Tension is on the rise at Nigeria’s seat of power, Aso Rock and the Federal Capital administrative office, Abuja, as senator Bala Mohammed, the FCT minister is being accused of siphoning hundreds of million from the FCT coffers to finance his political ambition in Bauchi state
The statement signed by Chuks Ehirim, Chairman of the Abuja chapter of NUJ, stated that the group wants Mohammed investigated over the donation of the buses, valued at N143 million.According to a statement made available to SocietyGists by the Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the union wants the 22 mini buses donated by the minister to the Bauchi state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, probed stating that it raised dust over the involvement of the minister in shady deals.
“This council is indeed worried with the donation of 22, 18-seater buses by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, to the Bauchi state Chapter, of PDP, conservatively, each bus costs N6.5million.
“It will interest us to know where the minister got N143m for the buses,” the statement read in part.
It read further, “our concern is also informed by the fact that the transport sector in the FCT is yet to see any appreciable improvement.
“We have situations of non-safety compliance and fewer buses plying various routes despite the celebration of launching of same”.
Early last year, a Kaduna based weekly publication, Desert Herald, had threatened through an advertorial, to uncover the dirty ‘under belly’ of Senator Mohammed and some Directors in the FCT.
But to forestall the revelations, Mohammed, had used the Nigerian police to abduct the publisher, Tukur Mamu and dragged him to a magistrate Court, for alleged defamation, even as the publication was yet to hit the streets.
In the ensued persecution of Mamu, Bala had alleged blackmail and attempt to use the advertorial to extort money from him.
Before the arrest of Mamu, Bala Mohammed had been linked to several land deals, especially, the Malaysian Garden estate, which the Malaysian authorities specifically accused the minister of demanding for bribe to facilitate the approval.
While the allegation lasted, Bala was fingered in another scandal in Bauchi state.
SocietyGists gathered that Bala, in a rare political deft move, had constructed a N300 million Mosque in Bauchi, as part of his campaign to take over from the incumbent governor, Isa Yuguda in 2015.
The source of the fund according to a ministry official remains a matter of conjecture.
SocietyGists investigation revealed further, that Bala, on assumption of office as Minister, had initiated all forms of pony task force within the FCT, including the recent outlaw ‘pack and pay’, for which motorists have been mandated to pay as much as N100 and N600 for packing in designated areas.
It took the intervention of a Sun Trust Savings and Loans Ltd which instituted a suit against the minister to halt the fraudulent collections and harassment of motorists.
Further investigations revealed that the contract for the collections was believed to have been awarded to one of his girlfriend and fronts.
For Senator Mohammed, controversy seems to have replaced his middle name.
Several calls and SMS to Mr. Nosike Ogwuenyi, Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, to respond to the allegations, proved futile, as he neither responded to the calls nor replied the text messages.