Ali Pate Plays The Long Game

In Bauchi, where the sitting governor is an opposition figure, the role of party leader presenting the APC candidate to the national leader of the party, President Bola Tinubu, was played by Minister of Health, Ali Pate.

The minister, it seems, is positioning himself to be kingmaker ahead of the Bauchi governorship race in 2027 by orchestrating the emergence of Mohammed Abubakar as the APC flagbearer.

The irony is that the health minister is known to have a burning desire to be the state’s governor, and, along with former Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, was seen as a rival for the APC ticket within Tinubu’s cabinet.

Why Pate chose not to run and instead support Abubakar to Tuggar’s chagrin is the subject of speculation. But a clear indication that the minister has not given up on his own aspiration is his choice of Abubakar for the ticket.

Abubakar, having already served one term from 2015 to 2019 as governor, can serve only one more term, creating a vacancy in 2031.

Should APC muscle their way to snatch the state from Bala Mohammed’s APM, Pate will still need political dynamics in an unpredictable future to be in his favour.