Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed has rejected claims that he is being lined up as former President Goodluck Jonathan's vice-presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
The denial came after social media reports suggested Mohammed had been pencilled in as Jonathan's running mate following the former president's adoption as presidential candidate by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Kabiru Turaki. Jonathan's certificate of return was received at a special national convention in Abuja on Saturday by Bayelsa lawmaker Fred Agbedi, as Jonathan himself was absent from the event.
Speculation about a Jonathan-Mohammed ticket gathered pace after Nuhu Sada, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), posted on X that reports indicated the Bauchi governor could be paired with Jonathan ahead of 2027. But Mohammed moved quickly to shut down the speculation.
In a statement posted on his verified X account on Sunday, Mohammed said his political focus is on contesting for the Bauchi South Senatorial District seat under the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), a party he recently joined. "Thank you for your interest in my political aspirations. However, for the sake of clarity, my focus remains firmly on contesting for the Bauchi South Senatorial District seat under the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM)," he wrote.
The governor also asked the public to disregard any other reports about his political plans. "Any reports suggesting a different political course should be disregarded as speculative and inaccurate," he added.
Mohammed's exit from the PDP came as the party descended into a leadership crisis with deep internal disagreements. His move to the APM and his stated focus on the senatorial race suggest he has no interest in being part of Jonathan's 2027 campaign, regardless of which platform the former president eventually contests under.
