‘Mischievous falsehood’: Bauchi governor’s aide dismisses PRP defection rumours

The Sun

The Bauchi State Government has strongly refuted rumours that Governor Bala Mohammed is planning to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), describing the allegation as “baseless” and a “figment of the imagination” of attention-seekers.

In a press statement issued Wednesday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado, the government reacted to a claim reportedly made by the PRP’s state Publicity Secretary that Governor Mohammed would not be welcome in the party.

“Ordinarily, such a baseless remark would have been dismissed as the ramblings of an attention-seeker desperate for relevance,” the statement read, adding that silence in the face of falsehood could be misinterpreted as acceptance.

The government categorically denied that Governor Mohammed has ever contemplated leaving the PDP or made any overtures to the PRP.

“We state unequivocally that at no time has Governor Bala Mohammed contemplated leaving the PDP, let alone initiating any move to defect to another party,” Gidado declared.

Instead, the statement highlighted the governor’s role in “rescuing” the PDP from what it called “contrived crises engineered by anti-democratic forces bent on turning Nigeria into a one-party dictatorship.”

The rebuttal also took a swipe at the PRP, noting that Governor Mohammed’s electoral dominance over the party in two previous elections and questioning its progressive credentials.

“That the PRP fails to appreciate the benefits of such bold reforms only exposes the hollowness of a party progressive in name but retrogressive in character,” the statement said, defending the governor’s restructuring of traditional institutions and devolution of powers as part of his vision of empowerment and inclusion.

While firmly denying any immediate plan to leave the PDP, the statement left the door slightly ajar for future possibilities, stressing that Governor Mohammed, “like any citizen, reserves the right to determine his future political alignments” should circumstances change.

It warned residents against entrusting the state’s recent gains in infrastructure, rural development, urban renewal, and tourism to “bellyaching ideologues whose stock-in-trade is habitual criticism of every government.”

The statement concluded with a reassurance that “nothing, absolutely nothing” will distract Governor Mohammed from his commitment to the development of Bauchi State despite internal PDP challenges and time constraints.