Governance On Hold As Niger Gov, Deputy, Speaker, State Exco Members Reportedly Travel To Saudi For Hajj

Residents of Niger State have condemned the decision of the state Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage, alongside the deputy governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji.

The governor and his deputy were said to have departed the state between Sunday and Monday for the yearly pilgrimage.

The residents, who spoke with newsmen accused the governor of not being serious with governance, claiming he had abandoned his responsibility alongside his deputy, leaving the people to their fate in the face of severe security challenges in the state.

Also, opposition political parties in the state expressed displeasure over the development.

They noted that the absence of the governor, deputy governor, Speaker and majority of members of the State Executive Council had paralyzed government activities.

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A chieftain of the Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Alhaji Umar Danladi Abdulhamid condemned the development.

He said, “I am shocked at the way and manner Governor Mohammed Umar Bago’s administration has been operating without respect to the feelings of the citizens in spite of the current security problems facing the state.

“More shocking is abandoning the state without transmitting power in line with the Constitution. It is not a good omen for the state. This calls for caution and reversal.”

In the same vein, the Niger North Zonal Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Yahaya Ability, said the All Progressives Congress, APC, is known for outright violation of the laws especially under the leadership of Governor Mohammed Umar Bago of Niger State.

According to him, “Most unfortunate is that Governor Bago left the country to perform Hajj in Saudi Arabia without remorse. He left the state the very day two military personnel were shot by the bandits at Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area while four LGAs, Rafi Shiroro, Munya and Mariga, were under attack daily and scores being killed.

“The matter is worse because the Assembly Speaker Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji who supposed to receive a written letter of transmission of power also left together with the governor. This goes to show that the Assembly is a stooge and under the pocket of the governor.”

The zonal PDP chairman further argued, “Section 190 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended cannot be observed in breach as it makes clear provision for the absence of a governor without anticipation of both of them leaving their seats at the same time.”

Efforts to get the response of the state government to the issues, according to DailyPost were not successful.

The Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, and the Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to the Governor, Bologi Ibrahim, refused to respond when calls were put through to them