Efforts by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed and a PDP faction aligned with the Turaki group to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have collapsed following disagreements over a proposed 60/40 power-sharing arrangement.
The discussions, which involved APC leadership and Governor Mohammed’s political structure, broke down after the ruling party reportedly rejected the proposed formula for integrating the governor’s camp into its structure.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday, the Chairman of the Turaki-led PDP faction in Bauchi State, Sama’ila Burga, confirmed that the talks had been officially discontinued.
Burga said the APC had initially engaged the group through the governor, with involvement from the party’s National Chairman and Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who reportedly visited Bauchi to persuade Mohammed to join the APC.
However, he said the negotiations failed after the APC declined to accept the 60/40 arrangement, which the PDP faction insisted was necessary to reflect the governor’s existing political structure.
“This is how it has been done in other places where governors defected to APC. They rejected this formula and we have closed that discussion,” Burga said.
He argued that it was unreasonable to expect a sitting governor bringing an established political structure from ward to state level to do so without meaningful control within the party.
Burga added that after consultations with key stakeholders, the PDP faction concluded that the APC’s terms were unacceptable.
“Consequently, the PDP in Bauchi State, in consultation with His Excellency and other critical stakeholders, is actively considering all available political options and parties other than the APC,” he said.
The development signals a setback for efforts to realign Bauchi’s political structure ahead of future electoral contests.
Bauchi Defection Talks Crumble as APC Rejects 60/40
