There was a mild drama on Friday following the resignation of Kwara state commissioner for special duties, Aisha Ahman Pategi, barely a week after the resignation of the special adviser to the governor on Health Matters, prof Wale Sulaiman, from the cabinet of governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
The news which has been spreading like wildfire following the release of a statement credited to the commissioner advanced she tendered the resignation letter while extolling the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for giving her the stand to serve in his administration.
“I, Aisha Ahman Pategi, the outgoing Hon commissioner special duties, effective from today, Friday 28th August 2020, humbly wish to formally announce my resignation from the cabinet of His Excellency, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq,” the statement read.
Ms Aisha was among the first batch of commissioner-nominees the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, forwarded to the state house of Assembly for confirmation, on September 17, 2019.
Ms Ahman-Pateji was at inception of the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs before she was redeployed to head the ministry of special duties after raising alarm over alleged diversion of N300 million local government fund.
The claim reportedly alleged some persons in the governor’s cabinet were diverting funds meant for local governments in the state into private purse monthly.
In that regard, the state government invited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct an independent probe into the allegation, prodding the anti-graft to investigate funds received and disbursed to the 16 local governments councils from May 2019 to date.
Meanwhile, responding to the resignation of the commissioner had earlier urged the public to deny the news that his boss had resigned from the government.
When contacted, the ex-commissioner redirected this reporter to one of his media aides. The aide who spoke to this reporter described the commissioner’s rumoured resignation as “fake circulated by mischief makers”.
She didn’t get travel approval – Govt House source
Meanwhile, according to a top government house source, the ex-commissioner had submitted a letter requesting for medical leave to the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Maman Saban Jibril, but didn’t wait for approval before jetting out of the country earlier this month.
The ex-commissioner, who is currently in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States of America, reportedly flew out of the country when her relationship with the governor and some of her colleagues becomes sour.
At last, she resigned
After the counter-claims that trailed her earlier resignation, the state government finally confirmed the embattled commissioner had resigned from the government.
This disclosure was made known by the state commissioner for communications, Harriet Afolabi-Oshatimehin. She said the government has accepted the resignation.
“The government has received the resignation of Hon. Aishah Ahman-Pategi who was commissioner for special duties. The government accepts the same and wishes her the best in her future endeavors”
The former commissioner was with the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, as senior special assistant on Strategy and Communication before joining the state governor’s cabinet.