Bauchi deputy gov didn’t slap Foreign Affairs Minister — Aide

The alleged altercation between the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Rt. Hon Auwal Mohammed Jatau, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has been described as a farce and an expensive joke of the year.

Reports circulating on social media claimed that the Deputy Governor engaged in a heated and insulting argument with the Minister, allegedly leading to fisticuffs between the two during the wedding ceremony of the daughter of the immediate past Governor of the State, MA Abubakar SAN.

However, the Media Aide to the Deputy Governor, Muslim Lawal, denied the allegations that his Principal slapped the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar.

Reacting to the unconfirmed reports that the Deputy Governor attacked the Minister on the way to the Emir of Bauchi’s palace, where the dual ceremonies were held on Friday, Muslim Lawal said, “No, no, how can a Deputy Governor slap a Minister? I don’t think such things can ever happen in Bauchi State. Because I know my Principal as a responsible leader and the Number Two citizen in Bauchi, he can never slap a Minister or any person.”

According to him, “I am not aware of that, and I am hearing it for the first time. If there is any evidence that the Deputy Governor did that, you can speak on that.”

He stressed, “We don’t know about it. The Deputy Governor cannot do that, and that is our position.”

Efforts to obtain a reaction from the Foreign Affairs Minister were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.

Additionally, several Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State, who were contacted regarding the development, denied any knowledge of such an incident.

Speaking variously over the phone, they described the Minister as a peace-loving individual who would not stoop so low as to engage in physical assault with anyone, let alone a sitting Deputy Governor of his State.

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