The Kaduna State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused Governor Patrick Yakowa of using the free Ramadan feeding directive to local governments as a ploy to siphon public funds and enrich the illegal council administrators, just as it faulted the ban of motorcycles.
ACN, in a press statement tagged ‘The Crocodile Tears in Governor Patrick Yakowa,’ signed by the party’s state chairman, Barrister Muhammed Musa Soba, and made available to newsmen in Kaduna, said that it viewed “the past 60 days of Patrick Yakowa’s administration as a pointer to the wrong direction and intellectual emptiness of the decision-making body of the Kaduna State government.
“The so-called Ramadan feeding is another deceptive jamboree to create the impression that the Yakowa administration has a human face.”
According to Barrister Soba, what Kaduna citizens wanted was real empowerment and the unfettered right to pursue legitimate means of livelihood, “not dehumanising treatment as they are being served with mere cups of official ‘Kunu’ in the name of Ramadan at a time when the Almajiri system is becoming outdated.”
The party also flayed the ban on commercial motorcycle, describing the decision as illegal as it was not backed by any law.
“The recent ban on commercial and private motorcycles users from 9pm-6am has exposed the double standard and policy somersault of the Yakowa administration and the insincerity and deceit of its much touted poverty alleviation/youth empowerment programme as an integral part of the comatose 11 point agenda,” the party said.
When contacted, an aide to the governor, Mr Reuben Buhari, said that the government did not expect anything different from the opposition party.
He said: “We are not surprised that the leadership of the ACN in Kaduna State has decided to cast aspersions on the good intention of Governor Patrick Yakowa regarding the free Ramadan feeding for the good people of Kaduna State.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Kaduna State is not the only state engaged in this exercise and this is not the first time the government has embarked on this exercise. It is, however, unfortunate that ACN leadership will read political motives into the move that has been widely commended.
“While the government welcomes constructive criticism from everybody, it will not be cowed into taking decisions that will not be in the interest of the people of the state. So, no amount of blackmail will cause the government into backing down on assisting the less privileged citizens of Kaduna State in observing the Ramadan fast. “
On the restriction on ‘Okada’ riders to 9.00pm and beyond, Buhari explained that it was a measure taken to curtail rising crime wave in the state and, as such, it would remain in force until the state security council considered otherwise.
“The government owed it to the people to safeguard them and ensure that they stay in peace and it will do so,” he concluded.?