Gov Bala Mohammed cancels defection move to APC

The governor of Bauchi state, Bala Mohammed, has cancelled his planned defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) over disagreements on a proposed power-sharing formula.

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Consultations between Mohammed, his Turaki-led PDP faction, and the APC leadership ended in a deadlock after the ruling party reportedly rejected a 60–40 formula for the control of party structure in Bauchi State.

The governor and his supporters have, however, declared their openness to align with other political parties, noting that plans are underway to consider fresh options for possible defection from the ward to the state level.

Addressing journalists on Saturday, the Chairman of the Turaki-led PDP faction in the state, Sama’ila Burga, said the APC had shown it was not ready to accommodate the PDP structure and the state government.

Burga disclosed that the APC initiated talks through the governor, involving its national leadership and the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, who visited Bauchi to persuade Mohammed to join the party.

He said the discussions, however, stalled after the APC failed to agree to the 60–40 sharing formula, which he noted had been adopted in similar defections in other states.

“This is how it has been done in other places where governors defected to APC. They rejected this formula and we have closed that discussion. You cannot expect a government bringing its structure from ward level to the state not to have control of the party,” Burga said.

Burga added, “We have called for this press conference at the instance of His Excellency, the Governor, who is leading the discussions.”