Flash:PDP Governors’ Forum Chairman Bala Mohammed Reportedly Set to Join APC
Bala Mohammed, PDP Governors’ Forum Chairman, Set to Join APC
Strong indications have suggest that Bala Mohammed, Governor of Bauchi State and Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, is reportedly planning to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) this week, Eaglessightnews has gathered.
According to recent reports published by several news outlets including investigations by THISDAY. Negotiations over the terms of his defection are still ongoing.
Sources say Mohammed has been offered an APC senatorial ticket and the same allowances enjoyed by other governors who have joined the ruling party. In a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and APC leaders, Mohammed reportedly declared his intention to join the APC.
The move may be linked to challenges facing his Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, who is facing terrorism and money laundering charges involving about ₦4.6 billion. The commissioner was said to have threatened to implicate the governor if he was not released from custody.
Reports indicate that Mohammed is being given conditions different from those offered to other defecting governors. He will reportedly not be handed the APC structure in Bauchi State and may only be allowed to return to the Senate, without the right to nominate his successor.
The president is also said to have requested that Mohammed apologise to his son, Seyi Tinubu, following an incident last year when the governor’s son criticised Seyi Tinubu for distributing palliatives in Bauchi during Ramadan. Mohammed has reportedly apologised but is said to be uncomfortable with the restriction regarding succession.
Sources say the governor has approached the APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, to help negotiate a possible 60/40 structure-sharing arrangement in Bauchi State. Mohammed has also convened a stakeholders’ meeting in the state this week as part of his preparations for the planned defection.
If the move eventually happens, the number of governors under the APC will rise to 32. The PDP will retain Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, the Labour Party will have Alex Otti of Abia State, while APGA and the Accord Party will have Governors Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State and Ademola Adeleke of Osun State respectively.