Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, has accused Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi, of leveraging on criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform bills to advance his 2027 presidential bid.
The tax reform bills have faced scathing criticisms since the president dispatched them to the national assembly.
Mohammed and the presidency have engaged in a heated exchange over the bills.
In December 2024, Mohammed, who chairs the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, criticised the bills, alleging that they favour one region.
The governor claimed the bills amounted to “calls for anarchy” and warned that Tinubu would see “our real colour” if the legislation were passed.
Subsequently, the presidency asked Mohammed to withdraw the comments against the president.
Sunday Dare, the president’s special adviser on media and public communication, said Mohammed’s remarks were “inflammatory ” and amounted to “direct threats toward the federal government”.
Some 24 hours later, Mohammed fired back, saying he stood by his comments and would not be threatened.
The governor criticised the presidency’s approach to the tax reform debate, urging it to avoid arrogance and listen to the concerns of Nigerians.
Dare had subsequently asked the governor to stop playing “irresponsible politics” and to focus on alleviating poverty in Bauchi.
Speaking on Sunday Politics, a programme on Channels Television, Tuggar said the Bauchi governor has shown that he was not sincere in his criticisms of the bills.
The minister added that Mohammed has been seeking Tinubu’s attention since he began criticising the proposed legislations.
“Governor Bala Mohammed showed clearly that he did not have any sincerity of purpose,” Tuggar said.
“It is not that other governors did not try to interrogate the tax bill when it was presented — which is a good thing as a matter of fact so that Nigerians get the best out of the bill.
“But what senator Bala Mohammed proceeded to do was to use it as a platform to launch his presidential campaign very early in the day.
“He was the most severe with his invectives towards the president, towards the administration with his vituperations.
“What the general public doesn’t know is that since then, Bala Mohammed has been trying to secure an audience with President Tinubu.”
Tuggar added that Mohammed tried to use a recent event in Bauchi to secure a “photo-op with the president and to plead behind the scenes”.
On January 16, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), after a meeting with the presidential tax reform committee, announced their support for the bills and called for an “equitable” sharing formula for value-added tax (VAT).
The forum endorsed a VAT sharing formula of 50 percent based on equality, 30 percent on derivation, and 20 percent on population, differing from the federal government’s proposal.
The federal government had proposed a derivation of 60 percent, equality of 20 percent, and 20 percent based on population.
Afterwards, Tinubu commended the governors for backing the bills and urged the national assembly to expedite passage.
