Governor Muhammad Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State has described speculation that he spent N196.9 billion on pregnant women programs, as not only fake news but a calculated attempt to smear his name.
Governor Badaru who spoke through his Commissioner for Special Duties, Auwalu Sankara, said, “to set the records straight the Jigawa State government only budgeted N600,000,000 for pregnant and lactating mothers and only N226,740,800 has been disbursed so far.”
Sankara hinted that 20 pregnant women were selected from each of the 287 political wards in the state making a total of 5,740 beneficiaries who are receiving N4,000 monthly.
The Commissioner who chided the reporter and his editor on the over N196 billion added that they failed to comprehend simple arithmetic during a presentation made by Dr. Ibrahim Rabakaya, the Executive Secretary during a workshop in Kano State.
”The baseless reports said, “according to Mr. Rabakaya, every 5,740 beneficiaries received 32,000, N4,000 monthly from November 2021 to June 2022, amounting to N183.68 billion.”
He queries, “how can the figure above give you a billion Naira? surprisingly his editor who is expected to be a professional gatekeeper failed to do his or her job.
The reporter wrote and I quote, “He added that N4 million was expended as extra charges, N688.8 million on bank charges, and N4.59 million on automated teller machines cards.”
Auwalu Sankara noted that the Jigawa State government’s budget for the 2022 fiscal year is N177 billion, which is not even close to what the reporter believes has been spent on pregnant and lactating mothers in seven months.
“The inconsistency and inaccuracy of the report are appalling and the way the News Agency of Nigeria’s subscribers went ahead and pick the story without any scrutiny, demonstrating the level at which journalism in our country has degenerated.”
