Niger State Governor, Umar Bago, has refuted a circulating report claiming the alleged prohibition of alcoholic drinks in the state.
Bago made this clarification in a statement released in Abuja on Thursday.
He asserted that neither he nor his aides issued any such directive and urged the public to dismiss the report circulating on social media and blogs.
He expressed awareness of a report circulating on several blogs claiming that the Niger State Government, through the state’s Liquor and Licensing Board, had implemented a ban on the sale of alcohol in nine local government areas, including Suleja.
However, he emphasized that there was no truth to such claims.
“We wish to state categorically that the governor, 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,” he said.
According to the statement, the governor has instructed security agents to apprehend a self-appointed Secretary of the board identified as Mohammed Ibrahim.
The imposter’s intentions and the rationale behind the declaration must be thoroughly investigated, he added.