Governor Babagana Zulum has ordered the Borno State Urban Planning and Development Committee (BUPDC) to re-open the sealed New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) Secretariat in Maiduguri.
The Abbaganaram office was sealed on Thursday by the police over alleged planned violation of development plans in the metropolis.
According to him, the sealing of the party’s office was wrongly timed, as campaigns for the 2023 general elections commence next month.
The governor’s spokesman, Isa Gusau, stated, yesterday, in Maiduguri, that Zulum was aware of the board’s action and directed the committee to reverse the closure.
“No matter the justification of closing the party office, the timing is wrong,” he noted.
Gusau added that they contravened laws relating to non-compliance to Maiduguri planning procedures.
The committee claimed to have acted in the same regard against other offices, by sealing the NNPP’s headquarters for what Zulum described as: “The wrongful conversion of residential area for office purpose.”
He noted that no matter the justification, the board’s decision might be given a political interpretation, warning that sealing of the party office could heat up the polity and cause needless distractions ahead of next year’s general elections.
Credit: THE GUARDIAN, Njadvara Musa.