By Tina George, Minna
A group of youths under the auspices of Concerned Nigerlites, has called on Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello and his predecessor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, to end the political hostilities and name-calling in the overall interest of the state.
The group said that such hostilities and dirty politicking portrays bad examples and account of themselves before the youths in Niger state.
Referring to the recent spat of war between the duo during which former Governor Aliyu accused Governor Sani Bello of not being accountable for a $181 million loan, which he secured during his tenure in office.
Governor Sani Bello replied that he had not gotten any of the monies while asking Aliyu to give account of the monies he misused during his tenure.
The stand of the youths was contained in a statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary, Abdullahi Suleiman and Ndama Eli and made available to newsmen in Minna on Wednesday.
“We, the concerned Nigerlites are not happy about all these banters.
Former governor Aliyu publicly said he got the $181 million to dualize Minna-Bida road but the money could not be accessed until now. We expected Governor Bello to simply confirm if it is true or not, and not exchange words with him.
“We, therefore, asked Governor Bello to end the war of words capable of
breeding tension and degenerating into chaos. In as much as we want to remain neutral or resist being judgmental, Nigerlites will not be asking for too much by demanding that both Aliyu and Bello put aside their political difference and join hands in moving Niger state to enviable heights.”
Speaking on the $181 million loan, the Concerned Nigerlites urged Governor Bello to explain details about the $181million Islamic Development Bank loan while wondering why there has been noise making about who applied and got approvals for the IDB loan.
“When Babangida Aliyu made public his fears about the money, Governor Bello should have, as a man of integrity he wanted us to believe he is, simply asked the Ministry of Finance to release financial details of the state at least to prove his predecessor wrong.
“It is natural to be interested in what that amount was used for after hearing about such amount and because we do
not want to dwell on rumors.
“We are not probing anybody, who applied for or who got the approvals is immaterial to us, we are only
interested in knowing everything about $181 million. We do not think anything short of addressing citizens on
this subject matter will assuage the peoples’ curiosity.
“Governor Bello himself once said his administration will be transparent and will have zero tolerance for corruption, we want him to be practical, live by example. We are not interested in the ongoing attacks or blame games”, the group insisted.