SOKOTO State governor, Alhaji Aliyu Magataka Wamakko,
recently threw caution to the winds by flogging a member of staff of the Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), who is in charge of Wamakko’s substation,
for his failure to restore power to the town and its environs.
Wamakko is the home town of the
governor.
An eyewitness told the Nigerian
Tribune that for several months, the small town has not been enjoying steady
supply of electricity.
According to the source, the
epileptic power supply in the town was a serious embarrassment to the governor
who felt that as the governor of the state, his town ought to be enjoying an
uninterrupted power supply.
Findings revealed that the governor
then invited an official of the PHCN to discuss how best the situation could be
addressed.
The official, according to the
source, wrote a proposal of N17 million which was approved by the governor
without delay. The source added that the money was for the purchase of a new
transformer, cables, and other items that were necessary for the installation.
However, to the chagrin of the
governor, in spite of the money spent for the installation of the new
transformer, the situation remained the same as the epileptic power supply
continued unabated. The governor then decided to invite the official of the
PHCN to find out from him why power had not been restored.
When the official could not give a
satisfactory answer, the governor became annoyed and he flogged the PHCN
official with the stick he was holding.
Onlookers at the scene were
reportedly stunned by the attitude of the governor with some of them
hurriedly leaving the scene for fear of a possible breakdown of law and order.
Attempt to speak with the Sokoto
State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Danladi Bako, was unsuccessful as
all his lines were switched off.
The acting Managing Director of the
company, Mohammed Adamu, confirmed the assault at a press briefing late on
Monday, at the company’s Doka office, Kaduna.
Adamu said the affected member of
staff was summoned and was beaten to a pulp by the governor and some of his
aides.
“On Saturday, October, 20, our
business manager, Gwiwa Business Unit, So-koto State, Moses Osigwe, was invited
by Governor Aliyu Wamakko to his personal residence, over the issue of lack of
power supply to his hometown, Wamakko, as a result of a failed 2.5MVA
transformer.
“He accused Osigwe of deliberately
denying his community, Wamakko, of power supply. As the business manager was
trying to explain to him, the governor just brought out a horse whip and lashed
him,” Adamu said.
According to him, the governor also
invited two other members of staff, Isyaku Daura, Officer 2 (Electrical) and
Nuru-ddeen Mohammed, Staff 1 (Lines) and ordered the mobile policemen to beat
them up.
When contacted on phone, the Senior
Special Assistant to the Governor, Sani Umar, told the Nigerian Tribune that
“it is a case of N17 million contract failure, which is now in court and it
will be prejudicial talking about it in the newspapers.”