Bauchi Gov Denies Being Sick, Confident of Victory at Supreme Court
POLITICS DIGEST – Bauchi state Governor Bala Mohammed has expressed his confidence that the Supreme Court’s judgement on the state’s governorship election will favour him.
He said he was not troubled, knowing that the Judiciary, being the last hope of the common man, will ensure justice and uphold the choice of the common man in Bauchi State, who voted overwhelmingly for him and rejected his opponents at the last election.
The governor, who spoke in Abuja through the Commissioner for Information, Ladan Salihu, faulted claim that he was very sick and bedridden.
Salihu, a former Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), said the governor’s trip to the United Kingdom was for a routine check up after undergoing the rigorous activities associated with the last election circle, in which he was a major participant.
He said the governor was back in the country and plans to attend the court’s proceedings scheduled for January 20, 2020 in Abuja.
Salihu said: “About the case before the Supreme Court, we are very upbeat. Bala Mohammed is a democrat. He is a product of democracy and the rule of law.
“He is a champion of good governance and believes that the Judiciary is the last hope of the common man. And the common man in Bauchi State actually voted Bala Mohammed. So, we are very confident that justice will be served in our favour.
“I would not want to go near that red line of subjudice, but I can tell you confidently that we are not particularly worried, but we are concerned, because it is a process that is not in your hand.
“But, if you ask me, I will say the governor is very calm, he is very hopeful. We are all hopeful and are not, by any stretch of imagination, worried or afraid of the process, because we won a clean election and beat our opponents hands down.
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“And, like I said, the Judiciary, which is the hope of the common man, we believe that the will of the common man that voted for Governor Bala Mohammed in Bauchi State, will prevail and that justice will be served. So let us wait and see.
“His (Mohammed’s) absence at the Supreme Court when the case was earlier slated for hearing was because he was outside the country on medical check up.
“His Excellency, the Governor was away to the United Kingdom having spend more than one full year on the campaign trail and participated in a very tough election and won. So, he needed to have a word with his doctors and he is now ok.
“The social media was awash with a lot of insinuations and our opponents tried to cash in on this situation. Some of them were even suggesting that he was bedridden. Fortunately all the speculations are far from the truth.
“As we speak, Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed is back to the country. He is not only well, he is hale and hearty. and he will make an appearance on Monday at the Supreme Court when the case is coming up for hearing.
“There is nothing about his sickness. It is just a routine medical trip and some people tried to cash in an give it all manner of negative spins to suggest that he was bedridden. He was never bedridden,” the Commissioner said.
He said the state has witnessed massive infrastructural renewal, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare, since Mohammed became governor.
Salihu said the governor was passionate about positively lifting the state, and committed to ensuring that the state was returned to the path of growth and development.
“Before now, we have had a government that brought a lot of disequilibrium in terns of social and economic living conditions, and in terms of the political atmosphere.
“In the last four years, prior to the advent of Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed as a governor, Bauchi State was the poorest state in this country. We had about 1.3million children out of school.
“The hospitals and the entire health system collapsed. There was nothing that was functional. Major infrastructural facilities were in decay.
“Today, the difference is clear. The current administration is fast turning around the fortune of the state. You need to visit Bauchi to see things by yourself,” Salihu said.
