- He said his criticism of Tinubu was spurred by his desire to see the president succeed and because he meant well for the country and its people.
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state has opened up on why he criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the #Endbadgovernance protest occasioned by hardship and hunger in the country.
He said his criticism of Tinubu was spurred by his desire to see the president succeed and because he meant well for the country and its people.
Speaking before the commencement of the Bauchi State Executive Council (SEC) meeting, on Wednesday, Mohammed disclosed that his criticism was done in good faith and not out of spite.
“I spoke constructively as an opposition and somebody who means well for the president, the government and the people of Nigeria. I had not done it to cause any dis-affection or to insult anybody,” he said
Recall that the governor berated the President for his policies and programmes, saying they had impoverished Nigerians.
He had also said that the speech of the president on August 4, calling on the protesters to suspend the protest and come for dialogue, was ‘very empty” and did not inspire confidence.
Some political leaders in the state, including former Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and a serving Senator, Shehu Buba, had, however, chided the governor over his action.
Addressing the Council, Mohammed noted that his outburst should be seen as a wake up call to the federal government and the sub-national to hearken to the plights of the citizens.
“We have to listen when their cry is very loud on bad governance and areas of limitations and inadequacies, where the expectations of our people have not been met. We have scarce resources to manage and that is why I said we must use the little resources that we have, to do so much.
“Nobody cares, nobody will listen to you, when you begin to complain and blame our predecessors for the inadequacies,” he said
The governor said it was wrong to blame only the Federal Government for the troubling state of the nation and bad governance because the states were also culpable.
“We are not just blaming the federal government for everything. We (states) also have to look at ourselves, do a swift analysis on ourselves and make sure we do things that would put food on the table and make things easier.
“We know we are not in charge of national policies and programmes, but we must be able to implement national policies as a loyal federalist.
“We should, at the same time, look at our own challenges and make sure that we connect with the people,” he said.
Mohammed stressed that governors were not left out from what he said, and it was not about partisan politics, but, about responsibility.
Mohammed appreciated members of the council for the support and sense of comradeship they had exhibited over the years.(NAN)