The Special Adviser to Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam on Press Affairs and Information, Abdullahi Bego, has said the alleged relocation of government officials to neighbouring states due to insecurity was unfounded.
Bego, who reacted to the statement credited to the Niger State governor, Dr. Babagida Aliyu, that insecurity was taking it toll on the Yobe State government affirmed that the situation was under control in the state.
He said: “We state categorically that no government official has relocated to Kano or Jigawa nor has anyone given up in Yobe State or anywhere in the country. As Muslims and Christians, we believe in the scriptural encouragement that ease will follow every hardship.”
The governor’s aide further remarked that security agencies were working hard to make the state safe with the co-operation of the citizens through vigilance. “This is even more so with the hard work of our security agencies and the vigilance of ordinary citizens.”
He further stated that the on-going fight to ensure peace and security in the state would be achieved because all hands were on deck to mitigate the situation. “The sacrifice that we make as individual and collectives and what we actually do as leaders and people in positions of authority.”
Expressing his concern for the insecurity in the North and the country that the Governor Ibrahim Gaidam administration remains faithful to its mandate and would continue undaunted to deliver on its mandate.
“It therefore came as a huge surprise that Governor Babangida Aliyu relying on a speculative reports from one newspaper, would speak of government institution taking flight out of the state.”
“I wasn’t very happy when I read in the papers that in Yobe State, the legislators and commissioners were moving to Jigawa. That means we are already giving up because if the government institution moved, it means those who are after us have defeated us and had taken over.”
The further expressed the belief that the Niger State governor should have contacted his counterpart on the issue before using a newspaper report to make such weighty comments.
“If Governor Aliyu was unable for whatever reason to contact Governor Gaidam, one would expect him to show circumspection using a newspaper report to make such weight comments.”
Governor Aliyu had said during the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation lecture series in Abuja that insecurity had forced top Yobe State government officials to relocate from Damaturu, the state capital to neibouring states.
“As chairman of the Northern Governor’s Forum and leader who continues to make a mark on the lives of the people, we hold Governor Aliyu in highest esteem and hope that this clarification will help inform his comment about Yobe State in the future,” Bego said.
