My government does not discriminate against Christian - Nyako

By Ehi Ekhator

The Executive governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako has denied an allegation that his government was discriminating against Christians, adding that he was not a religious bigot.

The Governor said that religious groups in the state were given equal opportunities to practise their religion without any disturbance, according to Nigeria constitution

This was contained in a statement signed by Governor Nyako’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mallam Ahmad Sajo. Nyako denied the contrary to accusation, he didn’t refuse the signing of Certificate of Occupancy, C of O, for the Christians group dwelling in the state, saying that it was a complete false.

He said  “With concern, the deliberate falsehood being promoted by a group called Christian Elders Forum of Northern States which stated that the state government was discriminating against Christian minorities.

 “This is not only blatantly false but a clear indication that the group has motives other than the promotion of peace and peaceful co-existence in our state. Their assertion is totally at variance with realities on ground in Adamawa State.”

He added: “The term Christian minorities is a misnomer in Adamawa State because we have 21 local government areas and about one-third is predominantly Moslim populated; another one-third predominantly Christian dominated while the remaining one-third has nearly equal populations of both.

“The first eight years of the current democratic dispensation had a Christian governor in the state.

“The first four years of Murtala Nyako’s leadership had a Christian Deputy Governor and a Christian Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Secretary to the State Government and Head of Service were all Christians. We have eight first class traditional rulers in Adamawa State, four are Muslims and four are Christians.

’’We are not aware of any outstanding C-of-O of any Christian group in Adamawa State. As a matter of fact, Governor Murtala Nyako had even given his personal piece of land to a Christian group while serving as governor.

“Both the Commissioner for Higher Education, Dr. Drambi Ngidda and the Commissioner of Education, Mr. Gabriel Hamman Adama, are devoted Christians who will never superintend over a system that discriminates against any group in the education sector and the education policy of Adamawa State is and remains the same under the current democratic dispensation from 1999 when a Christian was governor to date.”

 

My government does not discriminate against Christian - Nyako