Between Yakubu Dogara and Bala Mohammed

Yakubu Dogara has issued a response to claims that he masterminded the attacks on the Emirs of Bauchi and Dass by a mob. The attacks occurred on December 31 during the 21st anniversary of Baba Peter Gonto.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives had been suspended of his title as Jakadan Bauchi by the Bauchi Emirate Council over the controversy, and he took out time to try and clear his name. According to him, he is being targeted by the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed.

In a statement released on Tuesday by his media aide, Turaki Hassan, Dogara said, “Yesterday, January 24, 2022, the Bauchi Emirate Council purportedly announced my suspension as Jakadan Bauchi.

“As of today, I am yet to be served with any letter of suspension and more tenuously, I was never informed that there was an allegation of wrongdoing against me pending before the Emirate Council, I wouldn’t join issues with the Emirate Council because of the respect I have for both His Royal Highness and the Emirate Council.”

He concluded: “It is all part of a smear campaign to portray me as insensitive and convict me in the court of public opinion for the political gains of some desperate characters.”

There had been claims from Bauchi’s branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the anniversary was being organised as a partisan affair to promote Mohammed’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government. There is no certain way to know how much of these sentiments played into the chaos on the D-Day, but what we have now seems to be a stand-off between two of the state’s most prominent figures: Governor Mohammed and Former Speaker Dogara. The question on the minds of observers now is, who stands down first?

Given that both men claim to have the interests of Bauchi State at heart, the most advisable proposition would be to reach a compromise that ensures that the situation does not escalate to more violence than what happened at Gonto’s anniversary.