Accommodation for Sultanate Council in Abuja: We followed due process —Sokoto govt

SOKOTO State government has said it followed due process in given approval to the purchase of office and residential accommodation for the Sultanate Council at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
In a statement by Mallam Imam Imam, the Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to Governor Aminu Tambuwal, the government said the explanation became important to debunk rumours already making the rounds over the nature of the approval.
The government said it was concerned over lack of befitting office and residential accommodation for use by officials and members of the Sultanate Council, a reason it approved, within its capital estimates of the 2016 supplementary budget and 2017 budget, the sum of N200 million and N500 million respectively.
This, the statement said, was to provide and furnish the Sultanate Council office and residence in Abuja.
In the attached documents to the statement, the items were sighted on pages 11 and 362 of the approved budget documents with Sub Head Numbers 467/131, which the statement said was passed by the state House of Assembly and signed into law by Governor Tambuwal on February 10, 2017.
The governor’s media aide further said the state executive council, through a resolution of Wednesday, December 28, 2016, approved the purchase of the office and residential accommodation in Abuja.
After securing the approval of the state council, the statement added that “the Secretary to the State Government received three offers from different estate developers, which were vetted and assessed by the Ministry of Works and the State Due Process Office.
“Following adherence to laid down procedure, the process of acquiring the property was set in motion upon which some elements are now trying to make political capital out of it.
“We wish to make it clear that all laid down legal and administrative procedure has been followed in the execution of the matter.
“The Sultanate Council and its officials are important component of the life of Sokoto State. Its funding is taken care of by extant provisions of the laws of Sokoto State and executed primarily from revenue sources accruing to the State and Local Government Councils.
“We felt that providing a befitting office and residential accommodation to its officials will further strengthen the work officials of the Sultanate Council are carrying out in Abuja. The present situation where officials pay huge sums of money to stay in hotels is economically unsustainable in the long run.”
The statement, therefore, urged the public to discountenance the rumour, as there was no truth in it.