A group, the APC Young Leaders Coalition, has frowned at the alleged harassment of the Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, who was in Bauchi last Friday.
It was reported that Tuggar, who was in the company of the Vice President Kashim Shettima to Bauchi for the turbaning and wedding ceremony of the daughter of the immediate past governor, Mohammad Abdullahi Abubakar, was slapped by the deputy governor of the state, Auwal Jatau, over a misunderstanding between the Minister and the Governor, Bala Mohammed.
However, the Deputy Governor denied the allegation, saying that such an incident did not occur, while the Minister has been quiet about the incident.
Meanwhile, the Young Leaders Coalition in a statement on Thursday by its Chairman, Musa Khalid, said that it was particularly concerned about the alleged harassment of the minister by a top official of the Bauchi State Government “in the pretext of revenge against his master, on which verbal words were exchanged.
“The coalition sees the incident as unbecoming within the hierarchy of those government officials who were expected to lead by example, and for a Bauchi state government official to harass a minister will be the worst act that could happen in the political history of the state.
“Brigandage or animalistic behavior of this sort definitely needs to be investigated to determine the clue to which act was perpetrated to find a solution or ways and means to forestall such unbecoming acts in the future.”
According to him, the act reflects poorly on governance and democratic norms and values of not only the APC or PDP, but would have negative consequences on the electorate and the generality of the people.
“To this end, there is a need for the political parties and the critical political stakeholders to have a round table and thoroughly discuss issues of such magnitude ahead of the forthcoming electioneering campaigns otherwise politicking in Bauchi state would stand to be bleak.
“The round table discussions among politicians of the divides should also culminate to the possibility of tendering an unreserved apology to the ministry while charting a mutual way of politicking without bitterness.”
