Nine months into office, commissioners beg for official vehicles

By Babagana Jidda
Kanempress News
6th March 2024

As state governors across Nigeria brace up to celebrate their first year in office, state commissioners in charge of different ministries in Sokoto State have pleaded with governor to dignify their offices and make their jobs a lot easier through the allocation and use of official cars.

Kanempress gathered that none of the Commissioners in Sokoto State have allocated an official vehicle for use to aid them in the delivery of their official responsibilities.

Kanempress monitored the development and further observed that the state commissioners appointed by Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto about eight months ago, have been driving their personal vehicles for all official duties.

Although none of the sitting commissioners volunteered to speak with Kanempress.

One of them noted that the absence of official vehicles for his use is severely affecting the smooth running and operations of his office.

Asides the situation, the commissioner defended that Governor Aliyu Ahmad’s action and reason for the delay may not be unconnected to the probe panel instituted by the governor to unravel the excesses of the previous administration, which included the disappearance of some government properties and vehicles.

“I can not deny to you that I’m not affected. Truly, I’m also suffering from the absence of official vehicles in my ministry and for my personal use. I can’t lie to you. I’m a Muslim, and I’m not a baby. I can’t lie to you that it is not adversely affecting my duties,” the ministry’s helmsman stated.

“Many times, I have to call some of my friends at different times to use their cars to state events and functions,” he maintained.

“Although, I’m not happy about this development because it is a shame on me, but I can not blame the governor because he’s trying to recover and reposition this state,” he said.

“The previous administrations did some unimaginable things like going away with government properties that included vehicles,” the Commissioner said.

“That is another reason, I think is responsible for the delay, and we are the ones suffering their misdeeds and wickedness. So we wait for the panel instituted by the governor to submit its report and recover the missing items. After that, I’m sure things will be okay,” the Commissioner further stated.