Shamsu Bala, the eldest son of Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of working against his father’s reelection in 2023 and has declared that it is now time for revenge.
In a social media post on Saturday, Mr. Bala alleged that Atiku is unwilling to reconcile with his father ahead of the 2027 elections. He said it would be difficult for Atiku to secure the governor’s support because “it is time for settling scores.”
“He (Atiku) didn’t work for us in the 2023 election; he worked for Air Marshal (the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Abubakar Sadiq). He deployed elites in Bauchi to fight us, and we narrowly won the election.
Now he is taking us for granted, he doesn’t value us as humans, he is showing us that we are too small to call for reconciliation,” Bala stated in a tweet in Hausa.
He did not mention the names of the Bauchi elites he accused of working against his father.
Background Context
In January 2023, ahead of the general election, Governor Mohammed directed the Bauchi Emirate Council to strip elder statesman Bello Kirfi of his traditional title of Wazirin Bauchi for alleged disloyalty. Kirfi, a former minister and political ally of Atiku, was likely one of the elites referred to by Bala.
Another key figure, Yakubu Dogara former Speaker of the House of Representatives, reportedly supported Atiku in the presidential election but opposed Governor Mohammed’s reelection.
Despite rift, Atiku won Bauchi
Despite the fallout, Atiku won in Bauchi State, polling 426,607 votes against Bola Tinubu’s 316,694, securing a margin of 109,913 votes.
Mr. Bala’s tweet