- Dismisses allegations of embezzling ward development funds
From John Adams, Minna
Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Niger State Hon Isah Liman Kantigi has said that his administration will not constitute any commission of Inquiry to probe his predecessor in office, saying that such exercise amounts to distractions and a waste of time.
The governorship candidate stated this in Minna when he met some stakeholders ahead of the Saturday governorship and state Houses of Assembly, pointing out that he will only draw a line and move on because such exercise has never yielded any results in the past.
Hon Kantigi however made it clear that if given the mandate on Saturday, March 18, his administration will however not hesitate to seek clarification from officials of his predecessor in an office on certain issues, especially abandoned projects where it’s necessary.
He maintained that his administration will not probe anyone or set up a commission of inquiry for such purpose, adding it will amount to drawing the government back and redirecting its focus.
According to the governorship candidate, no commission of inquiry or any probe panel set up by successive administrations in the state has yielded any result, insisting that “I will not bother myself to probe anybody but I will ask questions where necessary.
“I will not but I will call to ask questions about why so and so contract was abandoned after collecting money that is what I will do but not to probe. I will draw a line and move on“, he submitted.
Isah Kantigi disclosed that his administration if elected into office as the governor of Niger State come March 18, he will in the first one year in office embark on an aggressive transformation of rural roads across the state, among them is the abandoned 82 kilometres Minna-Bida and the Kontagora-Rijau roads.
Governorship and the House of Assembly election in the state, Liman Kantigi was upbeat that in a free and fair election, he will defeat his rival in the coming election, with a warning to the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to create an enabling playing ground.
“I am optimistic about winning the election but let me say that INEC should not repeat what happened during the Presidential and National Assembly elections where BVAs machines were not used in some polling unit,” he said.
He however used the opportunity to debunk a viral audio recording, an interview purported to have been granted by a former Executive Secretary, Niger state Ward Development Project under former governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, Mallam Saidu Takuma, alleging that he (Kantigi) embezzled money meant for the ward development project as commissioner for local government, community development and chieftaincy affairs.
He described the viral audio as “a fabricated story, orchestrated tissues of lies and a cut and join cheap blackmail called interview recording of former Executive Secretary of Ward Development Project,” pointing out that such propaganda cannot save the dying APC from drowning on Saturday when they will be chased out of office by the people they have impoverished in the last eight years.