Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Wednesday visited his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal and donated N500 million to support the Sokoto state government to rebuild the central market that was ravaged by fire Tuesday morning.
Tambuwal’s spokesperson in a statement said, Wike who visited the scene of the market inferno barely 24 hours after the disaster, expressed shock and dismay over the incident.
The statement explained that part of the donation, according to Wike, would be used to support the victims of the inferno.
He noted that whatever affected Sokoto state concerned Rivers, adding that his administration would ensure that the affected market was reconstructed and made functional.
Earlier, Tambuwal, while conducting Wike round the fire disaster scene, explained that the market had 16,000 shops out of which at least 60 per cent were affected by the fire.
He said when the fire broke out the relevant state government agencies and those of the Federal Government within thestate were mobilised to control it.
After inspecting the scene, Wike and his entourage also paid a courtesy visit to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar in his palace.
He condoled with the state government, the Sultanate Council and the people over the death of the state Commissioner for Home Affairs, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abubakar, the younger brother of the Sultan.
In his response, Abubakar, who noted the age-long relationship between Sokoto and Rivers, expressed gratitude to the governor for his visit and support to the state
He commended Tambuwal for his prudent management of the state resources, a performance which fetched it a World Bank grant under the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability And Sustainability (SFTAS) programme.
