Local government chairmen in Adamawa State yesterday described as mischief an al­legation by All Progressives Congress (APC) that Acting Gov­ernor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, bought them 21 Sport Utility Ve­hicles (SUVs) valued at N300 mil­lion. The governor’s aide also said denied such deal was done to woo the council bosses.
Chairman of Maiba Local Government Area, Mallam Muhammed Jubrilla also said the opposition’s claim is not true.
There was a report (not in Daily Sun that the Acting Governor had splashed over N300 million to buy the jeeps to lobby local government bosses who were seen as loyalists of impeached Gov. Murtala Nyako, to his camp given the fact that they had all decamped to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Fintiri’s reaction was contained in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Solomon Kumangar, that his principal had no hand in  the approval of same for the 21 local government chairmen, but the deal was initiated and approved by the ousted governor.
He said associating  him with purchase of 21 Toyota vehicles for the council bosses as a bait to support his administration was mischevious. Also, the state chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) had dismissed the allegation as false and a calculated attempt to distract the Acting Governor from probing members of the Nyako administration.
According to Kumangar, it was Nyako who approved purchase of the jeeps even as Mallam Jubrilla who had earlier spoken on behalf of the association said the purchase of the jeeps was done through the Joint Accounts when Dr  Salihu Bakari, an in-law of the ousted governor, was the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs.
He disassociated the Acting Governor from the purchase of the official vehicles, saying he did not spend any penny for the said SUVs, and he (Fintiri) should not  be associated with it.
“Besides, the jeeps were recovered by security agents from Nyako’s top functionaries by the Acting Governor after complaints  lodged by the ALGON.”
Jubrilla said instead of crucifying the Acting Governor, he  should be commended for giving the local government areas 100 per cent allocations for two months as against the hitherto indiscriminate deductions by the immediate past administration. “This will be the first time in the history of Adamawa State that local government areas will receive their full allocations which were normally withheld for the past seven and a half years,” he said.
 

Adamawa gov didn’t buy us 21 jeeps – Council bosses