Disquiet in Niger Government House Over Deputy Governor’s Planned Resignation
Barring a last-minute change of decision, the deputy governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba, will resign from his position “any moment from now”, multiple sources said.
In preparations for the resignation, the sources said the embattled deputy governor had begun packing out some of his belongings from his official residence at the weekend.
Insiders confirmed that they witnessed suspicious movement of the deputy governor’s property from the official residence between Saturday and Sunday.
“As I speak to you, he has substantially moved out his belongings from the official residence to his private residence. He will resign any moment from now,” a source added.
Some traditional rulers in the state had visited Garba on Sunday night to persuade him to shelve the plan, but it is not clear whether he has changed his mind.
Insiders said the deputy governor’s decision to resign might not be unconnected to the strained relationship with Governor Umaru Bago, who had allegedly shown a lot of disrespect and hostility towards him.
The source said Garba was no longer consulted on many activities of the administration despite coming to power on the same ticket with the governor.
The source said the last straw that broke the camel’s back was the replacement of Garba’s preferred candidate in the forthcoming local government election in the state.
Our correspondent gathered that Garba and stakeholders of the APC in Shiroro local government had settled for Babangida Kudodo as the consensus candidate, but when the list of candidates was released by the party headquarters, another candidate, Isyaku Bawa, got the ticket.
It was further gathered that apart from the deputy governor’s choice, many consensus candidates were also replaced by the party leadership, allegedly on the orders of the governor.
“Nobody consulted him on anything. He does not have control over any part of the government. The deputy is treated with disrespect despite his huge contributions to the success of the party and loyalty to his principal.
“Even his monthly allowances and overhead have been ridiculously slashed,” said the source.
Although the deputy governor has yet to reply to our correspondent’s message, seeking clarification on the matter, his press secretary, Ummikhultume Abdullahi, said she wasn’t aware of her principal’s plan to quit.
She also said Mr Garba has not relocated from his official residence, adding that she just had a meeting with him at his official residence.
DAILY NIGERIAN
