Niger State governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu has cautioned the political class in the country against overheating the polity which has the potential to cause crisis.
Speaking against the backdrop of the crisis that followed the announcement of the presidential election results in April 2011, Governor Aliyu declared “let me take this opportunity to call on the political class in this country to exercise utmost caution and high sense of responsibility in all our actions and utterances before, during and after elections.”
Aliyu, who spoke at the presentation of cheques to victims of the April 2011 post election violence, declared that “democracy goes beyond periodic elections and survival of our nation should be paramount in all that we do.”
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto said, “We must therefore always put the interest of our nation before any personal interests, before any primordial sentiments” adding that “we must remember that great nations are built by patriotic citizens and we must therefore rededicate ourselves to the survival and development of our nation.”
He recalled that the Niger State government had earlier supported the victims immediately after the incident “To assist the victims to recover from the shock of the unpleasant situation as part of our administration’s emergency response initiative.”
Governor Aliyu appreciated the Federal Government for the assistance which he said has further cushioned the effect of the crisis on their lives.
Earlier the Minister of Lands and Housing, Mrs. Amma Pepple, had disclosed that the Federal Government had released over N5.7 billion to the nine states affected by post election violence.
Over N433 million was released for distribution to the 126 victims in Niger State with the National Youth Service Corps state secretariat getting the highest amount of N26 million.