Ex-governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, has pledged the sum of ₦1 billion to citizens to atone for the development gap he may have created while in office.

Attahiru Bafarawa, who ruled Sokoto State from 1999 to 2007, also asked for forgiveness from the citizens of the state for whatever wrong he did while in office.

Bafarawa said his old age pulls him closer to his people and he sees the current hardship in the country as a time to reciprocate the love Sokoto people showed him as governor.

On Wednesday, in a statement quoted by Daily Trust, the first 4th Republic governor of Sokoto State said, “At 70 years of age, I feel a greater pull towards the people.

“My desire now is to ensure that I fill whatever gaps that I may have created, consciously or unconsciously, in my relationship with the people while I was in office.

“Some may call this atonement, but I prefer to see it as an act of reciprocity. I want to give back to the people the goodwill and love they showed me.

“At no time can this giving back philosophy of mine be more suspicious and compelling than now that the people are passing through hard times occasioned by the current hardship in the country.

“It is against this background that, I have decided to make available the sum of ₦1 billion for the welfare and well-being of the people of Sokoto State.”

Alhaji Bafarawa disclosed that the management of this fund was entrusted to a committee chaired by Malam Lawal Maidoki, the chairman of the Sokoto State Zakkat and Endowment Board.