How Wike got Bauchi Gov 2nd term ticket sponsored his campaign expenses – Ex–Speaker gives shocking details

How Wike got Bauchi Gov 2nd term ticket sponsored campaign expenses – Ex–Speaker gives shocking details

In a bold revelation amidst the ongoing feud between Governor Nyesom Wike and Governor Bala Mohammed, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has lifted the lid on the significant role Nyesom Wike, then Governor of Rivers State, played in securing Bala Mohammed’s 2023 governorship win in Bauchi State.

In an open letter titled “Gov. Bala vs Wike: Let the Truth Be Told,” Dogara details how Wike, now serving as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), made considerable efforts to ensure Mohammed clinched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket and secured campaign financing for his gubernatorial race.

The former Speaker, reflecting on the public clash between the two politicians, expressed little surprise at Mohammed’s recent criticism of Wike.

He described the Bauchi governor as someone notorious for “ingratitude and treachery,” hinting that such behavior was not uncommon in his political dealings.

Dogara said, “As I witness this gross injustice, the questions I ask myself, are: is my comfort more important than saying the truth and is my fear of conflict worth allowing harm to go unchallenged?

“I have learned enough over the years to know beyond reasonable doubt that in the face of situations like this if I choose to prioritize my comfort, I will fail the victim and fail myself. This is because injustice itself is a festering wound, it only grows worse when brushed aside.

“As someone who knows so much because I was the provocateur of the events between the two that I will speak to, I consider my silence not just cowardice but complicity.

“Therefore, I am not afraid to stand alone or risk conflict. I should not be misunderstood to be defending Wike but simply stating the raw truth that I know and I really don’t give a damn if the truth makes Wike look good.
I have learnt to say the truth as I enjoy my freedom from being a slave to human opinion.

“For starters, need I remind Governor Bala Mohammed that in the 2018 PDP Gubernatorial primaries when we were not too sure he would win because, his then major opponent, Senator Abdul Ningi was the one who constituted the State party structure and had a bosom friend as Party chairman, it was Wike we turned to for help.

“I had called Wike to plead with him to help us in Bauchi without necessarily disclosing to him that it was Bala Mohammed that we wanted to be delivered.

“His response to me, was that are you sure you are in control of the process 100 percent? I said, I wasn’t too sure and he said to me leave it to me, I will help you sort it out.

“To do it, Wike first of all made his bosom friend and close ally, Chief Dan Osi Orbih the Chairman of the Panel for the Primaries and said I should discuss whatever I wanted with Chief Dan. We got talking and on the eve of the Primaries, Chief Dan was in Benin City and we needed to get him to Bauchi for the assignment, it was to Wike that I turned to again and his response to me was, ‘My brother, I have told you not to bother about this. Tell Chief Dan to come to meet me in Port Harcourt.’ I did just that and amazingly Wike provided the private jet that flew Chief Dan to Bauchi and out of Bauchi for the assignment. I can say without fear of any contradiction that Wike bore all expenses for the exercise.

“It’s therefore shocking that this so-called ‘transactional character’ called Wike did not place any condition whatsoever for his support.

“That is just the beginning of the story, I hate to tell but I must. After the emergence of Bala Mohammed as the party flag bearer and having promised to sponsor all the party candidates if he gets the ticket, we were rudely awoken to the reality that Bala Mohammed had no money for his campaigns let alone for other candidates of the party.

“Initially I thought it was some kind of a funny joke but as time went, I realized to my utter bewilderment that it was true.

“We had the fundraiser and to cut the long story short, all we raised from the fundraiser was a paltry N48 million and If you deduct the N20 million invested in organising it, that leaves you with a net of N28m. I have the records and our stakeholders are there to bear witness to this.”