By Awwal Umar Kontagora Based on the petition received from the office of the Honourable Minister of Women's Affairs, Mrs. Uju Kennedy-O...
By Awwal Umar Kontagora
Based on the petition received from the office of the Honourable Minister of Women's Affairs, Mrs. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Honourable Barrister Abdulmalik Mohammad Sarkin Daji, provided clarification on the allegations leveled against him.
Speaking with the press yesterday at his office, he further clarified his decision to sponsor the mass wedding, emphasizing that his intentions were pure and that he neither coerced any girl into marriage nor instigated it.
First, the Speaker expressed his disappointment in the step taken by the office of the Honourable Minister, stating that it was quite unfortunate that the fake news was given publicity without verification. While telling his side of the story, the Honourable Speaker mentioned being approached by the traditional and religious leaders of the community to assist in sponsoring the marriage of 270 households, of which he agreed to sponsor only 100. He stated that all of them were old enough to get married.
The Speaker added that he has been practicing philanthropy for the past fifteen years and has supported the education of orphans and the less privileged in various capacities. He mentioned having about seventeen of them under his care, affirming his continuous support for the less privileged and orphans.
As for the wedding, Honourable Barrister Abdulmalik announced his withdrawal of support and called on the Minister to take over from where he left off. He expressed readiness to go to court and promised to inform the traditional leaders of his decision not to be able to grace the occasion as initially planned. However, he clarified that the support already provided would not be retracted.
He urged the Minister to proceed with a thorough investigation and to continue from where he left off, emphasizing the need to thoroughly investigate before taking action and not depend on hearsay or misconceived media reports but on a fact-finding report.
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