- Revalidates APC membership, says exercise transparent
A former Governor of Bauchi State Malam Isa Yuguda has said that Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria have been unfairly treated over the years by successive administrations.
Yuguda stated this while answering questions from journalists after he revalidated his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi on Monday.
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The governor wondered why the comment by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed generated the recent public outcry, arguing that “There have been clamour by senior citizens in this country that we should carry weapons to defend ourselves, but when our governor, Bala Mohammed made a remark to that effect everyone is crying wolf.
“All the Nigerian press is saying Bala is this, Bala is that; didn’t you hear a senior citizen in Nigeria saying we should carry guns to defend ourselves, where were you guys, nobody wrote about it until when Bala said okay these people (Fulanis) also deserves the right to defend themselves,” Yuguda said.
He said “the Nigerian state has not been fair to these people (Fulanis), when the white man came they provided grazing reserves and cattle routes from Maiduguri to Lokoja and Ilorin. These infrastructure were provided by the white people, and today where are the grazing reserves and the cattle routes?”
Former governor Yuguda, who blamed the Nigerian press over ethnic profiling, said “Let us stop being sentimental for goodness sake, otherwise this country will crumble, it’s crumbling in your hands and I’m afraid that you as the press are creating this problem.”
He commended Governor Mohammed for the infrastructural development in the state, saying “He is doing his best; anyone that occupies a seat can only offer his best…O have seen new roads and hospitals were being rehabilitated.”
Yuguda expressed satisfaction on the conduct of the ongoing APC membership revalidation exercise, describing it as transparent.
When asked if he will contest for the sosition of Senator, National Chairman of APC or president 2023, Yuguda said “Allah gives power to whom He wills at the time He wishes.”
