Census Chairman Has Been Consuming Too Much Alcohol And Should Be Sacked, Says Kwankwaso

Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State, on Fridday described the appointment of the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Mr. Festus Odimegwu Odimegwu as a huge mistake for publicly ridiculing the results of the 2006 census.

Kwanwkaso, who made this known in a parley with State House correspondents after he met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the presidential villa, said if Odimegwu, a former Executive Director/CEO of Nigerian Breweries had not been drunk on some of his products, he would not have discredited the achievements of his predecessor in office.

He said, “We are not happy about that appointment and think that it was a mistake. Festus shouldn’t be there in the first place. Why; because, you see, unfortunately, somebody read his CV. He had only one thing in the alcohol industry, all his life. And my guess is that he’s taking a lot of his products and that is why we feel that his appointment is a mistake because he cannot be the chairman of NPC and at the same time be attacking what his predecessor had done.

“Even if it was wrong, he now has the good opportunity to correct it, but instead of doing that, he has been running around to discredit the 2006 census.”

Recalling his first encounter with Odimegwu, Kwankwaso said, “I just met that man when I was Minister of Defence, we had a military occasion in the East and just when we were about to finish, protocol came and told me that President Obasanjo had another thing to do, and I followed him and just went there and saw a big brewery.

“And they said he was the head but the way he was talking then, I knew immediately after the appointment that there was a mistake there.”