Niger Governor Says No Feud As Deputy Shuns Workers’ Day

As speculations spread wide on the alleged rift between Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago and the Deputy Governor Comrade Yakubu Garba, the governor said there is no feud, despite the deputy governor’s absence at Workers Day parade.

The deputy governor was the immediate past chairman of the Niger State Council of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and has never missed the Workers’ Day since he became deputy governor but he was absent yesterday while the governor was present.

However, while observing protocols during yesterday’s Workers’ Day celebration, the governor said his deputy was out for another function.

After delivering his speech at the occasion, he told Journalists in an interview that “We are in perfect harmony. We are working as a team; nobody can break us.”

The governor, who returned to Minna yesterday and immediately attended the Workers’ Day, was speaking for the first time since the speculations began about the purported feud with his deputy.

While some sources hinted that the deputy governor was out of town deliberately to avoid attendance and reduce the tension, speculation was generated on social media. The governor defended the deputy governor’s absence from the event, saying his nonattendance was because the deputy governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, was attending another function.

Governor Bago therefore, dismissed the rumour and insisted  that nobody could  put a wedge between him and the deputy governor.

Bago, in his speech earlier, promised that he would lead members of his cabinet in a march past during next year’s event because  they were also employees of the government.

He promised to construct 10,000 housing units, some of which would be allocated to workers to address the accommodation challenges they were facing. He added that the state Secretariat would also be renovated, with the connection of the offices and Schools to internet facilities.