Those resigning from my government don’t want change – Gov Abubakar

Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State has said that those who have resigned from his cabinet were those who had refused to embrace change and drop their old ways of doing things that had destroyed the state.


Governor Abubakar, who stated this while fielding questions from State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stated that it was the people that could not cope with the pace of his administration that have tendered their resignation letters.

Recall that the Deputy Governor of the State, Nuhu Gidado, who doubled as the Commissioner for Education, resigned this week from the government while the former Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Shehu Ningi had resigned on December last year over alleged high handedness by the governor.

But the governor said he had a good working relationship with the resigned deputy governor and even allocated the highest money to the education ministry which he was supervising since the inception of the administration till the time he quitted the administration.

On what transpired between two of them that made him to resign, he said, “What transpired is in the letter of the deputy and I think people should read that letter. Read the entire letter and you will see that there was nothing bad that transpired between us.

“His final paragraph is that he remains loyal to his leader and his brother. In my response, I eulogized him and wished him the best in his future endeavour and assured him of the support of the good people of Bauchi State. There was no problem whatsoever.”

Also on why it was easy for him to accept the deputy governor’s resignation letter, he said the word resignation connotes a will on the part of the person who has offered, adding that the deputy decided to offer his letter willingly.

Besides, he said there was no way he could force him to accept an employment when the time had come for him to look elsewhere.

Explaining more on his working relationship with his resigned deputy governor, Abubakar said, “We had the most fantastic working relationship. In his words and you can ask him, he has said several times that he is the most pampered deputy governor in Nigeria.”

On the allegation that apart from the former deputy governor, three other persons had left his government, the Bauchi State governor who has been having running battle with the members of the National Assembly from his state, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said it was very difficult for people to embrace change.

He said, “Because I have come to Bauchi state to engender change and change is very difficult for people to accept. People are used to a certain way of doing business and I have come to change that way of doing business.

“Because, that way was destroying Bauchi State. So, we had to put a stop to it. We had to bring Bauchi state out of the dungeons. I give people a chance and if you think you can go at my pace, you stay and if you can’t go at my pace, you resign.”

He, however, refused to comment whether his deputy resigned because he couldn’t go at his pace and whether he was also expecting more resignation.

When reminded that the spokesman to the deputy governor had said on television that the deputy governor resigned because he was not being treated as part of the government, Abubakar said the claim was not true.

“I think he is wrong. Go to the House of Assembly and check, I went on official leave twice since I took over and each time I transmitted a letter to the House of Assembly making him the acting governor of Bauchi.

“Moreover, I gave him the most important ministry, ministry of education where I have been allocating the largest share of the budget of Bauchi state inception till date. That should answer your question.”