The battle between Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, is still rumbling.
Recall that the Bauchi State governor had sent a letter to the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, accusing Atiku of looking away as crises consumed the party’s structure in Bauchi.
Governor Mohammed said Atiku had not shown him the needed respect and confidence to work.
In the letter, the governor claimed that he was excluded from the activities of the campaign council as it related to his office and was not carried along on certain decisions.
However, the PDP, through its various spokespersons, has denied reports of any rift between the duo.
But The Nation reports that a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and ex-Bauchi Governor and former PDP chairman, Adamu Muazu, have reportedly joined forces with Atiku against Mohammed.
It was gathered that the Bauchi governor is uncomfortable with the Atiku/Muazu parley.
A source disclosed that Mohammed had accused the former PDP chairman of being a disloyal party man.
He added that the feud between Muazu, who heads Atiku’s presidential campaign for North East, and Mohammed dated back to 2007 when he (Muazu) lost Bauchi South senatorial ticket to the governor.
According to the source, at a PDP caucus meeting last year, Mohammed publicly quarreled with Muazu before storming out of the meeting.
The source said further that although Mu’azu has no political relevance and cannot threaten Mohammed’s reelection, the failure of Atiku to call him to order aggravated issues.
The source said: “So, all is not well. The likes of Dogara and Muazu have added fuel to the whole thing. As a result, Atiku might likely support another candidate against Mohammed.”
On Dogara
The source said Atiku might likely take advantage of his stance on the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
The source said: “Atiku needs Bauchi votes and might likely rely on Dogara and some others since Mohammed is out of the picture.
"So, an alignment between Yakubu Dogara and Atiku cannot be ruled out at this period when the former speaker has a score to settle with the governor.
“You know Dogara’s defection to the PDP on the eve of the last general elections assisted Mohammed to oust the immediate past Governor Mohammed Abubakar, who contested the election on the platform of the APC.
“Similar scenario might play out between Dogara and Mohammed, who later parted ways before the governor celebrated one year in office.
“The former speaker had accused the incumbent governor of mismanagement while alleging that he has derailed from his electioneering promises; a development, he said, forced him to return to the APC.”
Confirming the development, the Publicity Secretary of PDP in Bauchi, Yayanuwa Zainabari, said the chapter was united behind Atiku and Mohammed.
"It’s quite unfortunate that the likes of Dogara and Mu’azu are the ones meeting in Abuja to cause disaffection in our party," he added.
This article was originally published on Naija News
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