Bauchi 2027 And The MA Question

Bauchi is well known for its political audacity and its campaigns and elections are usually exciting, tense and well driven by narratives of progressives who are on a continuous search for a government that will cater for the needs of the populace, and one that will transform the Bauchi economy from a government-dependent one to a more viable and independent one, rich in enterprise and industry. The govt of the day is rarely popular come election time in Bauchi, and usually a second term is won by the whiskers, if at all. No outgoing government has been able to usher in a new government of the same party, and interchangeably, the main parties have rotated power between themselves; that is, the APC and the PDP.

Back in 2019, APC lost the election after a single term, as the new progressive party was unable to build on its success in 2015. Internal bickering between stakeholders and the government of the day led by Gov. MA Abubakar, SAN, did APC in, and PDP was there to pick up the spoils. It was a bitter lesson for the APC, and if time were to travel backwards, I am sure the party would handle its differences much better and not work itself out of power for a good eight years.

In Bauchi, 2026 has ushered in the most precarious, intriguing, and unimaginable political intrigues the state has ever seen since the fourth republic. The government of the day threw away its PDP umbrella and morphed into an otherwise unknown party, the APM, with its flag bearer a little-known public servant with little to be desired in public service experience. The main opposition party, the APC, lost two of its most prominent contenders: two senior ministers from the state, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, whom yours truly supported, and Amb. Maitama Tuggar. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu still needed Prof. Pate’s stewardship, which was more than obvious, and he wouldn’t let go of him.

Even though Tuggar was in the race, he did not make it through the party’s consensus process. With Prof. Pate and Amb Tuggar out of his way, MA Abubakar emerged as APC’s guber candidate. He comes with a rich CV of public service at both state and federal levels. He rose to be Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Bauchi state, a position he held twice. He joined the justice ministry in Bauchi as a Pupil State Counsel and rose to become Senior Parliamentary Counsel and Head of Legal Drafting Department. He was also the NBA Chairman in Bauchi. At the federal level, he became a Resident Electoral Commissioner at INEC, and after years of service, he was promoted to National Electoral Commissioner. In 2013, MA Abubakar was appointed as a member of the National Judicial Council. MA Abubakar is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.

Lest I forget, he brings four years of experience as Bauchi governor to the table. Unequivocally, other contenders are lighter than MA Abubakar. They include: Sen. Shehu Buba a first time senator, Manu Soro a business man and politician, and ofcourse the seasoned oil guru, Bala Wunti, who was making his first foray into politics. Shehu Buba would eventually move to the PRP to become its guber candidate, and Sen. Halliru Jika had long moved to become the guber candidate of the ADC. Air Marshal Sadiq withdrew from the race after being appointed ADC. In the final analysis, what we have is a walk in the parks for MA Abubakar with a but…

The unfortunate rhetoric peddled around that MA’s first tenure is a no-show is simply untrue. What really did him in was intra-party politics, up till the last hour. Second to that is the verification exercise for civil servants, which is a noble exercise but, with hindsight, could have been done a little differently. Billions are frittered away in the name of a bloated civil service, which is now pedestrian knowledge. Aside from these, the truth must be told: there are monumental projects delivered by the MA Abubakar administration that are being wished away.

Do you remember the good strides in our education sector results? How do Bauchi’s WAEC standards of his tenure compare to today’s? What about the $65 million World Bank water project? Although it was completed by Kaura, it was conceptualised by the MA admin and the financial commitment was made by his govt. What about the 130km Misau/ Udubo road? You see roads constructed by state governments, and you would have to merge 10 to 15 roads together before you achieve this amount of construction work. Misau, Azare, and Bauchi witnessed a great deal of road work too, and major ones like the Jos road, Airport road, and Maiduguri road, which have now been completed, were all started during his tenure and eventually expanded. He was unlucky to have served only a single term; he would have completed them. MA inherited 3 months of unpaid salaries when he became governor, but he paid them in a little over a month.

This led to him being dubbed the alerter! back then. I wouldn’t forget in a hurry the incentives, loans and grants that Bauchi businessmen enjoyed during his tenure. These initiatives were extended to farmers as well, being front-runner beneficiaries during the Buhari administration. MA’s achievements are too numerous to capture here for want of space. Lest we forget, his administration was at a time of penury for the govt. Govt was broke then and had little inflow. The government you see today is different from the one back then, and one must appreciate this significant fact. When you deduct loans and salaries from the state’s monthly allocation, you are left with “shingbai”! Nothing to work with.

So let us face our reality and tell ourselves the holy truth… the other candidates aside, MA, are little-tested new entrants enjoying the political stardom that today’s lame politics has entrenched in our polity. The politics of car gifts, motorcycles and cash gifts, which will be repaid painfully after the elections.

They will be repaid by pushing our treasury into more squalor while development is postponed to the promises of another round of campaigns. MA has been tested and found to be in trusted hands. He neither squandered nor amassed wealth while in power. In fact, part of his undoing was that he was such a prudent administrator that he did not choose the vainglorious path of breaking the bank to satisfy supporters and big-bagged interests. Bauchi has the choice of electing an experienced civil servant and a blessed politician whom Allah has gifted another opportunity to serve his people, right the wrongs, and put Bauchi on a path that ensures steady growth, financial independence, and a burgeoning pool of entrepreneurs who will provide employment for our teeming youths. Bauchi has quite an easy choice come election day, after all the noise of the campaigns, their motorbikes, and their touts.