Gov. Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa has said that he has no plans to contest for the 2019 presidential election.
In a statement issued on Saturday in Dutse by his media aide, Malam Bello Zaki, the governor also disowned and disassociated himself from a group supporting him to run for the office of President in the 2019 general elections.
“The attention of the Jigawa State Government has been drawn to a mischievous paid newspaper advertisement purported to have been made by a faceless and unknown organisation called `Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar for President Support Group’, which purportedly aimed its support to the recent comments by former President Obasanjo.
“The State Government hereby calls on the general public to dismiss and ignore the false and malicious advertisement and the message and evil innuendo it intends to propagate”.
The governor said that he neither has nor endorses any organisation or group for the purpose of vying for any national office.
“Governor Badaru Abubakar does not have and does not endorse any organisation for the purpose of achieving or vying for any national office as he grapples with the challenges of governing his state and delivering on the mandate given to him by the Jigawa electorate.
“We understand that there are persons within and outside the state that perceive the cordial and progressive relationship that exists between the Governor and the Presidency as inimical to their personal and political interests and aspirations, especially in the light of several national assignments that the Governor is successfully carrying out at the behest of the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
“We are working with the newspaper that carried the obnoxious advertising with a view to identifying the miscreants behind its publication and will use all available legal avenues to ensure that they pay for this dastardly attempt at souring the relationship between the State and the National Government,” it said.
The governor, therefore, urged the general public to ignore this and any future attempt to disparage the office of the governor using cheap and unimaginative media distortion.
The government also advised media organisations to place professionalism above commercial considerations.
It enjoined the media to utilise industry best practice and guidelines in determining the identity of persons and entities before publishing or broadcasting political and potentially controversial contents in the interest of national peace, stability and progress.