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Linus Oota, Lafia
On May29, 2019, Governor Abdullahi Sule took oath of office as Nasarawa State’s fourth democratically elected governor after the governorship election in March, where he defeated the duo of David Umbugadu and Labaran Maku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) respectively.
Dr. Emmanuel Akabe was equally sworn in as deputy governor of the state. Sule came into office with a clear vision and action plan to usher in prosperity for all the people of the state and from day one; he left nobody in doubt about his preparedness and determination to walk his talk.
The promises
Speaking on the day of his inauguration, Governor Sule re-assured the people of the state of his determination to tackle the glaringly daunting challenges facing the state, and vowed to take tough decisions and hard choices. He had promised to immediately embark on the rationalisation of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to a more manageable size as part of government’s measures to reduce the cost of governance, increase efficiency and maximise manpower utilisation.
The governor further promised to complete the Lafia cargo Airport, commencement of the construction of Rural roads in each of the three senatorial zones, commencement of rural electrification in a least three villages in the state, construction of 2km solar power street light in each of the 13 local government areas within the first 100 days in office.
He also promised the commencement of the construction of Technology innovative hubs in Lafia, Akwanga, Keffi and Karu, supply of fertilizer and other agricultural inputs to farmers for the current farming season as well as construction of some classroom blocks in the local government areas.
The results in one month
However, after one full month in office and some days, there are mixed reactions in the state on the possibility of achieving those set targets. Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that so far, the governor has not awarded any contract since assumption of office. This, pundits noted, would make it impossible for the governor to achieve his set targets in 100 days, which is less than two months from now.
Majority of the people who spoke to Daily Sun appear disappointed in the governor so far, with some expressing doubt already over the governor’s capacity to govern the state.
Mr. Abubakar Shehu, a businessman and APC chieftain from Lafia said “my verdict on the score card for Governor Sule is low as he has not achieve anything other than complaining at every given opportunity that he is under pressure to make appointments.
“His inability to immediately constitute his cabinet with fresh minds and who will bring new ideas and hit the ground running clearly shows he has started on a faulty note. On June 1st, he appointed nine SSAs and assigned them portfolios, one week after, he upgraded three of the SSAs to Special Advisers, a clear indication that he is running a trial and error administration” Shehu said.
He said further that based on the educational background of the governor and his exposure to the world, having spent over 30 years in the private sector at managerial level, he should have used the transition period to assemble his team and carefully plan his objective to immediately hit the ground running on May 29 after his inauguration.
To Mallam Salisu Abdulkarin, also an APC chieftain from Keffi, “Sule’s one month in office has been 30 days of commotion in the governance of the state, reminiscent of the television drama series, Fuji house of commotion. For one month, he has not inspected any project, he has not awarded any contract, how can he achieve his set target in 100 days when he does not have a commissioner of works in place, a special adviser or SSA on works? All the appointments he has made so far, none have a portfolio of works to effectively supervise the completion of the inherited projects he promised to complete in three months and commence new ones.
“A common feature of the bogus appointments calls for serious concern about the direction of the new government. on June 1, barely a week after his inauguration, the governor appointed nine SSAs as his first set of appointments and assigned them portfolios, some of them include SSA on Youths Affairs/NGOs, SSA on Investment and Economic Planning, SSA on Special Duties, SSA on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, SSA on Legal Matters and SSA Governor’s office.
“On 17th June, the governor equally appointed a Director General, Strategic Communications and Press Affairs, and upgraded three of the SSAs earlier appointed to Special Advisers, they include SSAs on Local Government, Legal Matters and Governor’s Office with same portfolios and added another adviser on Finance.
“On June 24, the governor also appointed another SSA on NGOs, two Special Assistants on media without job specifications, Personal Assistant on Youth and Students, Personal Assistant on Special Duties; what duplicity of job description and functions that tell on public funds. For instance, the governor has earlier appointed a DG Communications and Press Affairs and then two Special Assistants on media without specifications and all are expected to do same job of image laundering for the governor.
“One is therefore at a loss as to what has informed these bogus appointments on one portfolio for a small state like Nasarawa with the least federal allocation, even when the governor himself had promised to streamline the ministries/MDAs to cut down the running cost of government. How can you appoint SSA on Special Duties, PA on Special Duties, SSA on Youths/ONGs as well as PA on Youths/Students, SSA on Investment/Economic Planning and a Special Adviser on Finance, are these appointments the necessary sacrifices the citizens of the state need to make to put their dear state on the part of economic recovery? Are the above duplicated appointments with same portfolios and roles indices of cutting down running cost of government the governor talked about? The appointments no doubt were made to provide jobs for the boys and not in the collective interest of the state. Throughout the eight years of the immediate past governor, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, he ran the state with a lean team and just one press secretary who was in charge of image laundering until his last six months in office when he created DG Communication and Press Affairs office when his press secretary could not effectively handle certain media issues.
“The expectation of the people is for the Sule’s administration which was elected on March 9th 2019 to have prepared his commissioners, special advisers and other aides during the period of the transition and on assumption of office, he should have unveiled them and immediately hit the ground running by giving them clear cut directive and job specifications on how to build on the achievements of his predecessor in the areas of infrastructure development, job creation, health, education and other developments of the state” he said.
Terlumum Nyifam, from Obi Local Government Area of the state, and also a chieftain of the APC said the governor is not fair in the appointments of over 20 aides he has made so far, noting that the Tiv people are among the majority tribe in the state and no Tiv man is considered in the appointments so far.
On his performance so far, Mr. Nyifam describes it as dismal, adding that “in 2011 when Al-Makura assumed office, by the end of his first one month in office, he had installed transformers in various villages and electrified them, award contracts for the construction of township roads, distributed fertilizers to farmers, in fact we started feeling the impact of Al-Makura’s government in less than a month in office.
“But here, it is difficult for some of us to understand the direction of the governor, I will score him 10 per cent and the 10 percent is the achievement of the civil servants who have continued to work, the 10 percent is not because of Sule’s personal input” he said.
He further said “the governor has failed to appoint commissioners despite the fact that his predecessor is a fellow APC member like himself, his government should have hit the ground running, I urge him to first and foremost apologise to the people of Nasarawa State for misleading them during elections and on his inauguration day, because I don’t see him recording any remarkable thing and if he is not careful, he will not achieve half of what Al-Makura did. Al-Makura came to government well prepared with clear cut out objective of what he actually wanted and we started seeing it as soon as he assumed office” Nyifam added.
