Ahead of the 2027 election year, political permutations in Bauchi State are beginning to come to the fore, prompting politicians to begin alignments and realignments.
Bauchi politics has always been tough and unpredictable, so has always been the case when it comes to electing individuals that occupy strategic seats, including the number-one seat of the state.
At the moment, Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, Health Minister Ali Pate, former Chief of Air Staff Abubakar El-Sadique and a senator representing Bauchi South, Shehu Buba are the possible contenders for the governorship seat in the APC.
In the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, a top management executive at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, was rumoured to be nursing the same ambition.
While the possible opposition contenders are many in APC, the contenders in the PDP are still lurking in the shadow.
Mr Wunti, it was gathered, may likely emerge as the anointed candidate of Governor Bala Mohammed.
Although Mr Wunti has not publicly declared his ambition as he is still in the public service as the NNPCL’s Group General Manager of NAPIMS, it was gathered that he has since secretly picked his PDP membership card.
However, political pundits believe that even though Bala Wunti may have a large war chest, his weakness may be his not having strong political strength, except that power of incumbency may be deployed to his advantage.
“Political and traditional leaders in the state have been mobilized to begin a discreet campaign for Wunti to emerge as the PDP gubernatorial candidate and subsequently win the 2027 election,” a member of the Bala Wunti campaign said.
“We will win the 2027 election and Wunti will be the governor. Our slogan “Daga Bala, Sai Bala” is not a joke but is now the most spoken political word in Bauchi. You can ask around my brother,” stated a source who craved anonymity.
A source however hinted that Mr Pate’s recent tacit expression of interest in the governorship seat has thrown the Wunti’s camp in panic mood because of his “intimidating CV” and experience for contesting election.
“I can tell you that since Dr. Ali Pate’s declaration, the governor’s camp as well as Wunti’s camp are already in a panic mood because Dr Pate has good reputation internationally and locally. He also has intimidating CV and experience of contesting election,” the source said.
Recall that Mr Pate, while speaking on the need to strengthen the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, had indicated his readiness to serve the state if given the opportunity.
He had said: “I think we are very closely connected with the grassroots in the state. And I think the issues facing the state are very clear. But it will not come to be if the party is not united. And my singular focus is to unify APC in Bauchi, to support the president to achieve what he is trying to achieve now, and also what comes off in 2027.
“Now, as to what happens at the state level, and I hope that the state stakeholders will align so that we have a successful alignment between the president’s successes and also what happens at the subnational level.
“So yes, over time, over the next several months, we’ll see where it lands. I’m ready to serve, but it’s also with a mission to develop the state, but also to develop our country,” Mr Pate added.
However, it is believed that Mr Pate’s influence has been so minimal that his only notable political maneuver was the appointment of APC Deputy Chairman, Saleh Danburam, a few days ago, “so I don’t really believe he can give Wunti a headache anyway,” a pundit, Musa Garba, said.
“It is worth recalling that after being absent from the political scene for four years, Pate resurfaced in 2023 as one of several uninspiring APC governorship aspirants.
“In that primary election, Sadique Abubakar secured 370 votes (36.24%), Haliru Dauda Jika garnered 278 votes (27.23%), and Nura Manu Soro received 269 votes (26.35%). Meanwhile, the so-called political gladiator, Mr Pate, failed to secure a single vote—ending with a humiliating total of zero (0.00%)”.
As for Mr Tuggar, it was gathered that the foreign affairs minister has since teamed up with former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to frustrate Governor Bala from handing over the mantle of leadership of the state to an anointed successor.
This rivalry came to the fore following Mr Mohammed’s scathing comments against President Bola Tinubu administration, which many interprete it to mean that the governor was eyeing for the presidency in 2027.
“Tuggar himself, doesn’t also have the rallying point to be able to get the ticket of the party, even though he is a minister. We saw what happened last time, Sadique won the primary even when he [Tuggar] was an Ambassador, simply because he could not command that political strength to get persons behind him,” a local politician, Muazu Lamara, said.
