By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
Governor of Sokoto state, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal has disclosed that he is not bothered if his successor is loyal to him as long as the loyalty of his successor is with the Sokoto people.
Tambuwal said that it is the people that elects a governor and hence the loyalty of the governor should lie with the people and not on his predecessor.
Tambuwal who is also the Chairman of PDP Govenors Forum (PDP-GF) made the disclosure in Sokoto over the weekend during an interaction with journalists who came on an assessment tour of the legacy projects executed by PDP governors in their respective states.
The Sokoto state governor during an interaction with journalists in Sokoto explained that there is an array of persons qualified to take over from his administration in 2023 adding that such persons have keyed into his vision and are prepared to push his vision and complete all the projects started by his administration. He said that most of the achievements of his administration was because the government underwent intensive planning and deep project analysis before it embarked on it.
“So naturally, I’ve been working with a number of my lieutenants and I’ve been understanding a number of them to see who can really serve the people of Sokoto states and do even more to surpass my own achievements I might have recorded as governor of the state. It is not about who will succeed me that will be loyal to me, let him be loyal to the people of Sokoto state, That’s my interest. There are many of them” Tambuwal stated.
The governor boasted that his administration through a very extensive economic planning is paying salaries, pensions and gratuities promptly despite the lean resources in the state.
“We pay our salaries to our workers promptly. We set aside every month about 100 million to 500 million to attend to this, that’s apart from salaries and pensions. So it is all about planning and financial management, fiscal responsibility. We try as much as possible knowing that we don’t have these resources to waste and we apply strategic expenditure model. We don’t waste money on frivolities, on things that are not necessary that will not bring about any impact on the lives of the people. We have one of the best social schemes in the country” he said.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said that education is compulsory and free for everyone living in Sokoto state from primary to secondary while tertiary education is highly subsidized.
“Education is free, if you are from any part of Nigeria once you are attending public school. The books either exercise books or reading books are free whether you are an indigene, I don’t like the word but I have no better word to use, that is for every other Nigerian child studying in Sokoto, it free of charge.
“We pay for WAEC, NABTEB not only for indigenes of sokoto, we also pay for all of the other students from Nigeria that are in our public schools, we don’t discriminate against them. So you can see that we carry all of this burden, but we’re still moving ahead.
“So it’s about strategic expenditure planning and of course, we took some loans that are targeted at projects and loans that are for capital expenditure. We take loans and we apply them as agreed in terms of our conditions of obtaining those funds either from the banks or bonds. So generally it is about discipline, prudence, and effective management of cash resources.
“Last year, Sokoto was scored as number one state in terms of fiscal transparency by a World Bank program. So it’s all about managing scarce resources and being disciplined” the governor disclosed.
The Sokoto State Chief Executive further said explained that his administration has given enormous support to farmers in terms of grants, subsidy in fertilizer and improved seedlings.
“Sokoto is largely an agrarian state, 85% of our populace are farmers,we do everything to support them. In the areas of extension services, we employed more extension workers and we equipped them with modern skills and knowledge.
“I don’t think there are many states that really subsidize fertilizer the way we do here. Sokoto farmers, I can tell you that in terms of subsidies, we support farmers with implements like handheld tractors, like seeking some kind of quality seedlings free of charge and inputs are heavily subsidized.
“We have as government opened accounts for them, so we heavily support our farmers by giving them modern technology, modern knowledge skills, supporting them with knowledge and experience and all of that through conditional cash to farmers. So that has also motivated them to their farms, that has also given them more encouragement and with the guidance of the essential workers.
The governor expressed optimism that the internal revenue of the state will shore up when the investments in Agriculture begin to materialize.
