Announcing his resignation as a commissioner at exactly 8.34 p.m yesterday night during an emergency press conference in his office, Alhaji Rogo said he resigned his appointment for the love and progress of Kano and its teeming populace.

‘’I believe,’’ he opened up, ‘’members of the press are aware of the happenings at the House of Assembly culminating into the resolution seeking for my removal.’’

To this end, the commissioner informed the press that, ‘’having carefully analysed the situation, I have indicated my intention to voluntarily resign my appointment as commissioner for local government.’’

He said in an emotion-laden address, that his decision to resign was based on personal discretion predicated on the events at the state Assembly which seemed to have pitched itself against the government ‘’on account of their opposition against me personally.’’
According to Rogo, as a responsible citizen who believes and commits himself to the lofty vision of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau’s administration which charts the destiny of the state on the basis of Sharia, he felt morally inclined to avoid what would derail this worthy course of the government.

‘’As a stakeholder, I remain prepared to make any sacrifice in or outside the government to ensure that no effort to sabotage or discredit the government under any guise is allowed to prevail,’’ he told the crème of journalists present.

Hear him again: ‘’I will hasten to underline that the opposition to my position is a long standing effort directed at ruining my image and political career for reasons best known to few individuals and their sponsored cohorts in the Kano state House of Assembly.’’
He recalled how a similar resolution for his removal was passed by the same House in 2004 but which came to pass, pointing out that the resolution was only the latest of such design in the game plan of his adversaries.

Alhaji Rogo observed further that the principled stand of the state government is resisting to be stampeded to act irrationally and contrary to the tenets of Sharia, ‘’by removing me as a commissioner without proper investigation of allegations concocted against me by some elements in the House,’’ adding that this situation had impeded the affairs of government and its concomitant effect on service delivery for the general good of Kano citizens.

‘’With all sincerity and belief in ultimate accountability to Allah,’’ he stated, the allegations of withholding as much as one billion Naira as well as other allegations were all misplaced.
‘’As the record will bear me out, the whole amount approved for the purchase of fertilizer for the 44 local governments for the 2006 fiscal year is just N496,500,000, but the House said that the ministry for local government under my supervision has collected the sum of N2.4 billion,’’ he explained, asking how the House as the approving body can reconcile this?

The commissioner elaborated further that the allegation by the House ‘’is more of a pigment of imagination of mischievous minds seeking to implement the long-standing sponsored agenda to ruin my political career.’’

For this reason, he said, he had appealed to the kind understanding of the governor to allow him to resign which he has now done ‘’in good faith and as a personal sacrifice I have to make for the continuity of public-spirited and morally-inclined government in its efforts to cater for the aspirations of our people.’’

The commissioner then challenged anybody ‘’even outside the government for any probe on this or any other issue the House may wish to take up with me regarding management of the affairs/transactions in the ministry for local government and the 44 local governments in the state.’’

Expressing his gratitude to Governor Ibrahim Shekarau for according him the opportunity to serve as commissioner, Alhaji Rogo further thanked the governor for the trust he bestowed in him in spite of ‘’the cruel efforts to derail the government not on account of any shortcomings but just for hatred being perpetrated against me.’’

The commissioner concluded by saying: ‘’In my own case, I have now stepped aside leaving the stage for posterity to judge me and the state Assembly,’’ adding, ‘’but since the noble pursuit of the government will continue, we live to see what other gimmicks will emerge from adversaries of the government and their sponsored agents in our midst.’’
See page 5 for the full text of the briefing.