Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has said that he has no apology for criticising the policies of President Bola Tinubu-led administration for inflicting untold hardship on the people of Nigeria.
The governor clarified that his recent comments on Tinubu’s economic policies were not meant to cause insult to anyone, but to put the situation in its right context even as he challenged his Commissioners to also do the right thing to alleviate the people’s suffering.
Governor Mohammed spoke on Wednesday when he chaired the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting at the Government House in Bauchi, emphasising the importance of concerted efforts and information sharing.
He said: “We have seen the spatial inflation, the macro-economic indices even globally is not favourable and the national policies brought under this administration are not favourable for us because we have the blame.
“We are not on our own, and that is why I spoke. I spoke as an opposition constructively and as somebody who means well to the president, the government, and the people of Nigeria.”
Added that, “Having said that, whoever make any bad comment on me, that is the cost of leadership and I have no apology for that. I am not doing it to cause any disaffection or to insult anybody. Precisely, we are not also spared in what I said; it is not about partisan politics; it is about responsibility.”
The governor emphasised the necessity for government at all levels to intensify efforts in delivering social amenities to citizens, particularly those living in rural communities.
“All of us here, as leaders, members of council, and commissioners representing local governments know what is going on there; you represent them here.
“Of course, we know we had to listen when the cries of Nigerians were raised loudly against bad governance in areas of limitations and inadequacies where the expectations of our people have not been met for whatever reasons.”
The governor added that, “We have scarce resources to manage; that is why I said we must use the little resources that we have to do so much. Nobody cares; nobody will listen to you if you begin to pass the buck, to complain, and to say this and that.”
He stressed that, “In our style of leadership, we don’t blame our predecessors; that is why God brought us here to manage the situation, to make it better.
“We know we are not in charge of national policies and programmes, but we must be able to implement national programmes as loyal federalists while at the same time looking at our own challenges and making sure we are connecting with the people.”
The governor stressed that, “Certainly, when something is so spontaneous as a protest, you cannot be spared no matter how good you are, and so we are not just blaming the federal government for everything; we also have to look at ourselves and make sure we do things that will put food on our table and make things easier.”
Mohammed assured that he will continue, going forward, to connect with the people and come up with policies and programmes that will better the lot of the people irrespective of the scarcity of resources and the challenges and problems.
He urged members of the State Executive Council to intensify efforts in realising his administration’s policies aimed at alleviating the hardship of the citizens.
He, however, called on citizens of the state to support his administration’s progress, emphasising that improving their safety and well-being remained his highest priority.
