The Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party and former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has urged politicians to build people rather than steal public funds.
He gave this advice in Minna on Thursday when he served as the chairman at the inaugural lecture of the Niger State Governor-elect, Mohammed Bago.
“Money is not everything the intention should be basically to improve the lives of the needy and downtrodden”.
“If you like to sell houses, public buildings, sell churches or mosques to your friends and family, after you leave office, you will regret it,” Kwankwaso said.
The former governor urged the governor-elect to invest heavily in education and security for the good of Niger state or would regret his future adding that the investment in education might not be visible immediately but would eventually yield results.
He added that for Bago to be a performing governor, he has to hit the ground running immediately after his swearing-in for the socio-economic development of the state.
He revealed that lack of competence and knowledge has led to the failure of many governors who have nothing to show in their states after four or eight years of governance.
The former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Mohammed Jega, who gave the keynote address stated that good governance is supposed to be driven by selfless and visionary leaders to address the needs and aspirations of the populace.
Jega also stated that bad governance is responsible for the present economic woes in the country adding that public officeholders need to be transparent and accountable at all times.
In his remark, the Niger State governor-elect, Mohammed Bago, promised to surpass the achievements of governors whose achievements have been used as a yardstick for measuring successful administrations in the North.
“When I heard some of the discussants say that I should emulate Kwankwaso and El-Rufai in achievements, I just giggled because I will do better.
While assuring the people that he will operate an open-door policy, he also assured them that he will raise the bar in governance.
