There are strong indications that the Niger State Governor-Elect, Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago may probe his predecessor in office, Alhaji Abubaka Sani Bello even though the two belong to the same political party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).

An Indication to this emerged on Friday when the Governor-elect inaugurated a 71 member Transition Committee in Minna, the state with a clear directive to the committee to “interface with officials of the current government with a view to understanding the position of our dear state financially, economically and otherwise”.

He equally urged the committee that in doing so they are expected to probe deeply the position of all government books, transactions as well as commitments therein, adding that “accountability is very important in governance”.

Bago Said the need to look into the account books of the state has become necessary because “We have promised Nigerlites to be accountable and responsible, to protect them and our resources, irrespective of tribe, religion or race”, adding that “To achieve this, we need the understanding of all and sundry”.

According to the Governor-elect, the need to take a holistic look at the account books of the state should not be misunderstood, adding that “our intentions are clear not negative or personal, but in the interest of Nigerlites because posterity will surely judge us. We have promised to be professional, honest and we shall afterwards make our finding clear to the public so that upon our exit too, we shall be judged accordingly”.

The decision by the Governor-elect to look into the account books of the state is not far fetch due to the huge debts burden of the state with virtually nothing to show for the huge resources that have accrued to the state in the last eight years.

For instance, according to available records from the Debt Management Agency, the state debts as at January this year stood at N98billion, in addition to N14billion owed the over 14,200 pensioners in the state.

According to a source close to the transition committee, the controversial Minna-Bida road which contract was awarded in 2020 at the cost of N23.4billion and a whopping N15billion already expended, only five percent work is said to have so far been achieved will be looked into with a view to letting the public know where the incoming government is starting from.

“We also learnt that the repair of Minna-Kontagora road has also gulped N6.8billion but as you can see, there is nothing on that road to show that such amount of money has been expended there. There are so many other contracts like that, so there is the need to let the people know what we met on ground”, our source added. (Daily Sun)

•Niger State Governor-Elect, Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago and Gov. of Niger State, Alhaji Abubaka Sani Bello

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