I won’t join APC - Bala Mohammed accuses FG of persecuting him with EFCC
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Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has accused the Federal Government of using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to persecute him and officials of his administration over his refusal to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor made the allegation on Wednesday at the Government House in Bauchi while receiving an ambassadorial award for safety from the Institute of Safety Professionals in Nigeria.
Mohammed, who chairs the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, alleged that one of his commissioners was currently being detained by the EFCC, describing the action as politically motivated.
“As a governor, someone who is the head of the opposition, my commissioner has been kept and will not be released by the EFCC,” he said. “Even when I have immunity as a governor, my name was stupendously mentioned in a motion in a court of law in Nigeria. Me, Bala Mohammed.”
He said the actions of anti-graft agencies reflected the extent to which politics had influenced governance and state institutions.
“I don’t have to say anything. I don’t even have to go to the public court. But certainly, politics has become something in Nigeria,” the governor said.
Mohammed accused the APC-led Federal Government of deploying state institutions to intimidate political opponents.
“The APC-led federal government thinks they can use the courts and institutions of government, like the EFCC, to persecute and prosecute Nigerians who are not within their own party,” he alleged.
Insisting that he would not be coerced into joining the APC, the governor said no amount of pressure would change his political stance.
“I won’t allow anybody to criminalize me because I’m not in their party, and I refuse to join their party, and I will not join their party,” he declared.
Although he said he had remained quiet in the interest of peace and security, Mohammed warned that he would no longer keep silent if the alleged harassment continued.
“If they don’t stop, we are going to declare war. I assure you we are not going to keep quiet any longer,” he said.
The governor also accused the Federal Government of neglecting Bauchi State despite controlling a significant share of national resources.
“In my state, they have not provided one kilometre of road. You have not provided water. Even the security agencies—I’m the one paying them to work for us—and they have the guts to talk,” he said.
Mohammed further criticised the country’s tax policies, warning that the current system could worsen poverty if not reviewed.
His comments come amid reports that the EFCC has filed fresh criminal charges against the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and others over alleged terrorism financing involving about 9.7 million dollars.
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