Governor Nasir Idris has approved the purchase of a building to relocate a temporary mosque in the Go-Slow Road area of Birnin Kebbi, a community near Abubakar Malami’s family house.

Mr Malami is the African Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Kebbi.

The governor’s special adviser on religious affairs, Imrana Bin-Usman, disclosed this on Wednesday while handing over the house document to residents of the area.

Mr Bin-Usman said the intervention followed the residents’ request for a permanent place of worship after the administration installed solar street lights in the area. He said the governor responded by directing the purchase of the house to provide a suitable location for relocating the mosque.

“This is great history. Not long ago, after we fixed your street solar lights, we heard your complaint about wanting to relocate your temporary mosque to a permanent location. The governor heard you and directed that the house be purchased for the mosque to be relocated there,” he said.

The youth leader in the area, Taslim Tukur-Kola, described the intervention as a welcome development, saying residents appreciated the governor’s decision to address the challenge.

Mr Tukur-Kola said the area had produced prominent politicians, yet the community had not received a similar intervention to provide a permanent place of worship. He appealed to the governor to complement the house purchase by constructing a Mosque and an Islamiyya school for children in the area.

He said residents were currently worshipping in a small temporary structure close to the road, which he described as inadequate for the community. Mr Tukur-Kola further said the location was a few metres from the family house of Mr Malami, a former attorney general of the federation.

He said, however, that the community had not received support from Mr Malami to purchase or build the mosque.

(NAN)