Two professors have been elected and sworn in as local government council chairmen in Borno State.
The professors, Adamu Alooma and Ibrahim Bukar, were among the 27 council chairmen sworn in by Governor Babagana Zulum, on Wednesday.
Zulum is also a professor.
While Alooma, a professor of banking and finance and former dean of the faculty of management sciences at the University of Maiduguri, took oath as Chairman of Damboa Local Government Area, Bukar, who is a professor of education, at the same institution, was sworn in as chairman of Gwoza Local Government Area.
During the swearing in ceremony of the chairmen inside the Multipurpose Hall of the Government House in Maiduguri, Zulum expressed regret that election was not conducted in the state for over 10 years as a result of the lingering security situation in Borno.
The governor directed the Ministry of Local Government and Emirate Affairs to immediately release to the elected chairmen, all funds allocated to the 27 local government councils from the federation account so they could begin to “impact lives at the grassroots.”
But he urged the elected officials to discharge their duties with the fear of God, but without fear or favour.
He charged all the elected officials to operate in their respective local government headquarters that are safe and with citizens living there.
He said it would be unfair for the chairmen to operate from Maiduguri, the state capital, when those who cast votes for them live in local government areas outside Maiduguri.
Zulum charged the chairmen to live and operate from the midst of their people in order to know the current problems confronting them and address them.