A former Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, on Sunday, said the Late Defence Chief, General Domkat Bali (rtd), rejected the perks given to him by the Plateau State Government despite his resignation as the Ponzhi Tarok.
Dalung was the guest speaker in Abuja at the public presentation of a book, Gen. Domkat Yah Bali as Ponzhi Tarok Designate: A Contextual Analysis of the Imbroglio 1990 – 2020.
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While giving a historical background to the controversies that greeted the selection of the late former Defence Chief as the Ponzhi Tarok, he said the confusion over the selection process by the state government was responsible for the uproar.
“There were two court orders on Gen Bali’s status as the Ponzhi with one ordering he should stop parading himself as the leader of Tarok. In 2014, he wrote to the state government on his resignation due to frail health.
“However, the government continued paying his salary which he wrote to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to stop.
“Apart from that, the state government went ahead to appeal the court’s judgment without his knowledge. This was after he had told them he was not interested in it anymore.”
Earlier, the wife of Gen Bali, Esther Bali, said the book was written to refute rumours on what transpired about her husband’s resignation while waiting for the stool of office.
She said: “Writing of this book is a sequel to my discussion with a highly respected and reliable elder statesman who is in the know regarding the false rumours that were circulated regarding my late husband.
“As a realist, my husband initially declined their offer with humility and all sense of responsibility bearing in mind his awareness of his declining health condition.”
On his part, President Muhammadu Buhari said the Late Army General lived his life with integrity.
Represented by the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, Buhari urged Nigerians to emulate Bali’s footsteps.
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