“Pearl of Tourism”
- Capital
- Bauchi
- Created
- 3 February 1976
- Population
- 8,308,800 2022 estimate
- LGAs
- 20
His Excellency
Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed
Executive Governor of Bauchi State
Allied Peoples Movement North-East
- In office since
- 29 May 2019
- Term
- 2nd term
- Term ends
- May 2027
- Deputy
- Mohammed Auwal Jatau
Biography
Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed (born 5 October 1958) is a Nigerian politician who has served as Governor of Bauchi State since 29 May 2019. A former journalist and federal civil servant, he represented Bauchi South in the Senate from 2007 to 2010, where he supported the February 2010 'doctrine of necessity' resolution that made Goodluck Jonathan acting president.
From 2010 to 2015 he was Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, overseeing road expansion projects such as the airport road and Kubwa expressway and the FCT land-swap policy. He won the 2019 Bauchi governorship election on the PDP platform, defeating incumbent Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, a result upheld by the Supreme Court in January 2020, and was re-elected in 2023. In June 2023 he was elected chairman of the PDP Governors' Forum.
Amid the PDP's internal crisis, Mohammed announced his resignation from the party and joined the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) on 2 May 2026, alongside his deputy, Mohammed Auwal Jatau. He secured the APM ticket for the Bauchi South senatorial seat in the 2027 elections. His second and final term as governor ends in May 2027.
Career before office
Mohammed began as a journalist in 1982, working with the Mirage newspaper, the News Agency of Nigeria and the Democrat. He then joined the federal civil service, rising to director-level posts in the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, among others. He was elected Senator for Bauchi South on the ANPP platform in 2007 and served as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory from April 2010 to May 2015.
Key initiatives in office
- Kaura Economic Empowerment Programme (KEEP) providing grants, loans and equipment to women and youths
- Civil service payroll verification that removed ghost workers
- Construction of 2,500 affordable housing units at Dungal, Bauchi LGA
- Primary healthcare and school rehabilitation programmes with development partners
- Urban and rural road construction across the state
Education
- Government School, Bauchi (1972–1976)
- North East College of Arts and Science (A-levels, 1979)
- BA, University of Maiduguri
- Management course, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), 1988
Bauchi State at a glance
North-East
Other governors in the zone
Gombe State
Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya
Adamawa State
Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri
Borno State
Babagana Umara Zulum
Taraba State