I'm not discriminating against Christians: Gov. Nyako

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State has said that his government is not discriminatory to any religious group in the state..

Reacting to allegations that his government was discriminating against Christians, Nyako said all religious groups were given equal opportunities to practise their religions without any hindrance, in accordance with the Nigerian Constitution.

The governor spoke through a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mallam Ahmad Sajo.

Nyako said he noted 'with concern, the deliberate falsehood being promoted by a group called Christian Elders Forum of Northern States which stated that the state government was discriminating against Christian minorities.

'This is not only blatantly false but a clear indication that the group has motives other than the promotion of peace and peaceful co-existence in our state. Their assertion is totally at variance with realities on ground in Adamawa State.'

The governor pointed out that the reports that he had refused to sign the Certificates of Occupancy, C-of-O, for Christian groups in Adamawa State, were not only false but malicious.

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According to the governor, it is wrong for the Christians to refer to themselves as minorities in Adamawa State as the 21 local governments in the state have large and fair distribution of Muslims, Christians and other religions.

He said: 'The term Christian minorities is a misnomer in Adamawa State because we have 21 local government areas and about one-third is predominantly Moslem populated; another one-third predominantly Christian dominated while the remaining one-third has nearly equal populations of both.

'The first eight years of the current democratic dispensation had a Christian governor in the state.

'The first four years of Murtala Nyako's leadership had a Christian Deputy Governor and a Christian Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Secretary to the State Government and Head of Service were all Christians. We have eight first class traditional rulers in Adamawa State, four are Muslims and four are Christians.

''We are not aware of any outstanding C-of-O of any Christian group in Adamawa State. As a matter of fact, Governor Murtala Nyako had even given his personal piece of land to a Christian group while serving as governor.

'Both the Commissioner for Higher Education, Dr. Drambi Ngidda and the Commissioner of Education, Mr. Gabriel Hamman Adama, are devoted Christians who will never superintend over a system that discriminates against any group in the education sector and the education policy of Adamawa State is and remains the same under the current democratic dispensation from 1999 when a Christian was governor to date,' the statement added.