Former Bauchi State governor, Isa Yuguda, has dismissed reports of a crisis within the Bauchi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, insisting that the party remains united despite growing competition among governorship aspirants ahead of the next election cycle.
“I’m not aware that not being able to produce a candidate has become a problem. There’s no serious issue.
“We have already, as elders and caucus members, set up a committee that is going to discuss with them with a view to finding an amicable settlement. And we pray that we would arrive at a very conclusive and successful solution. So, I cannot preempt what we are going to do, but I’m very positive that it’s going to be positive. We’ll produce a candidate. The party’s position is that if consensus does not work out, then we do the ‘option A4,’ or what you call the direct primaries. So, I don’t think it’s as contentious as you mentioned,” he said.
Responding to questions on the leading contenders in the race, Yuguda declined to endorse any aspirant, saying his position as an elder and caucus member of the party would not allow him to take sides.
“As an elder and also a member of the caucus, I cannot take a position.”
He maintained that all the aspirants remain his candidates and expressed hope that the party would arrive at a peaceful resolution capable of producing a winning governorship flag-bearer.
“All of them are my candidates, and I pray that we come out with an amicable solution. I pray that Almighty God will intervene so that we have a candidate who will win the election for us,” he said.
Addressing concerns over the growing number of influential contenders within the party, the former aviation minister, Yuguda acknowledged the complexity of the situation but insisted the party leadership was capable of managing it.
“Apparently the situation has been created and, like I said, we’re up to the task of managing this situation. We don’t believe that we will—we’ll come out stronger,” Yuguda assured.
Adding, he said all the aspirants are experienced politicians who understand the realities of political contests and would accept the outcome of a transparent process in good faith.
“All of them are very mature individuals. It’s about a race; they run, and if they do not get the ticket, they’ll be satisfied that a level playing field has been created for them. Somebody must win and somebody must lose. They have the maturity to take this position with some sort of decency. Once you have a winner, the loser must take his fate with good faith.”
Speaking on governance and development in Bauchi State, Yuguda said many of the challenges currently facing the state, including poor healthcare and rising numbers of out-of-school children, had been largely addressed during his administration. He claimed his government invested heavily in hospitals, educational facilities, and social welfare programmes before leaving office.
“I can only speak for myself as Governor. All those challenges, I addressed them before I left office. I left close to about 22 hospitals well-furnished and fully equipped with specialist hospitals and all the equipment you can imagine in any best hospital in Nigeria—MRI machines, CT scans, and dialysis machines. We had 24-hour electricity. All our schools were well-furnished, had teachers, and feeding facilities in secondary schools.,” he said.
The former governor, however, questioned why such challenges persist despite increased federal allocations to states under the administration of Bola Tinubu. He argued that Bauchi State now receives significantly more monthly revenue than during his tenure and maintained that effective leadership, prudent management, and sincerity of purpose remain critical to development.
“Today, the situation is completely different. I cannot explain it because it does appear that President Tinubu has been doling out a lot of money to the states. During our time, we hardly got 7 billion for the whole state in a month; today, they are talking about 15 to 20 billion Naira every month. It’s a question I cannot answer. With prudence, sincerity of purpose, and good financial resource management, they should have been able to achieve that. Everything boils down to leadership,” he maintained.
On the issue of zoning and fairness in Bauchi politics, Yuguda acknowledged that equity would ideally favour the rotation of the governorship position across the state’s senatorial zones. He noted, however, that political realities and voting strength often influence the emergence of candidates during party primaries.
“Ideally, there should be equity. But in politics, sometimes it’s a game of numbers. If you calculate and see there are more votes in a particular zone, that zone carries the day. In fairness, there should have been a rotation, but the question is about who is the best candidate.”
Responding to concerns over the continued dominance of Bauchi South in the state’s leadership structure, Yuguda admitted that fairness could support the argument for power rotation to Bauchi North. He, however, maintained that political parties are ultimately driven by electoral calculations and the need to field candidates capable of winning elections.
“If you want to be fair, the governorship position should be rotated. But in politics, if you realize a candidate at the primaries will have more voters in favor of Bauchi South, you expect that candidate to emerge. At the end of the day, you are thinking of how you should win elections. If you know you will not win an election because you decided to bring a candidate for the sake of rotation, where do you start?,” he quizzed.
The former governor further argued that many residents of Bauchi are more interested in competence and electability than regional considerations.
“Our people are not particularly concerned about zones; they are concerned about who is the best to come out,” he stated.
Speaking on speculation surrounding a possible defection by Bauchi State governor Bala Mohammed to the All Progressives Congress, Yuguda said he could not confirm such plans but described the governor as welcome in the party.
“That I don’t know, but he’s welcome,” he said.
On reports of negotiations over political power-sharing arrangements and demands linked to a possible alliance, Yuguda declined to take a definitive position, saying such decisions rest with the national leadership of the APC.
“It’s left to the party leadership at the highest level to take that decision. They will weigh the consequences of each position and take a more informed decision.”
Yuguda said the selection of a governorship candidate should be based on integrity, competence, and strong character rather than popularity alone.
“Choosing a candidate—as we learn in our books of faith—you should be fair. Whether it’s a Muslim, a Christian, or an atheist, God said you should choose a candidate based on him being an upright person. He [the leader] cannot go there and plunder your resources and so on and so forth, and he must have the experience and the comportment to be a leader. So that is the guidance we get from our books of faith, the Bible and the Quran. So that’s why it’s no question of ‘this man is more qualified’. You use those criteria to select a leader. So, of course, you can look at qualification and experience; you can look at how upright that person is and how successful he has been in his career and so on and so forth. Since we have a defined way of selecting leaders, we should be able to be guided by that and come out with a candidate either from any of the zones,” he assured.
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