Information available to 247ureports.com from competent sources indicates the problems emanating from the All Progressive Congress [APC] in Bauchi State have reached the attention of the presidency, particularly the President’s desk. And as gathered, the President is reported to have launched a silent inquiry into the ongoing arrests, reported intimidation of APC official by the state governor and the embezzlement bailout funds valued at over N8.6billion.
Loading ...As a caveat, Mr. President is reported to have a not so cozy relationship with the governor of Bauchi State, Barrister Moh’d Abubakar largely stemming from an incident dating back to 2003 national elections. During the said elections, Barrister Abubakar was stationed at Rivers State as the Electoral Officer in charge of the state. Interesting, at the conclusion of the election exercise – where Buhari was the presidential candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP] – the ANPP failed to garner a single vote from the entire state. Buhari, according to close sources, was not happy with the development. He pointed at the Electoral officer as having engaged in foulplay. “Even the ANPP party official’s vote for Buhari were not recorded”.
In the light of the recent developments in Bauchi under the purview of the same Barrister Abubakar as the governor of state, the presidency has remained on the alert and focused on the activities of the government. Particularly, the use of the said N8.6b bailout fund released from the federal government. According to a competent source in the National Assembly, only N1.6b was utilized to clear the backlog of worker’s salary – which at the time was only a month and half long. The remainder of N8b is said to have “grown wings”. But the associates of the governor claim the entire fund was utilized for the said purpose. In the words of one of the closest associates to the governor, “check ICPC records…Bauchi received, yes, N8.6b spent N8.52b in payment accrued salaries leaving a balance of some N88m. I know because I was involved.”
The recent spat of arrests of APC executives and social critics of the governor and the Bauchi government is said to have long been a concern to APC stakeholders within the party in the national assembly. The governor had ordered the arrest of the state APC chairman and the treasurer over what the governor believed was an act of disloyalty. Shortly following the arrest and detention, the Bauchi gov issued another order of arrest for a popular social critic and cyber commentator, Musa Azare. His arrest, according to the Bauchi police officers who came to arrest him at his Wuse residence in Abuja, was for his sharing of embarrassing document supposedly authored by close associates of the governor – concerning the 2019 gubernatorial election.
