The Chairman of Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State, Isiyaku Naibi, has faulted Gov Mohammed Bago on the sales of alcohol in his council, vowing to enforce the ban.
Naibi threatened to order the closure of hotels in Suleja still engaged in sales of alcohol, despite a directive by the state governor Bago disassociating the state government from the ban on alcohol.
The council chairman made this known while meeting with hotel and beer parlour operators at the council secretariat on Tuesday, where he made it clear that his council was going ahead with the enforcement of the ban on the sales of alcohol in his council.
Naibi said he will not only enforce the ban on the sales of alcohol in his local government council and it’s environs, “all hotels operating below standard will be closed down while a new tax regime will be visited on those that will be allowed to operate”.
Bago in a statement he personally signed in Minna had denied claims that his administration placed a ban on the sales of alcohol in the state, stating that it was not the immediate priority of his government.
The government dismissed as “baseless’ the assertions, saying that the Governor never issued any directive on the ban of alcoholic drinks in any part of the state.
The governor further pointed out that the statement attributed to the Secretary of the Niger State Liquor and Licensing Board, Ibrahim Mohammed, did not emanate from the government, adding that no such board has been formed under his administration.
The Governor had in addition to the denial, instructed security agents to apprehend the author of the statement, Mohammed Ibrahim, the self-appointed Secretary of the non-existent board, to investigate the motives behind the false pronouncement.
While emphasising the commitment of his administration to safeguard citizens’ fundamental rights, including freedom of religion, the governor assured residents that such misleading information held no merit in the policies of his government and therefore urged citizens to continue their lawful activities without undue concern.
The statement read, “The attention of the Niger State Government has been drawn to a report making the rounds of some blogs claiming that the Niger State Government, through the state’s Liquor and Licensing Board, has prohibited the sale of alcohol in nine local government areas of the state, including Suleja.
“We wish to state categorically that His Excellency, Governor Bago, who has been busy initiating and overseeing many people-centered projects across the state, never issued such a directive.
“The liquor and licensing board is yet to be constituted by the governor; as such, no directive of this kind can come from a board yet to be formed.
“The public and media are urged to disregard such announcements and seek clarification from authorized government officials for accurate information.”
Some of the operators who attended the meeting with the Suleja Council Chairman disclosed that the chairman specifically told them to disregard the statement by the state government, stressing that he will not allow the sales of alcohol in his council despite the governor’s directives.
They quoted the chairman as saying that he would closed down all hotels in Suleja and its environs except those that meet operational standard, adding that such hotels should be ready to pay the new approved taxes by the council.
“He said we should pretend that we did not see any statement from the state government or the governor. He told us that such statement is political and that the reality is that he will not allow the sales of alcohol in his council,” they claimed.
Attempts to get the council chairman to react to the issue failed as his phone refused to go through.
