Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago’s special adviser on print media, Aisha Wakaso, has said her principal’s decision to ask the individual who volunteered to pray not to pray for the late wife of the deputy governor was to maintain the sanctity and solemnity of the occasion.
Reacting to the backlash generated by the video ordering the man out of the venue, Wakaso said, “It has become necessary to set the record straight and correct the misconceptions about the governor’s actions.
“The governor considers the three days Fidau prayers as a very sensitive and important event that should be presided over by an Imam or any renowned Islamic scholar, not by an unqualified individual,” she said in a statement yesterday.
She explained that “the governor found the act of the person not just as disrespectful to the dead and the reason for the gathering but also as insensitive, which led to him requesting that the security agents take him out. “
Consequently, she posited that “the continued attacks on the governor’s character by some media outlets over this issue are unfortunate and uncalled for, especially since the governor’s actions were meant to curb the excesses of unruly individuals and prevent the Fidau prayer from being reduced to a mere spectacle or a child’s play.”
Wakaso said the individual in question is a long-time follower of the governor, known from his time in the banking industry and as a member of the House of Representatives.
She said, “He knows him personally and has empowered him with different trades at different times, but he has continuously squandered the money and keeps coming back. That day, he got the governor’s attention and impersonated an Imam until the governor found him out.”
The special adviser said it was wrong to push different narratives to the public, insisting that the governor’s action was out of respect for the deceased wife of the deputy Zainab Yakubu Garba.
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