By Ahmed Ahmed
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Bauchi State Chapter has responded to Governor Bala Mohammed’s criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s nationwide address on August 4, 2024. Governor Mohammed had described the speech as empty,claiming it failed to address the reality on the ground and lacked solutions to protesters’ demands.
Malam Saadu Umar, Chairman of the APC Publicity Committee in Bauchi, disagreed with Governor Mohammed’s assessment. “The speech wasn’t empty, unless you don’t understand English,” Umar said at a news conference on Saturday.
Umar accused Governor Mohammed of parroting false claims and mispronouncing simple words, citing the governor’s English education. He highlighted several key points from the President’s speech, including:
“ Removing taxes and import duties on food imports to reduce prices, raising aggregate government revenues and reducing debt servicing costs.
“Providing N570 billion to states to ease hardships faced by the poor and vulnerable, and offering soft loans to 75,000 small businesses to reduce unemployment
Umar suggested that Governor Mohammed’s criticism was misplaced and that the speech addressed several key concerns raised by protesters. He also questioned the governor’s motives, wondering if he wanted the protests to continue.
The chairman expressed gratitude that the protests were largely peaceful in Bauchi, attributing this to the party’s efforts, religious leaders’ preachments, traditional leaders’ interventions, and citizens’ prayers.