By Yemi Shola, Bauchi
Haruna Mohammed Salisu, the Publisher of WikkiTimes, a Bauchi based Digital Accountability, Investigative and Data Journalism outlet has accused Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of intolerance and nepotism in manning the affairs of the State.
Haruna Mohammed, who accused the Governor of being intolerant to constructive criticisms, alleged that many individuals who dare questioned the Governor’s administration are either being jailed or silenced by all means.
The Publisher further accused the Governor of engaging in nepotism, citing the appointments of individuals who are blood relatives of the Governor into key positions.
He described the level of nepotism in the State’s administration as alarming, pointing to additional instances of selective appointments involving the Governor’s family members and associates in prominent Ministries and agencies.
According to the Publisher: “A clear act of nepotism is the Governor’s appointment of his relatives to manned sensitive ministries and agencies of the government.
“Let us look at your cabinet. Strategic Ministries are manned by your family and friends. Who is heading the PHC? He is your blood relative. Why? Because everyone knows that there is intervention from developmental partners running into billions of Naira. Therefore one of the ways to siphon money there is to have loyalists and family members to manned such places.
“To the best of my knowledge, there’s no any Governor in Northern Nigeria that demonstrated glaring disregard to due process and nepotism like Governor Mohammed. He is very nepotistic and highly intolerant of constructive criticism of his administration’s policies.”
The Publisher also cited select youths who were arrested and reprimanded in prison during the 2023 general elections for merely posting dissenting opinions on Facebook.
He accused the Governor of seeing anyone who constructively criticized his administration as an enemy, not only that, his family joined him in hating anyone try to expose wrongdoings of his administration.
“Many innocent people are victims of your clampdown on constructive criticism. You had me arrested and jailed because of the kind of works we do at WikkiTimes, exposing your wrongdoings,” Haruna Mohammed added.
He challenged the Governor to openly explain how his recent trip to China and the MOU signed between the State and some Chinese companies on mineral resources mining will benefit the common man, saying not doing so is an indication of possible corruption.
“Just of recent, you have been to China and you mentioned that you have signed MOU with some Chinese companies to start mining activities in the State. But again, let us look at the Bauchi 2025 budget. How much are we going to get from such mineral resources you said you went to China to sign MOU on? Where is the money going to? Why did you fail to capture that in the 2025 appropriation to demonstrate to Bauchi people that some amount of money will be generated through those MoUS?” he asked.
Haruna Mohammed argued that for transparency sake, the government would have clearly stated in the budget what the State will benefit from such partnership, saying: “Did you just brought them to mine our resources and share the money as has been the norm with your administration?”
