Bala Mohammed

Bala Mohammed (born 5 October 1958) is Nigerian politician who is the Governor of Bauchi State. He was also Minister of Federal Capital Territory from 2010 to 2015;[1] and a Senator from Bauchi State between 2007 and 2010. He is a leading member of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP).[2]

Kauran Bauchi

Bala Mohammed
Governor of Bauchi State
Assumed office
29 May 2019
Preceded byMohammed Abdullahi Abubakar
Minister of Federal Capital Territory
In office
8 April 2010 – 29 May 2015
Preceded byAdamu Aliero
Succeeded byMohammed Musa Bello
Senator of the Federal Republic
In office
8 April 2007 – 8 April 2010
Preceded byAbubakar Maikafi
Succeeded byAdamu Gumba
ConstituencyBauchi South Senatorial District
Personal details
Born (1958-10-05) 5 October 1958
Alkaleri, Northern Region, British Nigeria
(now Alkaleri, Nigeria)
Political partyPeople's Democratic Party

Background

Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed was born on 5 October 1958 in Alkaleri. He attended University of Maiduguri (1979–1982), where he received a bachelor's degree in English.[1] In 1983, he joined The Democrat as a reporter, then joined the civil service as an administrative officer from 1984 to 2000.[3]

He worked in several Federal Ministries including: Internal Affairs, Solid Minerals, Power and Steel and Transportation and Aviation. He retired as Director of Administration in the Nigerian Meteorological Agency. He then served as a senior special assistant to Governor Isa Yuguda from 2000 to 2005.[4] He was Director of Administration at the Nigerian Railway Corporation from 2005 to 2007.[3]

Senator

In April 2007, Mohammed was elected to the Senate representing Bauchi South Senatorial District under the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP).[1] In March 2010, he accused Yuguda of being behind a move to recall him from the Senate.[5] Mohammed was one of the first senators to support the controversial doctrine of necessity, which appointed then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as acting president to replace incapacitated Umaru Yar'Adua.[1]

Politics

He reportedly fell out with political godfather Governor Isa Yuguda after Yuguda married President Umaru Yar'Adua's daughter and decamped to the People's Democratic Party (PDP).[6] Following the death of Umaru Yar'Adua, Mohammed joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and became a close associate of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Minister of federal capital territory.

Bala Mohammed was appointed minister of the Federal capital Territory in March 2010. He was appointed by president goodluck Jonathan following his brave role in ensuring the ascension of then Vice President goodluck Jonathan to the presidency, following concerted efforts by the cabal of the Yar'Adua government to stop  goodluck Jonathan From becoming the acting president. He was appointed minister despite being a member of the ANPP.

Bala Mohammed brought extensive reforms to the FCT. He sanitized the land administration of the FCT and expanded the airport roads of Abuja. He built many roads including the KUBWA expressway expansion. He also built the rail track from Abuja to kaduna, built Idu rail station from the $500m dollars loan that the Nigerian government secured from China. He introduced the land swap policy that used land as a resource to fast track infrastructural development in the FCT.

Corruption

Shortly after leaving office, a vehicle belonging to Mohammed was found stacked with "billions of cash", which was claimed by his son.[7] In 2016, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Mohammed for financial crimes worth over N1.3 trillion,[8] in FCT land racketeering and alleged role in the $2 billion arms deal.[9] After becoming Governor of Bauchi in 2019, his corruption trial was suspended due to "constitutional provision that accords absolute immunity from criminal prosecution to an elected governor", making many believe he became governor in order to avoid prosecution.[10] In 2020, Governor Bala Mohammed awarded a contract worth N3.6 billion to his own company.[11]

Governor of Bauchi State

In 2018, Mohammed emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate for Bauchi State.[12] On 26 March 2019, Bala Mohammed received 515,113 votes defeating the incumbent Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar who received 500,625 votes.

On 29 May 2019, he was sworn in as Governor of Bauchi State at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi. His election was later upheld by the Supreme Court.

Achievements in Office

Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act

In July 2020, Bauchi State, under the leadership of Governor Bala Mohammed became the first and only state in the Northern Eastern region of Nigeria to domesticate the VAPP Act since it was enacted.[13][14] The VAPP Act is the single law in place that transcends the criminal and penal code in guaranteeing justice and protecting the rights and properties of victims of sexual and gender-based violence across the country. The VAPP Act expands the definition of rape, domestic offences, incest and several forms of violence. It also ensures justice and protection of victims in a way that guarantees freedom, compensation and respect to human rights.

Education

In Education, Governor Bala Mohammed, within his first year in office, constructed 270 new classrooms and renovated another 405 across the state. These projects were expanded into hard-to-reach areas of the state to ensure that quality education isn't the prerogative of only urban dwellers.[15]

Ghost Workers

Governor Bala's administration deployed a radical approach against the issues of ghost workers in the state—an illegal scheme which the governor described as "a pre-existing corrupt salary regime." With the aid of recruited financial consultants, Bauchi State under Governor Bala Mohammed identified and removed over 1,000 ghost workers and instituted an investigation of another 41,000 civil servants who currently do not possess the mandatory Bank Verification Number (BVN). So far, this move against ghost workers has in terms of revenue, freed resources for the state within the range of close to a million US dollars.[16][17][18]

See also

References
  1. "Ministers - the Profiles (ii)". ThisDay. 8 April 2010. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  2. "PDP candidate, Bala Mohammed, defeats Bauchi governor". Punch NG. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  3. "Sen. Bala A. Mohammed". National Assembly of Nigeria. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  4. "Federal Govt is Marginalising North East - Sen Bala Mohammed". Leadership. 26 December 2008. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  5. Turaki A. Hassan (21 March 2010). "Yuguda behind my recall move – Sen Moh'd". media Daily Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  6. Godwin Ijediogor and Samson Ezea (2010-04-02). "Ministerial List: A Taste Of Old Wine In New Bottle?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  7. Herald, Desert. "EXCLUSIVE: How we saw billions in Bala Muhammad's Jeep – Anonymous". Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  8. Ogundipe, Samuel (2016-11-04). "Former Abuja Minister may have "squandered over a trillion naira" -- Officials | Premium Times Nigeria". Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  9. Ogundipe, Samuel (2016-10-24). "Ex-Abuja Minister, Bala Mohammed, Arrested | Premium Times Nigeria". Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  10. Ogundipe, Samuel (2019-03-28). "After emerging governor-elect, EFCC to suspend multi-billion naira corruption trial of PDP's Bala Mohammed for four years". Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  11. "EXCLUSIVE: Bauchi Gov. Bala Mohammed awards N3.6 billion contract to own company". 2020-02-22. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  12. "Ex-FCT minister Bala Mohammed emerges Bauchi PDP guber candidate". 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  13. UK in Nigeria. "Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Bill". Twitter.
  14. "Bauchi Governor Signs VAPP Bill Into Law". DPH News. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  15. "Governor Bala Muhammad renovates and constructs 405 and 270 classrooms". Omokoshaban. Omokoshaban. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  16. "Corrupt Salary Regime". Twitter. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  17. Oyewole, Rauf. "Bauchi State recovers N225.5million from ghost workers in 9 months". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  18. Bakam, Armstrong. "Bauchi gov sets up panel to investigate 41, 448 'ghost workers'". Punch Newspaper. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
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