From Godwin Tsa Abuja
A former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in Imo State and Rapporteur, Victims of Persecutions, Mr Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN, has commended Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum for providing an enabling political environment that saw the emergence of two professors as Local Government Chairmen in the state.
The two professors – Adamu Alooma and Ibrahim Bukar – had contested in and won the November 28 chairmanship election into the Damboa and Gwoza Local Government Areas of the state, respectively.
While Alooma is a Professor of Banking and Finance and a former Dean at the Faculty of Management Sciences at the University of Maiduguri, Bukar is a Professor of Education at the same university.
They were among the 27 elected Local Government Chairmen who took the oath of office into all the Local Government Areas of the state won by the All Progressives Party (APC).
In its congratulatory message, the Victims of Persecutions noted that the calibre of persons who participated in the election ‘showed that the people and government have a far-reaching understanding of the need for true federalism wherein each of the three tiers of government has a specific role to play with Local government as the grassroots pillar to the expected true federal system of government.
‘We congratulate in particular Prof Adamu Alooma who contested and won the championship election into the Damboa LGA and Prof Ibrahim Bukar who as well contested and won that of Gwoza LGA.
‘They are pacesetters and examples of growing faith in our local government system.
‘We also commend his Excellency, the Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum, for providing the constitutionally required environment that attracted seasoned personalities into the governance of the local government area and for insisting that leaders must stay and live with the people.
‘His ensuring that all funds belonging to the Local Government Council are totally made available to the elected officials showed his belief in the Local Government capacity to meet the exact needs of the exact people.’
The group called on other state governments to emulate the examples set by the people and government of Borno State in the November 28 council elections.