GOVERNOR Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno state has handed over power to his deputy, Umar Usman Kadafur, and embarked on a trip to Saudi Arabia for the 2024 Hajj exercise.
This newspaper reports that Zulum joined 1,815 Borno pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
During an emergency session on Friday, Speaker of the Borno House of Assembly, Rt Hon Abdulkareem Lawan, announced that the governor was on 28-day vacation.
According to the speaker, the deputy governor would be in charge of governance from 10th June to 8th July, 2024.
He noted that the formal notice was in compliance with provisions of section 190 (1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He said the assembly’s approval would give the deputy governor full powers to handle the state’s affairs without resort to the governor.
This is the second time that governor Zulum would transfer power to Kadafur to act as governor.
The first was in April, 2021 when the governor went on 21-day vacation.
This newspaper gathered that the governor joined the congregation of 1,815 Borno pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
He joined the last flight of the 175 pilgrims, departed Maiduguri International Airport at exactly 2:35am and landed at Prince Mohammed bin Abduaziz International Airport, Madina, at 8:10am.
Zulum, also accompanied by some government officials and politicians, is expected to begin his main spiritual journey immediately after arriving in Makkah, where all the Borno State pilgrims are accommodated.
However, his visit to the holy land is trailed by reactions from the pilgrims and officials who are trying to understand the motive behind his coming to Saudi Arabia this time around.
While pilgrims expressed hope for a strict and better welfare, the officials of the state pilgrims board said it’s going to be a tough job this time around.
“This man (Zulum) will not rest and would never allow us to rest. He will follow every detail and take charge of everything if he’s not convinced. You can see the pilgrims celebrating his coming but we know who’s coming. It is not going to be easy,” one of the pilgrims’ board officials, said.