Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has been accused of double standard in governance.
“If the Gombe State government allowed the family and the traditional council of Funakaye to handle the FUNERAL of the Emir as their custom and beliefs permit, what stopped the same government from allowing the Tangale to handle the funeral of Mai Tangle in their own custom and beliefs”?.
This is the Question thrown to the Gombe State government by the Tangale Intelligentsia Movement in a statement made available to AFRICA PRIME NEWS
Signed by the Organising Secretary and Publicity Secretary, Benjamin Dangoma and I.Y Mela, the statement calls for equity and fairness as well as advising the government to do what is right in the eyes of the law and the people.
“We also wish to remind the executive governor of his oath of office, it is binding on him to treat us equally and fairly. To also remind him that Justice is the foundation of PEACE.”, the statement emphasised.
According to the statement, on the 12th January, 2021 two days after the death, Gombe State government said it has set up a FUNERAL COMMITTEE for the burial of the Late Mai, while on the contrary, when the Emir of Funakaye died on the 20th May, he was buried without any committee or government overt involvement.
It reminds the government that the Gombe State chieftaincy law in section 19 (1) states that “upon the death, resignation, removal or deposition of an Emir of Chief, the government shall APPROVE the appointment of an Emir or a Chief on the recommendation of the council of Kingmakers of the Emirate or the Chiefdom”.
The above provision, the Group argues, bestows only the powers to APPROVE what the kingmakers recommend. .
That recommendation according to the Tangale custom, it adds, is done through a democratic process. In furtherance of its clearity, the Chieftaincy law in Section 21(2) unequivocally provides that “the governor may dispense with the need of recommending three persons IF the CUSTOM and TRADITION of a particular area dictate OTHERWISE “.
From the foregoing, the Group said, no one needs to go to Beijing in search of an interpretation to the above provision of these relevant sections.
It also reminds the Governor of the words of wisdom by one of the Nation’s Elder Statesmen, Late Maitama Sule (Danmasanin Kano) which says, “The world itself can never be governed by force or by fear nor by power; in the end, what governs is the mind, what conquers is the spirit and what governs the mind and spirit are justice and fair play.
