By Ismaila Jimoh, Abuja
Former Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has sent a word of caution to the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed over his recent outbursts against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barr. Nyesom Wike.
Dogara in a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists in Abuja reminded Governor Bala Mohammed how Wike was instrumental to his emergence as Bauchi State governor during the 2018 election.
According to the former Speaker: ” For starters, need I remind Governor Bala Mohammed that in 2018 PDP Gubernatorial primaries when we were not too sure he will win because, his then major opponent, Senator Abdul Ningi was the one who constituted the State party structure and had a bosom friend as Party chairman, it was Wike we turned to for help. I had called Wike to plead with him to help us in Bauchi without necessarily disclosing to him that it was Bala Mohammed that we wanted delivered. His response to me, was that are you sure you are in control of the process 100 percent? I said, I wasn’t too sure and he said to me leave it to me, I will help you sort it out.
” To do it, Wike first of all made his bosom friend and close ally, Chief Dan Osi Orbih the Chairman of the Panel for the Primaries and said I should discuss whatever I wanted with Chief Dan. We got talking and on the eve of the Primaries, Chief Dan was in Benin city and we needed to get him to Bauchi for the assignment, it was to Wike that I turned to again and his response to me was, my brother, I have told you not to bother about this. Tell Chief Dan to come to meet me in Port Harcourt. I did just that and amazingly Wike provided the private jet that flew Chief Dan to Bauchi and out of Bauchi for the assignment. I can say without fear of any contradiction that Wike bore all expenses for the exercise. It’s therefore shocking that this so called transactional character called Wike did not place any condition whatsoever for his support.
” As someone who knows so much because I was the provocateur of the events between the two that I will speak to, I consider my silence not just cowardice but complicity. Therefore, I am not afraid to stand alone or risk conflict. I should not be misunderstood to be defending Wike but simply stating the raw truth that I know and I really don’t give a damn if the truth makes Wike look good. I have learnt to say the truth as I enjoy my freedom from being a slave to human opinion.
” That is just the beginning of the story, I hate to tell but I must. After the emergence of Bala Mohammed as the party flag bearer and having promised to sponsor all the party candidates if he gets the ticket, we were rudely awoken to the reality that Bala Mohammed had no money for his own campaigns let alone for other candidates of the party. Initially I thought it was some kind of a funny joke but as time went, I realized to my utter bewilderment that it was true. It turned out Bala Mohammed had lied to us about his financial capacity.
In the light of the above, Dogara disclosed that a meeting had to be arranged with the sole aim of raising funds for Bala’s election, hoping that as a Minister for six year he must have built enough goodwill which the fundraiser committee could leverage on.
” A committee was put in place and we spent N20 million to organize the fundraiser at the then Lady Kwai Hall, Sheraton Hotels, Abuja.
” All we raised from the fundraiser was a paltry N48 million and If you deduct the N20 million invested in organising it, that leaves you with a net of N28m. I have the records and our stakeholders are there to bear witness to this .
” When it was obvious the masquerade will soon turn to a human being, I told our then two serving Senators who are alive and can testify that the only option we had was to go to a friend and brother, then Governor Wike for assistance. We got tickets and flew to Port Harcourt with Bala Mohammed without informing Wike that we were coming with him.
He said it was while meeting with Wike he observed he was cold on seen Bala Mohammed, saying that Wike later confided with him how Bala as FCT Minister gave land to all Ministers during Jonathan administration exempt him, and that there was a time he went to his office to see him for approval of redesign of one of his house in Abuja, but, Bala kept him waiting for hours, he later sneaked out of the office without seen him.
“To cut the long story short, we passed the night at the Government house and the next morning Wike called and directed that his cash assistance be handed over to me to pass to Bala. I said, your Excellency, it’s better I call him so that he can collect the assistance himself least he thinks you are still angry with him. I sent for Bala and when he came Wike’s aide handed over the package to him and he collected it while almost kissing the ground. Wike therefore gave us the lifeline we needed to kick start Bala’s campaigns. If Bala has forgotten how much we left with that day, I will remind him. Wike didn’t stopped there, he gave us a private jet to ferry us back to Abuja. And I must add that was not the only time Wike helped Bala with resources and logistics. What is baffling is that the so called transactional Wike did not demand for anything in return nor place any condition for all that he did. Believe me this is not the end of the story but let’s leave it here.
” With all these, my question to Bala is what happens to the golden adage that you don’t attempt to break the calabash from which you once sucked honey? For Bala, power is a poison and anyone who questions how he wields it, for that reason, is an eternal heretic that must be crushed at all cost.
END.
