Ebonyi State Governor, Martin Elechi, has said that the sponsorship of pilgrimage by government was a breach of the constitution.
Elechi, who disclosed this yesterday in Abakaliki during a valedictory session held in honour of the 369 pilgrims to Israel, said the resources spent on the few pilgrims would have been better spent to carter for the generality of the people through the provision of infrastructure.
He said: "This is a very important function. Let me start on a bad note by reminding you that it is not the duty of government to sponsor pilgrimage. It is a breach of the constitution to use the resources made to carter for the people to better the lots of a few."
The governor said if people were transformed there was no need for them to agitate to travel to Israel, saying that he had queried repeatedly the need for him to travel to Israel, saying the holy land was not different from other places.
Elechi, however, charged the pilgrims to make the best use of the trip and to reaffirm their faith in God as they would join thousands of pilgrims from other parts of the world.
He said: "We are challenged to make the best use of the outage. It is not different from other places. You are going to meet hundreds of thousands of fellow pilgrims from other parts of the world and reaffirm your faith. You will be opportune to see church and what you read first hand in the Bible."
Earlier in his address, the Chairman, Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Rev. Fr. Vincent Odom, thanked Elechi for consistently demonstrating government's support to the cause of Christianity while also saluting efforts of board members to make the trip to Israel successful.