By Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. Sokoto,Gombe,Kwara and Zamfara Governors and their style of leadership away from their States.
Constitutionally Governors are the Chief Security officers of their respective states,their presence in their States is very important to ensure smooth administration and execution of government programmes and projects to facilitate Development.
Nigeria has 36 states with executive governors that operate Independently as the country’s constitution shares powers between the three tiers of government that include Federal,states and Local governments.
Some governors are accused of not staying in their respective states.Such governors alleged to be governing their States from either Abuja or overseas.
Recent findings indicated that Sokoto,Gombe,Kwara,and Zamfara Governors are governing their States from Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
Complain against the governors
Citizens and residents of these states ,and several stakeholders
are complaining about the attitudes of their governors ,citing that their absence from the states negates the principle of good governance.
The report also revealed that most of these governors do not hand over to their deputies but prefer to make most of the decisions of the state from where ever they are ,flouring the constitutional provision that stipulates that a governor has a statutory duty to sit and ensure lives and property are secured and protected .He is not expected to stay outside the state for more than two weeks because he is the Chief Security Officer of his state.
Governors who govern from outside their states
Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
He doubles as the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
The opposition party in the state, PDP claims that the governor is hardly in the state since he became the NGF chairman.
According to the party’s chairman, Babatunde Mohammed, the governor has been incessantly absent from the state.
“Since the governor took up the mantle of leadership of NGF, he hardly comes to the state to either oversee projects or spend time with the people,
The continued absence of Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq led to the illegal conversion of security vehicles procured to enhance local security into private use by the impostors he put in charge of our local government areas as the Transition Implementation Committee chairpersons.
It should be noted that none of the vehicles have been put into any serious use by the security agents it was meant to serve, as the TIC chairmen still cruise in them as though they are their official cars.’’ PDP chairman said.
Gombe State Governor, Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya.
who doubles as the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, has barely settled in the state since becoming the chairman of the forum, the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress during the 2023 poll in Gombe State, Nafiu Bala claims.
“Since Governor Inuwa Yahaya resumed, he had never anointed his deputy to take office as acting governor. This is wrong,” he added.
Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto is also alleged to be outside the state regularly.
The residents of the state have urged the state governor to spend more time with his people at home,instead of spending more days outside the state.
They decried a repeat of the previous administration of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was accused of spending more time in Abuja than in the state.
Bala Bello is a resident of Sokoto state .He described the previous administration of Tambuwal as not too good for the state.
“I am sure you are aware of Tambuwal’s tenure in the state when he spent more of his time outside the state than in the state.
The Sokoto resident stated this in an interview with the Punch news paper recently.
Zamfara State Governor, Dr. Dauda Lawal is another governor that hardly spent a week in the state since his inauguration on May 29 2023.
It was gathered that the attitude of the governor is becoming worrisome to the residents as they are expecting much from the Governor who had during his electioneering campaign promised to rescue the state from total disintegration.
The situation has also led to public outcry and complaints, especially by the opposition who say they can not imagine that the governor whose state is under the control of bandits, and terrorists and is ravaged by insecurity challenges would still be travelling out of state, leaving the residents to their fate.
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello’s story is different as the state governor, Yahaya Bello, is more at home in Lokoja compared to before now.
Reports revealed that the governor who before now had been running the affairs of the state from Abuja has recently been more at home helping his party, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Ahmed Usman Ododo effectively prosecute his campaign strategies so that the ruling party can maintain its dominance in the state.
It could be recalled that Bello lost the APC presidential ticket, which led to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu, the governor who has been more visible in Lokoja.
However, the attitude of these governors indicated that they are not willing to confront the challenges facing their respective states,such as Zamfara with high insecurity,Sokoto also which security and infrastructural challenges sre affecting its development.
Gombe and Kwara states governors also need to concentrate on the affairs of their States,as the leadership of Nigerian Governors Forum and that of Northern Governors Forum are not their Primary responsibilities.
The State Assemblies of these states should do the needful in drawing the attention of their governors ,so that if they refuse to change ,actions should be taken against them,even though the state Assemblies are seen by many as an extension of the executive arm of their respective states.
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