I Am Governor Of All, Not APC Members – Bello

The governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Bello has stated that he will be a governor that protects the interest of all in the state, notwithstanding party and socio-cultural differences.

Bello who made this statement in Kontagora, Niger State yesterday while meeting with various stakeholders swore to cater for all the people irrespective of political and socio-cultural attachment.
He stated “I recognise that I contested on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and promised to abide by its constitution and manifesto. I am 100 per cent loyal APC member. But I swore to an oath to abide by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
According to him “And the Nigerian Constitution is supreme. It is above the constitution of APC or any other political party. Political parties come and go, but the Nigerian Constitution remains. I am not a governor for just APC members but all citizens of the state.”
He added that his conviction and belief informed the spread of developmental project and programmes undertaken so far across the state based only on the areas of need.
The governor explained to the stakeholders’ the current financial difficulties that the state was going through and called on them to support government policies and programmes aimed at repositioning the state.
“Nigeria in general and Niger State in particular is facing serious economic challenges as a result of fall in oil price at the international market and also due to security challenges in the Niger Delta. Niger State, like many other states of Nigeria depends on federal allocation, which has reduced drastically since the beginning of this administration.
“Since the inception of the APC- lead administration in the state, the highest federation allocation it has gotten was N2.5 billion. And the state wage bill for salaries is about N2.4 billion.