The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, said on Wednesday his recent criticism of President Bola Tinubu over #EndBadGovernance protests in the country was constructive and in good faith.
The governor stated this before the commencement of the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting in Bauchi.
Mohammed had last week said the president’s policies and programmes were unfavourable to Nigerians.
He also argued that President Tinubu’s August 4 broadcast where he appealed to the protesters to suspend the protest and embrace dialogue was “very empty.”
Some political leaders in the state, including a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and a serving Senator, Shehu Buba, have since condemned the governor over his action.
In his remark at the meeting, Mohammed noted that his outburst was a wake-up call to the Federal Government and the sub-national to address the plights of the citizens.
He said: “I spoke constructively as an opposition and somebody who means well for the president, the government, and the people of Nigeria.
“I had not done it to cause any dis-affection or to insult anybody.
“We have to listen when their (citizens) cry is very loud on bad governance and areas of limitations and inadequacies, where the expectations of our people have not been met.
“We have scarce resources to manage and that is why I said we must use the little resources that we have, to do so much.
“Nobody cares, nobody will listen to you when you begin to complain and blame our predecessors for the inadequacies.”
The governor said it was wrong to heap all the blame for bad governance on the federal government because the states were also culpable.
“We are not just blaming the federal government for everything.
“We (states) also have to look at ourselves, do a swift analysis of ourselves, and make sure we do things that would put food on the table and make things easier.
“We know we are not in charge of national policies and programmes, but we must be able to implement national policies as a loyal federalist.
“We should, at the same time, look at our challenges and make sure that we connect with the people,” he added.
Mohammed stressed that governors were not left out from what he said, and it was not about partisan politics, but, about responsibility.
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