Lere Olayinka, the media aide to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has blasted Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed over the latter's recent scathing remarks against his principal.

In a statement by his Special Adviser for Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado, on Thursday, January 23, 2025, Mohammed accused Wike of being a “transactional politician” driven by personal ambition rather than principles.

The accusation was a reaction to the FCT Minister’s criticism of Mohammed’s opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s Tax Reform Bills.

The Governor described Wike’s comments as “baseless” and “hypocritical,” highlighting Wike’s alleged political opportunism.

Olayinka blasts Mohammed

Responding in a statement on Friday, Olayinka asked Mohammed to desist from using his principal's ministerial appointment as an excuse for his alleged lack of capacity.

He claimed that the Governor, who also chairs the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, has failed to steer the group in the right direction.

He reminded Mohammed how he dumped his political godfather and former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, in 2007, and as a member of the defunct All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), he did the same thing to former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2010 for a ministerial appointment under the PDP government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The aide wondered how Wike's ministerial appointment was the reason for the Bauchi Governor's failure as Chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum, accusing him of chasing the PDP ticket to contest for president in 2027.

"First, Governor Bala Mohammed is holding the position of Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum out of political greed, because by convention and practice, the position should be held by one of the PDP Governors in the South. Reason being that the immediate past Chairman of the Forum was from the North, same as the PDP National Chairman.

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"Secondly, despite usurping the position of the PDP Governors Forum because of his rapacious nature, Bala Mohammed, has demonstrated lack of capacity to lead the PDP, reason the party is how it is today.

"Sadly, rather than taking responsibilities of leadership and acting same, Bala Mohammed opted to divide the PDP's National Working Committee (NWC), relating with a faction while neglecting the other.

"For his ineptitude and lack of capacity to lead, Bala Mohammed has been blaming Chief Ezenwo Nyesom Wike's appointment as FCT Minister," Olayinka said.

The statement further said: "Do we still need to feed Bala Mohammed with the fact that Wike, a committed member of the PDP is serving in the APC government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, is not new in the history of politics and governance in Nigeria?

"Between 2009 and 2003, there were three political parties - PDP, All Nigerians People's Party (APP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD). PDP won the presidency, but President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed members of APP and AD to serve in the government.

"Funny enough, this same Bala Mohammed became Minister in 2010 while still being a member of the defunct ANPP. His defection to the PDP, months after being appointed as Minister, was to demonstrate his fairweather and anywhere-belle-face politics.

"Even at that, is it because Wike is a Minister that Bala Mohammed has faltered in carrying out the responsibilities of the position of Chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum that he usurped? Could Bala Mohammed have displayed the capacity that he obviously lacked if Wike was not serving in Tinubu's government?

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"Bala Mohammed's lack of capacity was the reason the PDP was not allowed to campaign in Bauchi in 2015, even with him as a serving FCT Minister, a shameless history that no politician worth his salt will want to be associated with.

"For a man like Bala Mohammed to call Wike a 'transactional politician', is not only ridiculous, but preposterous.

"Records of his political treachery are open for everyone to see, except perhaps ostrich Bala Mohammed himself. Despite serving as Personal Assistant (PA) to former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, when he was Minister of Aviation, he fell out with his political godfather after he (Yuguda) married President Umaru Yar'Adua's daughter and decamped to the PDP. But when Yar'Adua died, Bala Mohammed quickly took ministerial appointment under the same PDP government.

"For us, it is our sincere counsel to handlers of Senator Bala Mohammed to tell him to address his failure to provide leadership for the PDP the way Wike did after the party lost power in 2015. Then, when Wike was taking bullets for the PDP, Bala Mohammed was probably hiding under the wrapper of his wives.

"Chairman of PDP Governors' Forum no be by mouth abeg!

"As for Chief Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, he will continue to excel wherever he finds himself, and it is obviously obvious now that what Bala Mohammed struggled to achieve during his five years as FCT Minister cannot come anywhere near what has been done within the last 12 months that President Tinubu appointed Wike as FCT Minister. Eyes saw between 2010 and 2015, and eyes can see now."