Former Governor of Kano State and Presidential Candidate of New Nigeria People’s Party( NNPP) in the just concluded 2023 general elections in the country, Engnr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has advised Niger State Governor- Elect, Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago to hit the ground running immediately after his swearing in ceremony on 29th May, for the socio -economic development of the state if he must be a performing governor
Kwankwaso, who was the chairman of inauguration lecture held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre Minna on Thursday with the Theme: Addressing the Challenges of Socio- Economic Development at Sub- National Level in Nigeria gave the advice to the Governor-Elect.
He stated further that lack of competence, adequate experience and knowledge has exposed some elected governors in parts of the country who claimed to know more all on assumption of office to failure and had nothing to show in their states after four or eight years of governance.
He told the Governor-Elect to shun stealing and syphoning of public funds but should rather embarked on empowering the living standards of the eople in the state for good and genuine governance, while investing heavily in education and security for the betterment of Niger state otherwise the Governor- Elect may regret in the future after his stewardship as the governor of the state.
Also in his Inauguration Lecture, the Keynote Speaker and a former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Attahiru Mohammed Jega stated that good governance is supposed to be driven by selfless and visionary leaders to address the needs and aspirations of the populace.
He said Nigeria does not only need good governance but good democratic governance which is indispensable phenomenon in our society, while he expressed worry that money has been used to undermined the Nigerian electoral process.
Professor Attahiru Jega, who said bad governance is responsible for the present economic woes and the lingering state of insecurity in the country, just as he called for the need for public office holders to be transparent and accountable at all times.
In his remarks, the Niger State Governor-elect, Umar Mohammed Bago, pledged to surpass the expectations of the people in the next four or eight years as the governor of the state by raising the bar in governance,while assuring that he will operate an open door policy for a renewed hope in Niger State.
Bago stated further that the lecture was apt and has provided inputs and a foundation for a renew hope for the state, just as he advocated for genuine advice, counselling for a successful administration.
The outgoing Niger state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello in his seperate remarks called for transparency, and accountability for the incoming administration in the state in order to gain the confidence and trust of the people and by getting a formidable team to work for the government for good governance in the state.
He, however, lamented over what he described as lack of capacity on the part of staff of the Mnistrries Deartments and Agencies in the state adding these people were the people that would implement his policies and programmes , just as he advised that the state civil servants should be properly trained in order to succeed as required just as he stressed the need for the incoming government to ensure the building of the civil servants and political appointees to be on same page with government.
The outgoing governor also implored Bago to select people with good characters and impeccable records for his team as Commissioners and other political appointees who should be able to advise him rightly in a polite and straight- forward manner no matter the situation.
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