Follow Us on Google
…Promise N110k minimum wage
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidates in the North West have said they would collaborate to tackle the security challenges confronting the zone, if elected in the 2027 general election.
The candidates, who spoke at the signing of the of the North West ADC Governorship Candidates’ Compact 2027-2031, on Tuesday, in Abuja, said they are conscious that security is crucial for meaningful development.
The gubernatorial candidates, in a declaration read by the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and ADC candidate in Kebbi State, Abubakar Malami, pledged to run people-oriented administrations in the zone if elected.
According to them, “our region is crisis ridden. Over 16,000 lives have been lost on account of insecurity between June 2023 and August 2026, and more than 1,583 kidnapping incidents since January 2023 have taken over 10,000 of our people from their homes and farms.
“Tens of thousands of households have been displaced, and more than 533,000 hectares of farmland in Zamfara and Katsina alone now lie abandoned. Our region also accounts for 45 percent of Nigeria’s out-of-school children.
“Insecurity has emptied our farms, and those empty farms have brought hunger, driven our children out of the classroom, and have denied them the education the region requires to dry up the recruitment pool for future banditry, kidnappings and all associated crimes.
“Our commitment is to reorient governance to respond effectively and efficiently to break this vicious cycle of crisis, and restore peace, security and normalcy to our region.”
According to them, “a technology-enabled surveillance and rapid-response network will be established in each of the 21 senatorial districts across all seven states of the region.
“We will deploy drones region-wide and establish a Northwest Regional Security Coordination Centre to combine lawful aerial surveillance, community intelligence, emergency reporting and geospatial data into a single chain: surveillance, early warning, command and control, verification and rapid response by the security agencies constitutionally empowered to act.”
The candidates, while committing to implementing a minimum wage of ₦110,000 for workers across all seven states of the Northwest if elected, expressed support for the proposal by the ADC Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to restore fuel subsidy, if he emerges President in the next year’s election.
Furthermore, they explained that “we will not surrender the constitutional authority of our individual states, nor dissolve the distinct priorities of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara. Each of us will remain answerable for our own budgets, procurement, civil service, state education and health systems, land administration, internally generated revenue, state agriculture and infrastructure within our borders.
“But where our people’s problems cross our borders, we commit to govern together to resolve them. We will coordinate our security architecture. We will hold ourselves to common standards. We will pool investment where pooling multiplies impact. We will open cross-border trade, share data, build joint infrastructure and speak with one voice in advocacy for our region.”
