APM presidential aspirant alleges exclusion after Bala’s entrance into party

BY LUKA YELMI, BAUCHI

Al-Faiz Mohammed Bello, a Presidential aspirant under the platform of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) has accused the party’s leadership in Bauchi State of sidelining him since Governor Bala Mohammed defected to the party.

Bello told journalists in Bauchi at the weekend that he spent time and money building the APM’s presence in the state long before the governor’s arrival, but has since been excluded from the party’s activities.

“I am a presidential aspirant under the APM, and I am among those who worked to raise its profile to the point where it became the ruling party in Bauchi State after Governor Bala Mohammed’s defection,” he said.

“Before the governor and his supporters joined, we had printed thousands of posters and mounted billboards to make the party known and acceptable. We invested our energy, resources, and time,” he added.

Bello said he joined the APM about two years ago after the state chairman invited him, citing his youth mobilisation work and promising him the party’s presidential ticket.

“The day after I received my membership card, I printed 20,000 posters,” Bello disclosed.

He alleged that since Mohammed joined the APM on May 2, 2026, the state chairman stopped picking his calls and the national secretary also became unreachable.

“Now I don’t know my position in this party,” Bello said.

The aspirant appealed to Governor Mohammed, whom he called a father, to intervene and preserve party unity, noting that some of his supporters have urged him to sue the party to court but he had refrained out of respect for the governor.

“Your Excellency, you are a father to me. That is why I refused to listen to calls to sabotage the APM, even though I have been sidelined. My supporters keep calling on me to act, but I tell them to be patient,” he said.

Bello said he has a network of women and youth supporters across Bauchi who believe it is time for younger leaders to govern Nigeria.

He also voiced support for Mohammed’s bid for the Bauchi South Senatorial seat under the APM, saying he believed the governor could break the jinx of former Bauchi governors failing to win the seat after leaving office.

“I have spent my resources, time, and energy to promote this party but I have reduced to nobody. However, I am the happiest person to have you in the APM,” Bello said.

Governor Bala Mohammed formally defected to the APM on May 2, 2026, citing unresolved crises in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following a Supreme Court ruling that nullified parallel national conventions and placed the party’s Board of Trustees in temporary control.

He described the move as strategic, aimed at giving his supporters a stable platform ahead of the 2027 elections.

APM National Chairman Yusuf Mamman Dantalle welcomed Mohammed and his structure, saying the party was free of litigation and internal crisis.

Mohammed has since picked the APM nomination form to contest for Bauchi South Senatorial District.

Responding, the Chairman of the Bauchi State chapter of the AMP, Auwal Isah popularly known as Mai takalmin Roba described Al-Faiz as a joker and dismissed his claims as laughable.

He said aspiring for the presidential ticket is not as simple as printing posters or mounting billboards.

He challenged Al-Faiz to go to the party’s headquarters in Abuja and obtain the nomination form instead of staying in Bauchi making baseless claims.

“You don’t become an aspirant just by making claims while nomination forms are being issued and you haven’t gone to get one. All he has done is print posters declaring himself a presidential aspirant. To be honest, I can tell you he doesn’t even have a membership card of our party. He’s just a joker.” Isah said

On the claim of being excluded from party activities, the chairman said that as a party member, he is not entitled to be involved in every decision made by the executive.

“We’re aware he’s printing posters and advertising himself. At the moment, we don’t have any presidential aspirant in our party and nobody is aspiring. Yes, I’ve known him for a long time, but the idea of him aspiring for the presidential ticket is a joke.” The party chairman said.