Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal on Thursday received a report on how the N1 billion relief fund provided to the January 2021 victims of the inferno that gutted Sokoto Central Market was distributed.
According to the Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Namadina AbdulRahman, while over N5 billion was verified to have been lost to the fire, the state government provided the committee with the sum of N1 billion, covering 18.53% of the total losses, for distribution to 4,022 victims.
He said the committee have so far distributed N999,987.81,68 million. Out of this amount
3,863 victims got cheques totaling N986,505.000 million within six months, while 159 victims are awaiting the disbursement of over N19 million.
Receiving the report, Gov. Tambuwal Tambuwal, who appealed to the victims to sustain their patience with the temporary set back to their businesses caused by the fire, said government intends to modernize the market in line with the current global trend.
Under the new arrangement, the Governor explained, Sokoto Investment Company (SOIC) will be the sole owner of the market.
“It is the business of government and people of Sokoto state as the state executive council has conferred the ownership of the market to SOIC.
“We are going to make the market to conform with modern trend. Sokoto cannot be left behind in accepting modern ways of doing things.
“You will no more pay your rent on monthly or annual basis. It is going to be more of lease and stalls are not going to be allocated to individuals but businesses,” he said.
The governor appealed to the traders to continue to observe the rules and regulations governing the operations of the market, which is currently undergoing major turn around and the reconstruction of its parts affected by the inferno.
He appealed to them to cooperate and support the government towards achieving its objective of reclaiming the glory of the market, which at
inception established it was one of the best markets in Africa.
