is gradually rearing its head. I won’t say ugly head though.

Therefore the question is now germane. What is Governor Mohammed up to? Is he for real? Altruistic? A sellout? A torn in Atiku’s flesh? A villain or hero? A believer in equitable distribution of power or simply setting himself as a possible vice presidential candidate for a southern candidate while deferring but calculatively building his own political empire for a future not too far off.

He could be all and more. His recent outbursts after the PDP zoning meeting and particularly his Channels interview bared it all.

Zainab Suleiman Okino (FNGE) is a syndicated columnist and Editorial Board chair of Blueprint Newspapers. She can be reached via zainabokino@gmail.com

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