Abuja—A presidential aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bala Mohammed, has secretly bought the Bauchi governorship form.
According to an exclusive Premium Times report, Mr. Mohammed did not only purchase the governorship form but he has also been screened to compete during the state’s primary.
Bala Mohammed while publicly seeking the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, is reported to have secretly purchased the nomination form and has been cleared to contest in his state’s governorship primary.
Mr. Mohammed who is serving his first term as governor of the state is eligible for reelection. However, there have been speculations over who will emerge as his successor in 2023 after he declared his intention to run for Nigeria’s presidency.
One of such speculations suggested that the Secretary to the Government of the state, Ibrahim Kashim, entered a pact to act as a placeholder for the governor where Kashim would secretly resign and obtain the governorship nomination form of the party and proceed to compete in the primary.
If he succeeds, and Mr. Mohammed is not successful in his bid to be the party’s presidential candidate, he will step down and be replaced by Mr. Mohammed, those peddling the claim said.
But sources within the PDP have dismissed this speculation as untrue, saying that Mr. Mohammed has not only secretly purchased the form for the state’s gubernatorial primary but has been screened and cleared to compete during the primary.
Last month, Mr. Mohammed and a former senate president, Bukola Saraki, were controversially selected as consensus candidates of the northern region during the party’s primary. Other contestants from the region rejected that decision.
When reached for comment, the spokesperson for Mr. Mohammed’s presidential campaign, Udenta Udenta, described Mr. Mohammed’s clearance to run for the Bauchi PDP gubernatorial primary as mere speculation and declined further comment.
“I don’t comment on mere rumours. What I know is that he had been screened to contest for the presidency and he has joined a long list of other candidates,” he said.
However, Premium Times reports that the purchase of the gubernatorial form by Mr. Mohammed is beyond rumours and that he would most likely withdraw from the presidential race before long.
Meanwhile, the governor’s spokesperson, Mukhtar Gidado, did not return calls and messages sent to his known mobile telephone number seeking comment for this story.
