Bala Mohammed, Bauchi State governor, has accused the federal government of deploying the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to “persecute” him.
The governor made the allegation on Wednesday at the Bauchi Government House after receiving an ambassadorial award for safety from the Institute of Safety Professionals in Nigeria.
He added that similar harassment tactics were deployed against officials of his administration who refused to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
His comments followed the arraignment of Yakubu Adamu, Bauchi commissioner for finance, by the EFCC on Tuesday over alleged money laundering involving N5.79 billion.
Mohammed said that despite enjoying constitutional immunity, his name had been dragged into court processes linked to the case against his commissioner.
“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.”
The governor said he was alarmed by allegations levelled against him, including claims linking him to terrorism.
“I woke up to a notification where I was told I am being accused of terrorism,” he said.
“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.”
Mohammed alleged that federal authorities were weaponising state institutions to intimidate political opponents outside the ruling party.
“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 said.
The Bauchi governor, who chairs the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, said pressure tactics would not force him or members of his cabinet to defect to the APC.
He said he had previously chosen silence in the interest of peace but warned that continued actions against his administration would provoke a response.
“If they don’t stop, we are going to declare war,” Mohammed said.
“I assure you, we are not going to keep quiet any longer.
“I won’t allow anybody to criminalise me because I’m not in their party, and I refuse to join their party, and I will not join their party.”
Mohammed further accused the federal government of neglecting Bauchi despite controlling the nation’s resources.
“In my state, they have not provided one kilometre of road or water,” he said.
“Even the security agencies—I’m the one paying them to work for us—and they have the guts to talk.”
The governor also criticised the planned implementation of the new tax laws, saying allegations of alterations in the gazetted version must first be addressed.