I Won’t Join APC: Bala Mohammed Accuses FG of Using EFCC to Harass Him

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has alleged that the Federal Government is using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to persecute him and officials of his administration because of his refusal to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The governor made the accusation on Wednesday at the Government House in Bauchi while receiving an Ambassadorial Award for Safety from the Institute of Safety Professionals in Nigeria.

Mohammed, who is also Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, claimed that one of his commissioners was currently being detained by the EFCC in what he described as a politically motivated move.

“As a governor, someone who is the head of the opposition, my commissioner has been kept and will not be released by the EFCC,” he said. “Even when I have immunity as a governor, my name was stupendously mentioned in a motion in a court of law in Nigeria. Me, Bala Mohammed.”

He argued that the actions of anti-graft agencies showed how deeply politics had penetrated governance and public institutions.

“I don’t have to say anything. I don’t even have to go to the public court. But certainly, politics has become something in Nigeria,” he said.

The governor accused the APC-led Federal Government of weaponising state institutions to intimidate opposition figures.

“The APC-led federal government thinks they can use the courts and institutions of government, like the EFCC, to persecute and prosecute Nigerians who are not within their own party,” he alleged.

Mohammed insisted that he would not be forced to join the APC, regardless of the pressure mounted against him.

“I won’t allow anybody to criminalize me because I’m not in their party, and I refuse to join their party, and I will not join their party,” he declared.

Although he said he had previously remained silent in the interest of peace and security, the governor warned that continued harassment would compel him to speak out.

“If they don’t stop, we are going to declare war. I assure you we are not going to keep quiet any longer,” he said.

He also accused the Federal Government of neglecting Bauchi State despite controlling substantial national resources.

“In my state, they have not provided one kilometre of road. You have not provided water. Even the security agencies—I’m the one paying them to work for us—and they have the guts to talk,” Mohammed said.

The governor further criticised Nigeria’s tax policies, warning that the current framework could deepen poverty if not reviewed.

His comments come amid reports that the EFCC has filed fresh criminal charges against the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and others over alleged terrorism financing involving about $9.7 million.

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