MINNA: Niger State Governor, Umar Bago, has admitted that his earlier claim of paying graduate assistants ₦500,000 to work on his farms was false and only meant to attract potential investors to the state’s agricultural sector.
Bago made the confession on Friday while questioning a student activist, Isah Mokwa, at the Government House in Minna.
The governor had, during the World Food Day celebration in Lagos State on October 16, publicly stated that he employed graduates as farm assistants on his private farms and paid them ₦500,000 monthly.
At the event, Bago also claimed to have developed farm communities within his farm estates and promised that more land would be cleared and allocated based on capacity and need.
According to him, the plan was to encourage large-scale agricultural investment and create sustainable livelihoods for residents.
However, in a surprising twist, the governor confessed that his statement was not factual. He reportedly told Mokwa that the ₦500,000 payment claim was only a strategy to attract investors and project the state as a viable agricultural hub.
A government source told Reporters that Governor Bago personally ordered the arrest and prosecution of Isah Mokwa, a master’s degree student at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai.
Mokwa, a vocal critic of the Bago administration, is known on social media for repeatedly referring to the governor as Governor Amunike.
According to reports, the student was invited to the Government House, where he was interrogated by the governor before being handed over to security operatives.
He has since been charged with cybercrimes, cyberbullying, and could face additional charges related to thuggery and terrorism, the source said.
The insider added that Mokwa might not regain his freedom anytime soon due to orders from above. The governor personally directed that he be prosecuted. It’s unlikely he will be released soon, the source revealed.
Governor Umar Bago, a former lawmaker and banker, has been one of the most vocal state leaders championing agricultural expansion in northern Nigeria.
His administration has repeatedly promoted large-scale mechanized farming as a solution to food insecurity and unemployment.
However, his recent admission has sparked criticism from rights groups and youth activists, who accuse the governor of misleading the public and attempting to silence dissenting voices.
