The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, would not have succeeded without Nyesom Wike.
Naija News reported that Governor Mohammed and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister have been at each other’s heel over Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership.
The Governor called Wike a transactional politician; Wike in response described him as a greedy man.
According to the FCT Minister, the Bauchi Governor was not supposed to be the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, the position should be held by a southern governor.
In a statement on Tuesday, signed by himself, Dogara slammed Mohammed for describing Wike as a transactional politician.
He recalled that it was the former Rivers State Governor that secured Mohammed’s ticket to be PDP candidate and funded majorly his governorship campaign.
“Governor Bala Mohammed’s recent outbursts against His Excellency Nyeson Wike, the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory though not entirely surprising have only served to expand the vistas of ingratitude and treachery based on what I know,” he said.
How Governor Mohammed Emerged PDP Candidate
Addressing events that led to Mohammed’s emergence as governorship candidate of the PDP in 2018, he stated:
“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.
How Wike Funded Mohammed’s Campaign After Winning Primary
The former speaker of the House further disclosed that Mohammed when he was FCT Minister under President Goodluck Jonathan had no funds to finance his campaign.
According to Dogara, the Bauchi State Governor lied that he was capable of funding his campaign. He added that except for Wike, the ₦48 million they raised for Mohammed could not have funded his campaign.
His words: ‘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.
“So we had a meeting at my then residence at Wuse 2 Abuja to help raise money and we thought since Bala Mohammed was one time Minister for nearly 6 years, he must have built enough goodwill we could harness if we organised a fundraiser for him.
“A committee was put in place and we spent ₦20 million to organize the fundraiser at the then Lady Kwai Hall, Sheraton Hotels, Abuja.
“Before then, I had asked Bala Mohammed to give me a list of some of the people he had helped while he held sway as Minister for FCT.
“He obliged me with the list and after calling just four people on the list that I know so well, what they said to me jolted me and I reserve that for some other day. But suffice to say that I knew the fundraiser will be a flop. Do, I was already thinking of alternatives.
“And as predicted, we had the fundraiser and to cut the long story short, all we raised from the fundraiser was a paltry ₦48 million and If you deduct the ₦20 million invested in organising it, that leaves you with a net of ₦28m. 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. On arrival, we were ushered into the Government house and asked to take our seats and wait for the Governor who was still upstairs to join us shortly.
“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.”