From Abubakar Yakubu, Abuja
Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has revealed that he decided to appoint the current state auditor following his sustained criticisms about mismanagement of the state’s funds.
Governor Sule said he was amazed at how well money is currently being managed as well as the processes put in place to ensure transparency in the state’s accounting records.
The governor, who stated this when he delivered the 13th anniversary lecture at Verbatim Magazine’s 2024 Media Awards, said he enacted laws to protect investments in the state as well as adopted the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to ensure transparency.
He advised leaders to give room for criticism and learn from mistakes, adding that he established the Nasarawa Advisory Council and appointed a fearless critic from another state to head the organisation, so that he could tell him the truth. The governor urged leaders in the country to define their objectives and be focused.
He said Nasarawa State is developing due to the government’s main focus on education, agriculture, mining and health. Sule revealed further that he is guided by the fear of God in all his dealings in the state, adding that when he dies, he would leave the Earth with nothing.
The governor also described the state’s budget as people-oriented, adding that government officials went to the people to find out their needs which were added to the budget. He said the two economic summits organised by the state in 2022 and 2024 were paying off in terms of investments, even as he disclosed that 90 per cent of the uncompleted projects he inherited from the previous administration had been completed by his administration.
After the lecture, the ‘2024 Governor of the Year’ award was given to the governor for his leadership qualities in the state. Other award recipients were the Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko U. Radda; Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, among others.