Bauchi remains safest state in North-East despite security concerns — Gov Bala

Bauchi Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, has strongly asserted that his state remains the safest in the North-East sub-region, firmly denying that recent security incidents constitute genuine banditry.

Speaking at the opening of an extraordinary meeting of the State Executive Council (SEC) on Wednesday, the Governor addressed the security situation, specifically referencing a recent incident.

“Yes, we had an incident in Darazo last week. It was reported. But I want to tell you that, it is a community issue. We are here on the ground. We know it,” Governor Mohammed stated.

He reassured the public, “I want to tell the general public that, what happened in Darazo was not banditry. It is a community issue. We will handle it with the Police and the SS. Because of security reasons, I will not disclose all the information.”

He emphasized that this assurance is critical for economic activity, adding, “But investors will be reassured that it is not banditry.”

Governor Mohammed acknowledged the closure of schools, attributing it to proactive measures based on security advice rather than an admission of pervasive banditry.

“Yes, we closed our schools because we were asked to close them by the security agencies. They have more information than us… They have told us that there is a likelihood of abduction of our students as has been practiced all over,” he said.

He described the measures being taken to safeguard students: “By the end of the year all our schools will be fenced and we will put some lights and so on and so forth. And that is why the recruitment of the vigilante will be concurrent so that our aspect of safe-school programme as enunciated by the Office of the National Security Advisor will be implemented 100% emotionally.”

The Governor shifted focus to his administration’s financial strategy and development plans, labeling the upcoming financial plan as a “budget of consolidation.”

“I don’t know if you understand what we do, but we are collecting time and some money. That’s why it requires a lot of sacrifice and time,” he explained, noting that the coming budget would be his seventh, with the eighth being a “buy-buy budget.”

He stressed a commitment to seeing ongoing initiatives through to completion. “We don’t want to leave any project somewhere that we can’t do the best. We must take our projects and programmes with visions to a point of no return, to something that will be tangible and measurable.”

The Governor also announced a significant shift in funding strategy: “This year, we are going to be very ambitious. We are going to have a new trend, for the first time, we are taking a foreign loan, so that we will be able to recover it.” He clarified the purpose of the borrowing, saying, “we are not borowing money to chop, we are not borrowing money to make any impact or than to work for the citizens.”

Key areas earmarked for development and funding include water resources, agriculture, rural development, and education, particularly secondary schools.

Governor Mohammed charged his Commissioners to begin procurement preparations for 2026 immediately in 2025 to ensure efficient budget implementation, stating, “We are not a federal government where budget is not implemented. We implement our own, and that is why as sub-nationals, we are giving the fellows a cushion, a cushion of good governance.”

He concluded with a humble acknowledgment of the source of his administration’s success: “We will not be too proud and arrogant about what we have done, because whatever we do together, we have done it with the resources of the people of Bauchi State. We are their servants. We will have satisfaction that at least we have led the society better than where we have found it.”

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