By Ayo Kehinde
The planned defection of Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has collapsed following a breakdown in negotiations over control of party structure in the state.
The talks, which had reached advanced stages and involved key political actors at both state and national levels, failed after the APC reportedly rejected a 60–40 power-sharing formula proposed by the governor’s camp to govern the structure of the party in Bauchi State.
Under the arrangement, Governor Mohammed’s camp had sought majority control of the APC structure from ward to state level as part of the condition for joining the ruling party. However, disagreement over this condition ultimately stalled the entire process.
Chairman of the Turaki-led PDP faction in Bauchi State, Sama’ila Burga, confirmed on Saturday that the negotiations had been formally discontinued after both sides failed to reach an agreement.
According to him, the APC was approached through political channels involving national and state-level stakeholders, including Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, who participated in efforts to persuade the Bauchi governor to join the party.
Burga stressed that the governor himself led the consultation process, which was based on attempts to resolve political alignments across party lines.
“We have called for this press conference at the instance of His Excellency, the Governor, who is leading the discussions,” Burga said.
He explained that the talks collapsed when it became clear that the APC was not willing to accept the proposed structure-sharing formula.
“This is how it has been done in other places where governors defected to the APC. They rejected this formula and we have closed that discussion. You cannot expect a government bringing its structure from ward level to the state not to have control of the party,” he said.
Burga added that after extensive consultations with stakeholders, the PDP faction concluded that the conditions required for the political realignment were not met.
“After careful consideration, it became clear that the conditions collectively advanced for such a political realignment were not accepted by the APC leadership… the discussions have not yielded a conclusive outcome and are hereby formally discontinued,” he stated.
He further disclosed that Governor Mohammed and his political bloc are no longer restricting themselves to the APC option, but are now reviewing other political platforms.
“The PDP in Bauchi State, in consultation with His Excellency and other critical stakeholders, is actively considering all available political options other than the APC,” Burga added.
The development comes months after Governor Mohammed had been exploring possible political realignment, including early engagements with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), amid wider opposition restructuring following the entry of former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, which boosted the party’s national visibility.
At that time, Mohammed had openly expressed dissatisfaction with internal crises in the PDP and said reconciliation efforts had failed, forcing him to consult across multiple political platforms, including the APC and ADC.
