Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has accused the Federal Government of using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to persecute him and members of his cabinet because they refused to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mohammed made the allegation while receiving an ambassadorial award for safety from the Institute of Safety Professionals in Nigeria.
He spoke a day after the EFCC arraigned the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, over alleged N5.79 billion money laundering.
The EFCC accused Adamu of conspiring with the managing director of I.S. Makayye Investment Resources Limited, Ishaku Mohammed Aliyu, and another suspect, Muntaka Duguri, who are both said to be at large, to launder N4.65 billion between June and December 2023.
Governor reacts to EFCC case
Governor Mohammed expressed concern that his name was mentioned in an EFCC court motion despite his constitutional immunity as a sitting governor. He said the continued detention and prosecution of his commissioner was politically motivated.
“As a governor and head of the opposition, my commissioner has been kept and will not be released by the EFCC,” he said. He also claimed he received information linking him to terrorism, describing the situation as a sign that politics has taken over Nigeria’s institutions.
Mohammed, who is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, said he would not give in to pressure to defect to the ruling APC.
He added that although he had remained silent in the interest of peace, he would no longer keep quiet if the actions continued.
“I won’t allow anybody to criminalise me because I refuse to join their party, and I will not join their party,” the governor said.
