Few hours after the death of Abubakar Saleh Michika, the first civilian governor of Adamawa State, his family accused the state government of abandoning him.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, his son, Abdurrashid Saleh Michika, said government refused to release his entitlement as former governor or sponsor him for medical care as he was entitled to by law.
He lamented that even when the team of consultants at the FMC informed Governor Muhammadu Jibrilla about lack of necessary facilities to handle Michika’s condition and suggested provision of an air ambulance for his transfer to a better equipped hospital, the governor failed to respond.
His added that the state government had withheld Michika’s entitlement amounting to N400 million despite promises from the governor.
“Government refused to release his entitlement, about N400 million and slashed his pension to N300,000,” he stated
“Governor Bindow had promised to pay him after our father spoke to him several times but nothing happened. They were notified as soon as his health condition worsened, yet their response was not encouraging. This is an aged person, a former governor with a large family,” he stated.
Michika who served between January 1992 and November 1993 under the defunct National Republican Party (NRC) died on Saturday at the Intensive Care Unit of the Federal Medical Centre Yola.
Responding to the allegation, the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Ahmad Sajoh said the family should have followed the laid down procedures to access the benefits due for the ex-governor rather than making such allegations against the governor..
“What ex-governors are entitled to is specified in the law and there are procedures for accessing those benefits . . . It is not fair to say government abandoned him. There are procedures in using public funds. The family should have followed the procedures and notified government,” he stated.
Michika who died at the age of 86 on Saturday after spending two days in coma at the Intensive Care Unit of the Federal Medical Centre Yola has left behind 37 children, 97 grand children and four great grand children according to a family member, Hafiz Saleh Michika.
His children include Muluk Saleh, a business man, Hamza, the Registrar at the Federal Polytechnic, Bali and Dr. Jalal Saleh, an associate professor and medical consultant with the World Health Organisation (WHO) (Daily Trust