Bala Mohammed Blasts Ex-Senator, Calls PDP To Clampdown On Campaigns Of Calumny
The governor of Bauchi State who is also a frontline presidential aspirant on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform and one of the two consensus candidates of the Northern elders, Senator Bala Mohammed, has described Senator Ehigie Uzamere as a disgrace to the party even as he urged the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to call the former Edo Senator and the campaign organisation he represents to order over his recent “uncouth, reprehensible, gutter sniping and irresponsible public statements he made against Sen Bala Mohammed”.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja Thursday, the spokesperson of the Bala Mohammed Presidential Campaign, Prof Udenta O. Udenta berated Senator Ehigie Uzamere, describing him as a meddlesome interloper who peddles political dirt as a way of life. Prof Udenta while re-stating that Senator Bala Mohammed’s sterling credentials and unblemished public service record as a Director, Senator, Minister and Governor of Bauchi State, vehemently called on the PDP NWC to quickly rein in “such rogue political characters before they inflict damage on the culture of civility and cordiality that ought to define the primary campaign process”.
“PDP does not need this type of acrimony now. We are having a family conversation. Unbecoming characters like Senator Uzamere, whose stock in trade is to damage people’s reputation as a means of getting on in life, and indeed the campaign organisation they are affiliated to or associated with must be cautioned by the NWC to avoid the situation from getting out of hand. The PDP must rein in those using uncouth language against other aspirants”.
The campaign spokesperson described the Senator from Edo State, as “a paid agent working towards the destabilisation of the current climate of civility and cordiality that currently pervades the party. He added that “we are not sure who Uzamere is working for but enough is enough. This will be our last studied and restrained response to his unprovoked attack against Senator Bala Mohammed. Next time around, we will remove our gloves and go bare-knuckles with such unsavoury individuals and the dark political forces and entities egging them on. Make no mistake about it, Senator Bala Mohammed’s campaign organisation has the requisite communication skills, robust energy, intestinal fortitude and intellectual depth to take on such sleazy individuals without minding the consequences to party coherence unless the NEC does the needful”.
He also added that “Bala Mohammed holds Alhaji Abubakar Atiku in high regard and is sure Abubakar Atiku also holds Bala Mohammed in high regard and believes strongly that the effort of political clowns and creatures of the night like Uzamere will not damage the respect the two leaders have for one another”.
Senator Uzamere had on Tuesday, berated the Bauchi State governor over what he described as innocuous remarks made by him on the candidacy of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP.
Governor Mohammed had while speaking on the consensus dilemma in the party when he appeared on a TV programme asked Atiku to step down for him, saying that he is more qualified than the former Vice President.
Reacting to Mohammed’s statement, Sen. Uzamere, who represented Edo South Senatorial district of Edo State (2007 – 2011)warned the governor to be ready to receive the same measure as he has chosen to insult his elders, especially one whom he must have benefitted from at one time or the other.
The statement reads: “There is a popular saying that those the gods want to destroy, they first make mad. Those who do not know where the rain started beating them, won’t know when it stops raining. My dear Gov. Bala Mohammed you are dancing naked in the market square, and only a true friend will draw your attention to your foibles, as you begin to derail. Nobody is against your contesting for president and squaring it off with Atiku Abubakar and others, but you do not have to descend to the level of insult. You have reeled off your pedigree. What about Atiku, are you comparing yourself with?
“It is always good to remember who we were, where we started from, at what point fortune smiled at us, and who we are.
“Atiku Abubakar is not the best man on earth, but there’s no basis for comparison between you, Bala Mohammed and Wazirin Adamawa. You were a Special Assistant to Minister Isa Yuguda appointed by Atiku Abubakar and his principal President Olusegun Obasanjo, who (Isa Yuguda) you betrayed and humiliated. Before this appointment, you worked with several ministries and we are yet to see or hear of your extraordinary achievement in any of these ministries.
“You became a Senator in 2007, long after Vice President Atiku Abubakar had served for 8 years as VP. A senator that almost lost his seat through a recall by his dissatisfied people, but for the saving grace of your colleague Senators who recommended you for ministerial appointment to Goodluck Jonathan, or have you forgotten? I’ll remind you. As a convener, together with Senators Emmanuel Paulker, Nasif Suleiman, and Gada formed the National Interest Group (NIG), a pressure group that convinced the National Assembly of the emergence of Jonathan as President, under the doctrine of necessity. To give NIG a national outlook, we invited and persuaded you of the then ANPP stock, to Chair the Group. President Goodluck Jonathan had offered the Group a ministerial slot and to save you the embarrassment of a recall by your people, we gave you that slot. This marked a major turning point in your life.
“Before your turning point in life, Atiku Abubakar had won election as Governor of Adamawa State before he left it to become Vice President. Where were you? A journalist chasing scoops from Atiku Abubakar’s office?
“You attended the University of Maiduguri where you graduated with a first degree in the Arts Faculty. Atiku Abubakar attended the more prestigious Ahmadu Bello University and capped his scholarship with a Master’s degree in International Relations from a UK university in 2021. He could have had it easy at his American University of Nigeria, Yola, but he chose to school abroad and task his brain at his age. Atiku Abubakar is a successful businessman who has thousands of people in his employment. You are yet to tell us about your enterprise and how many are in your employ. Atiku Abubakar and his children do not have any cases with EFCC, but you and your son have pending cases with EFCC. Where then is your touted pedigree?
