By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar and the Governor of Bauchi state, Bala Mohammed, have disagreed over the state of affairs in their home state and Nigeria in general, accusing each other of failing to fulfill official obligations.
On Sunday morning, Tuggar responded to the Governor in an interview monitored on BBC Hausa based on remarks allegedly made by the Governor.
The accusations followed a BBC interview with the Governor, in which he defended his policies and dismissed the Minister’s criticisms.
The duo hailed from Bauchi, a state in Northeast Nigeria, and played active roles in Nigeria’s politics.
During an interview, Tuggar had alleged that “Bauchi state received more than N8.8 billion in October and N9 billion in November, but nothing was seen on the ground in the state.”
He also criticized the Bauchi government’s plan to distribute agricultural land, saying that the Governor was “using the state’s money to buy property and land from the poor.”
However, when asked about the alleged mismanagement of the state’s finances, Governor Bala Mohammed blamed the devaluation of the Naira compared to the dollar in present-day Nigeria.
According to him, the billions Bauchi received now cannot be compared to what the state had received when the dollar exchange rate was low.
Governor Bala Mohammed challenged the Minister to check the kind of work the Bauchi state government was doing, as it was published periodically.
He alleged that the Minister was trying to protect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after the Governor criticized him recently.
“Maybe he is doing it to defend the President because we said what needs to be fixed; that’s why he is criticizing,” he said.
Recall that the Governor of Bauchi state criticized President Bola Tinubu when he received a guest, a well-known Islamic scholar considered one of the President’s supporters.
The Governor also criticized the Minister’s handling of his duties, adding, “He should fix his work before he starts looking at someone’s perceived faults.
“Now, if you look at the affairs of Nigeria’s Embassies, it is a shame to say that this is our son,” Bala Mohammed said.
Governor Mohammed decried Nigeria’s failure to appoint Ambassadors to foreign countries and the way the Nigerian government handled coups in some West African countries.
However, a day after the interview with the Governor, Yusuf Tuggar responded and accused the Governor of distributing land to his close allies and family members.”
The Minister denied the allegations of not doing what should be done in the diplomatic circle, particularly regarding handling the coup issue-coup issue in some West African countries.
“First of all, the President was not yet in power when there was a coup in Mali in 2021. I am not here. It was on July, the 26th day in 2023, coup took place in Niger; I did not become a minister until August,” the Minister said.
Governor Bala Mohammed also, in the interview, appealed to Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa to remain in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and assured that steps were being taken to further strengthen and unite the party contrary to an alleged plot by a powerful minister to destabilize it. (Vanguard)