No contract will extend beyond May 29, Shettima says, rejects overtures from Indian firms

Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has vowed that no contract awarded by him will extend beyond May 29, 2019 when his tenure expires.

Shettima stated this in Maiduguri while speaking with representatives of foreign firms from New Delhi, India, which sought contracts spanning six months.

He said that many of the companies currently seeking contracts from the state government would spend at least the next six months to complete them, adding that going into any long-term agreement with any firm will amount to assuming the powers of the incoming Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum.

The governor further explained that he was in India mainly for a meeting with medical equipment manufacturers to negotiate discounts and take immediate delivery of hundreds of light weight diagnostic equipment needed as daily components of high-tech medical equipment that had already been imported for use in 18 general hospitals.

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In a statement on Friday, the governor said: “To be frank with you all, I do not intend to award any contract or enter into any new agreement that will extend my remaining two months in office. I am leaving office insha’Allah on May 29, 2019.

“To me, entering a new contract, knowing full well that such contracts cannot be completed in the next two months, will amount to disrespecting and perhaps even trapping the incoming governor, Professor Babagana Zulum. He is my brother and friend but part of my resolution is that there can’t be two captains in a ship.

“I will not trap him with any company. He has been part of most of my international trips. He is broad-minded and has contacts; I will want him to make his own decisions because he is the one that will work with any supplier or contractor for anything I sign with any of you.”

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