8th August, 2015
MADUABUCHI NMERIBEH/Kano
Commissioner for Information in Kano state, northwest Nigeria, Malam Muhammad Garba has conveyed the State Government’s dismay over what it described as a misleading story published by Premium Times online news portal alleging that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, at the last state Executive Meeting, ordered the release of N180 million to renovate the N303 million Deputy Governor’s office built four months ago by the immediate past administration of Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
Malam Garba in a press statement made available to our correspondent on Saturday also described as “erroneous and unfortunate”, the allegations currently being circulated on social media platforms that Kano state Government has sacked all street sweepers under the State Refuse Management and Sanitation Board, (REMASAB) employed by ex-Governor Kwankwaso.
He said the false rumours were calculated attempt by the fifth columnists to portray the Governor Ganduje administration as callous, insensitive and unsympathetic to the tough economic situation of the affected staff.
Garba who is the immediate past President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), further described as unprofessional and unethical the Premium Times “unfounded report”.
Our correspondent, however, reports that the supposed Deputy Governor’s official residence, situated adjacent the newly built 2015 Coronation Hall, within Government House vicinity, is an old colonial building which has not been renovated for some years now.
Putting the record straight, Malam Garba said: “The statements which are attributed to the State Commissioner of Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, Malam Muhammad Garba, during a press briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council Meeting held last Wednesday at the Government House, are indeed incorrect, inaccurate, erroneous, wrong and grossly skewed.
“To set the record straight, the appointment of the affected staff, who are all casual staff, was not terminated but suspended pending the conclusion of screening exercise of all the staff by a committee to determine genuine, ghost, fake and non-existent staff among them.
“The government is worried and concerned with lack of proper documentation on each of the over 2, 000 affected casual staff who collect monthly N10, 000 allowance and, therefore, deemed it necessary to establish their true status in order to save public funds from been diverted using ghost workers or unjustifiably collected by absconded staff who only showed up at the cashier’s table at the end of every month.
“All genuine and worthy casual staff will be cleared to resume duty at the end of the screening exercise. The administration of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is committed to fighting corruption, ensuring sanity in public service, transparency, accountability and judicious utilization of public funds and will, therefore, not fold its arms to allow anybody misuse or mismanage funds no matter how highly or lowly placed he is.
“As for the alleged approval of N180million for the rehabilitation of the Deputy Governor’s Office, no organization or individual or group in the name of government or otherwise ever talked about that since the inception of the administration because the said office was renovated and occupied just four month ago.
“The amount, as mentioned by the Commissioner during the briefing, is for the general renovation of the official residence of the Deputy Governor including construction of additional structures. The house was built since colonial era and remains so till date when the present administration recognized the need to give it a modern facelift befitting to the status of the Deputy Governor.”
He, therefore, urged journalists to always crosscheck facts before going to the press, in hard copy or online, in line with the ethics of good and responsible journalism.
Our correspondent reports that the newly-built Deputy Governor’s office lying beside the main gate of the Government House, constructed at the whopping sum of N303 million was commissioned on 13 March this year.