By Musa Azare
As Bauchi State approaches another transition in political leadership in 2027, one question is becoming increasingly important. What should happen to the enormous public investments already made in roads, healthcare, education, infrastructure and other sectors?
The answer has implications far beyond partisan politics. It concerns the protection of taxpayers’ money, the completion of projects already financed by the government, the preservation of development gains and, ultimately, the welfare of the people of Bauchi State.
Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed assumed office on May 29, 2019, inheriting a state with numerous abandoned and uncompleted projects. His administration subsequently embarked on an extensive programme of completing inherited projects while initiating new interventions across infrastructure, healthcare, education, agriculture, housing, social services and economic development.
The official Bauchi State government projects portal identifies infrastructure, healthcare, education, public finance, social welfare and economic revitalisation among the administration’s major areas of intervention.
With Governor Bala’s second term scheduled to end in May 2027, the debate over succession is therefore also a debate about continuity, stewardship and the responsible management of public resources.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has presented Dr. Yakubu Adamu, a former Bauchi State Commissioner of Finance, as its governorship candidate for the 2027 election. At his unveiling, Adamu said he would build on the achievements of the Bala Mohammed administration, with emphasis on continuity and development.
The Cost Of Abandoning Projects
For Bauchi, the issue is not merely about whether a new administration should introduce new projects.
It is about what happens when governments abandon projects that have already consumed public funds.
An unfinished road does not only represent an incomplete physical structure. It means money already spent without the expected economic return. It can leave communities disconnected, delay movement of agricultural produce, increase transportation costs and force government to spend additional money years later to revive or reconstruct the same project.
The same principle applies to hospitals, schools, water schemes, bridges and other public infrastructure.
When a new administration abandons an inherited project because it was initiated by a predecessor, the original public investment can lose value. Inflation may increase the cost of completing it, deteriorating structures may require additional rehabilitation and communities that were promised improved services continue to wait.
Continuity, therefore, is not simply about preserving a politician’s legacy. It can also be about protecting public money already committed to development.
From inherited projects to completed infrastructure
Governor Bala Mohammed inherited numerous road projects that had remained incomplete during the preceding administration for Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar of APC.
They included the Itas-Atafowa-Magarya Road; Darazo-Gafchiyari Road; Hanafari-Jurara-Gidan Babani-Sabon Kafi-Mashema Road; Mararrabar Ganye-Jajuwal-Ganye-Gwalfada-Dokayel-Bakin Kogi Road; Udubo-Gamawa Road; dualisation of Jama’are Road in Azare; Sule Katagum Road, also in Azare; Misau township roads; and several other projects.
The supplied records also identify the 20-kilometre dual carriageway along Ningi Road, from Awala Roundabout to Airport Junction; Awala Roundabout-Gidan Mai-Zaranda Hotel-Miri Road; Giade-Jugudu-Kurba-Gulka-Basirka Road; CBN Roundabout-Federal Low Cost-Railway Road; and Dass-Gajiwal-Bangim-Falantulu-Bununu Road among projects inherited or pursued by the administration.
The significance of completing such projects goes beyond the roads themselves.
Roads connect farmers to markets, students to schools, patients to hospitals and businesses to consumers. A functioning road network can reduce travel time, improve movement of goods and support commercial activity across local government areas.
The administration’s record also includes roads it initiated and completed, such as the Adamu Jumba Road; Sabon Kaura-Jos Road; Sultan Abubakar Road; Nitel Quarters Road; Gombe-Maiduguri bypass; Gwangwangwan-Bakaro-Kofar Dumi Road; Malam Goje-Bakin Kura-Muda Lawal Market Road, Hospital Road in Azare, Bununu Township roads in Tafawa Balewa local government; Sade Township roads in Darazo local government; Disina township roads in Shira local government; Tafawa Balewa Road in Azare; and Sade-Akuyam Road, linking communities in Darazo and Misau local governments.
Other projects listed include the dualisation of Maiduguri Road; Awala-Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport Road; Yakubu Wanka Road; Shagari Road; Karofin Madaki Road; Jaja Road; Central Market-Wunti Road; Itas-Gadau Road; Boi-Tapshin Road; Bogoro-Lusa-Malar Road; and Warji-Gwaram Road.
In August 2026, former President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned 18 township roads in Bauchi metropolis and publicly commended the governor’s infrastructure development efforts.
Among the infrastructure highlighted in the supplied material is the longest state sponsored bridge on the Itas-Gadau axis. The Itas-Gadau Road, plus the adjoining bridge, connects ten agrarian villages to four local government headquarters – Katagum, Itas-Gadau, Zaki and Jama’are local government headquarters.
The project illustrates why completing infrastructure can matter more than simply announcing new projects.
A bridge is not an isolated structure. It forms part of a road network and its usefulness depends on the completion and maintenance of the connecting routes.
When such projects are completed and maintained, government obtains greater value from the resources already committed to them. Communities receive the expected benefit and future administrations can concentrate on expanding the network rather than repeatedly returning to unfinished projects.
Perhaps nowhere is continuity more directly connected to human welfare than healthcare.
The supplied project records credit the Bala Mohammed administration with the construction, renovation and upgrading of hundreds of primary healthcare facilities across Bauchi State.
The administration’s own development material says progress has been made toward having at least one functional primary healthcare centre in each of the state’s 323 electoral wards, while collaborations with development partners have supported renovations and construction of additional facilities.
The broader health programme includes interventions at general hospitals in Alkaleri, Toro, Dass, Yelwan Duguri, Zaki, Azare, Itas-Gadau, Gamawa, Kafin Madaki, Warji, Misau, Dambam and Kirfi, among others.
The Specialist Hospital in Bauchi also received interventions, including maternity renovation, accommodation for house officers and equipment for the radiography department.
At the Aliko Dangote College of Nursing Sciences, projects included hostels, kitchen and laundry facilities, classrooms and lecture/examination halls. The Bill and Melinda Gates College of Health Technology in Ningi also benefited from perimeter fencing and ICT equipment.
These investments demonstrate an important point: building a health facility is only the beginning.
The facility must be maintained, equipped, staffed and integrated into the wider healthcare system. Abandonment at any stage can reduce the value of the initial investment.
Before the upgrading of the Dajin Primary Healthcare Centre in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area, residents requiring certain services, including scans for pregnant women, reportedly had to travel to Dass or Bauchi city.
A functioning facility closer to the community reduces that burden. That is what continuity means at the human level.
Every government operates with finite resources. This makes the management of existing projects as important as announcing new ones.
When a project reaches 70 or 80 per cent completion, abandoning it may mean that the government has to spend considerably more later to achieve what could have been completed earlier. Meanwhile, the partially completed facility may deteriorate.
Continuity can therefore serve as a mechanism for protecting public investments.
But continuity should not mean that citizens surrender their constitutional right to scrutinise government.
A successor should be expected to audit inherited projects, verify their costs and quality, publish relevant information and ensure that projects deliver value. Continuity should be accompanied by accountability.
The central question for voters should consequently be: who can preserve useful investments, complete viable projects, maintain existing infrastructure and still introduce new ideas where necessary?
The 2027 Succession Question
The 2027 election presents Bauchi voters with competing candidates and competing visions.
Dr. Yakubu Adamu, the APM candidate, has publicly positioned himself as a continuity candidate. His campaign platform also identifies infrastructure, healthcare, education, youth and women empowerment, agriculture and food security among its priorities.
His previous role as Commissioner for Finance is particularly relevant to the discussion of public investment because financial management is central to sustaining infrastructure and public services.
The argument for continuity is therefore not simply that every policy or project of an outgoing administration must automatically be retained.
Rather, it is that projects that have demonstrable public value should not become casualties of political succession.
If a road connects communities and improves commerce, it should be maintained. If a health centre brings essential services closer to rural families, it should remain functional. If public money has already been invested in an infrastructure project, its completion and maintenance should be considered before resources are committed to entirely new projects.
And if an inherited project has become unnecessary, technically defective or financially unjustifiable, the public deserves a transparent explanation rather than silent abandonment.
Governor Bala Mohammed’s tenure has produced a large portfolio of projects and interventions that will require maintenance, financing and institutional support beyond May 2027.
A change of government does not change the ownership of a public road, hospital, school, bridge or water project. They belong to the people. That principle should guide the 2027 succession debate.
For supporters of Governor Bala Mohammed’s preferred successor, the argument is that Dr Yakubu Adamu offers a route to continuity and the preservation of the development agenda already underway. His candidacy has been formally affirmed by the APM, and he has pledged to consolidate existing achievements.
For the electorate, however, the ultimate responsibility remains to examine the candidates, their records, plans, financial management proposals and commitments to accountability before casting their ballots.
Development requires planning, investment, completion and maintenance. Where previous public resources have already been committed, completing useful projects can protect those investments, while abandoning them can create additional financial and social costs.
As the 2027 election approaches, the debate over succession should therefore include a serious examination of continuity, not merely as a political slogan, but as a question of whether Bauchi can protect what it has built, complete what remains unfinished and use its scarce public resources to deliver lasting value to its people.
