I’ve not left PDP — Gov Bala

In the midst of ongoing widespread speculation over his political stance, Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, has described himself as an enigma in Nigeria’s political scene.

The governor was speaking informally with journalists on Tuesday at the Government House shortly after swearing in seventeen new Permanent Secretaries.

A humorous Bala Mohammed said that he has not “moved” from his political party, Nigeria’s main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to any other political party.

There has been speculation that he has negotiated how to cross the carpet to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

As the journalists pressed him to comment on his political situation, particularly the rumoured defection, Bala Mohammed simply said, “Pressmen, no interview for now; I will speak with Channels Television at 7 pm.”

The governor jokingly declared, “I am now an international figure in politics. I don’t want to domesticate myself; I will address this later today.”

He stressed with a smile that, “I have not moved. They said that I have defected. I have become a very big golden fish in the political scene of Nigeria.”

Bala Mohammed, who is the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, is now left in the PDP with his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, following the defection of Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Ahmadu Fintiri (Adamawa), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), and Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers).