By Joshua Nwanne
Northern based Coalition of Civil Society Organisations have dismissed allegations of religious discrimination and fraud against Borno State Governor, Alhaji Babagana Umara Zulum.
Recalled that the Center for Justice on Religious And Ethnicity in Nigeria (CJREN) had accused Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State of deliberately excluding Christians in the state from the Federal Government palliatives and assistance brought to the state including the N3billion given by President Bola Tinubu to help those whose family members were killed by Boko Haram insurgents and other terrorists in the state.
Reacting to what it termed, "concocted false and misleading" allegations levelled against the Governor ,the CSOs in a statement jointly signed by Chairman and Secretary,Comrade Musa Abdullahi Danbatta and Comrade Yusuf Ibrahim Kudan said it quite unfortunate that the CJREN is promoting acrimony and religious division in a state already devastated by insurgency .
The statement further reads: "We are deeply worried about the tension being stirred up by the religious group , especially about a dispassionate Governor, widely known across the country for his hard working disposition and commitment to tackle prolonged menace of Boko Haram Insurgency in the State .
"We have keenly studied the Press Release Shared by The CJREN Director-General, Reverend Kallamu Dikwa and concluded , it was more of a mischief than conflict resolution.
"At this critical period , we expect Leaders , whether religious, political or traditional to always talk more issues that promote and unite people than those that create cracks and division.
"It is in the public domain that Governor Zulum has carve a niche for himself a leader with passion for progress and development of Borno State regardless of any bias .
"We can authoritatively defend Zulum as an individual who demonstrated high sense fairness ,justice and equity with distribution or state resources since he assumed office as Governor of the State.
" We recalled that The governor during his inaugural speech did promise to promote unity and work with all stakeholders for the development of the state and he has been visibly doing exactly that. "
On the allegation of fraud, the forum acknowledged how the Governor has managed state funds judiciously and manner of equitable distribution of palliatives and assistance to victims of Boko Haram Insurgency and disaster over the years .
His Policy formulation and initiatives have always being targeted towards financial viability of Borno State in revenue generation and expenditure
The Forum however, urged the citizens of Borno and Nigerians to disregard the malicious release by CJREN and support the Governor to continue to provide good governance and dividends of democracy.
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