The Bauchi State government has strongly criticised the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, over his remarks against Governor Bala Mohammed’s stance on the tax reform policy.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Chief of Staff to the Bauchi State Governor, Dr. Aminu Gamawa, described Tuggar’s comments as “opportunistic and desperate,” accusing him of being out of touch with the realities of governance.
Tuggar had reportedly attacked Mohammed for criticising the Federal Government’s tax reform policy.
However, the State government has dismissed his remarks, stating that the minister’s outburst was an attempt to seek political relevance.
“Tuggar’s attack on Bala Mohammed is nothing more than an attempt to remain politically relevant by targeting the Governor, whose agricultural policies have transformed Bauchi State into a hub of economic activity,” Gamawa said.
He highlighted several initiatives undertaken by Mohammed, particularly in the agricultural sector, which he said had created thousands of jobs for farmers and youths. Among these initiatives, he noted the Kaura Economic Empowerment Programme, which “has empowered locals with skills in fish farming, animal husbandry, and cash crop production.”
“Tuggar, a man from Bauchi State, remains blissfully ignorant of these realities. If he had spent more time in his home state instead of gallivanting across foreign capitals, he would have seen firsthand the transformation Bala Mohammed has brought to Bauchi,” the statement added.
The Bauchi government also took a swipe at Tuggar’s tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs, labelling it a failure that has led to Nigeria’s declining influence in regional and global diplomacy.
The statement blamed Tuggar’s handling of Nigeria’s foreign policy for several setbacks, including the collapse of ECOWAS leadership, worsening relations with neighbouring countries, and diplomatic humiliations such as the UAE visa ban debacle.
“Under Tuggar’s mismanagement, ECOWAS, a once-united and robust sub-regional body, is now in disarray. His poor advice to President Tinubu on the crises in the Sahel has led to the withdrawal of key member states like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger,” the statement read.
It further accused the minister of aligning Nigeria with “French neocolonial interests” at the expense of the country’s traditional Afrocentric foreign policy, a move the government described as “a betrayal of Nigeria’s diplomatic heritage.”
The statement dismissed Tuggar’s criticism of the Bauchi government’s land use policies, calling it a baseless smear campaign. It defended Mohammed’s Tiamin Rice Project, which it said had created thousands of jobs and boosted the state’s economy.
“Tuggar’s dismissal of such efforts as ‘land grabbing’ is a gross misrepresentation that belies the facts. His comments demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of large-scale agriculture in driving economic development,” Gamawa stated.
The Bauchi government also suggested that Tuggar’s attacks on Governor Mohammed were politically motivated, linked to his alleged ambitions to contest for the state’s governorship in 2027.
“Tuggar’s attacks on Bala Mohammed are clearly motivated by his ambition to contest the Bauchi governorship in 2027. However, his strategy of maligning the Governor will backfire. The people of Bauchi have witnessed Bala Mohammed’s transformative leadership and will not be swayed by the baseless rhetoric of an absentee politician,” the statement declared.
Concluding the statement, Gamawa urged Tuggar to focus on his ministerial responsibilities instead of engaging in political distractions.
“Yusuf Tuggar’s attempts to undermine Bala Mohammed are both desperate and futile. His lacklustre performance as Foreign Affairs Minister, coupled with his detachment from the realities of Bauchi State, renders his criticisms hollow and unconvincing. It is high time Tuggar removed the log from his own eye before attempting to point out the speck in Bala Mohammed’s,” he said.