Niger Gov’s Investigation Of My Tenure Not A Political Witch-hunt – Ex-Gov. Aliyu

Abubakar Sani Bello-Babangida AliyuThe immediate past Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has confirmed that he is under probe by the Governor Sani Bello administration in the state.
Unlike some of his colleague former governors who view probe of their tenures in office as unnecessary and a witch-hunt, Mr. Aliyu welcomed the development, saying it was necessary to set the records straight.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday, the former governor said his successor was doing the needful by instituting the probe, correcting the erroneous impression in some quarters that it was a witch-hunt.
Aliyu also expressed sympathy for Governor Bello over economic realities which had made payment of workers’ salaries difficult, saying “I can understand what my successor is passing through, especially on the issue of payment of salaries”.
Sharing his own experience while he was governor, he said “When I was finding it difficult to pay workers’ salaries at the close of my administration, not many people saw reasons why I had to take loans to augment what we got from the Federal Government”.
According to the former governor, when the incumbent raised the alarm over the state’s inability to pay workers’ salaries and some people in his words, “misunderstood him”, he knew Gov. Bello was telling the “honest truth”.
“The allocation to Niger State has plummeted to N600 million. Niger is a state that depends largely on handouts from the centre and the only option left is to borrow pending when the present economic challenges normalise.
“If my governor fails, it will affect me deeply. Political party affinity is not important once it comes to working towards building a vibrant Niger State. It is, indeed, my duty to pray for him to achieve”, the former governor stated.