Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state has said that his recent criticism of President Bola Tinubu over the #Endbadgovernance protest was constructive and in good faith.
The governor gave the position in Bauchi on Wednesday, before the commencement of the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting.
“I spoke constructively as an opposition and somebody who means well for the president, the government and the people of Nigeria.
“I had not done it to cause any dis-affection or to insult anybody,” he said
It would be recalled that the governor criticised the President’s policies and programmes, saying they were not favourable to Nigerians.
He had also said that the speech of the president on Aug 4, calling on the protesters to suspend the protest and come for dialogue, was ‘very empty”.
Some political leaders in the state, including former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and a serving Senator, Shehu Buba, had, however, chided the governor over his action.
Addressing the Council, Mohammed noted that his outburst should not be seen in bad faith, but as a wake-up call to the federal government and the sub-national to hearken to the plights of the citizens.
“We have to listen when their cry is very loud on bad governance and areas of limitations and inadequacies, where the expectations of our people have not been met.
“We have scarce resources to manage and that is why I said we must use the little resources that we have, to do so much.
“Nobody cares, nobody will listen to you when you begin to complain and blame our predecessors for the inadequacies,” he said
The governor said it was wrong to heap all the blame for bad governance on the federal government because the states were also culpable.
“We are not just blaming the federal government for everything.
“We (states) also have to look at ourselves, do a swift analysis of ourselves and make sure we do things that would put food on the table and make things easier.
“We know we are not in charge of national policies and programmes, but we must be able to implement national policies as a loyal federalist.
“We should, at the same time, look at our challenges and make sure that we connect with the people,” he said.
Mohammed stressed that governors were not left out from what he said, and it was not about partisan politics, but, about responsibility.
Mohammed appreciated members of the council for the support and sense of comradeship they had exhibited over the years.