The Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 elections, Sen. Rabiu Musa-Kwankwaso has called on political leaders in the country to invest more in the people in order to build trust.
Kwankwaso made the call at the inaugural lecture of the Niger Governor-elect, Alhaji Umaru Bago and his deputy, Alhaji Yakubu Garba in Minna on Thursday.
“The people want political leaders who are interested in uplifting their living standards.
“Therefore, there is the need to secure the lives of the people and invest on them in order to build trust, transparency and accountability.
“In my eight years as governor in Kano, my best investment was in education, which I used to empower the people.
“This was part of the reason I was re-elected after I lost in my first second term bid,” he said.
He admonished politicians to shun money politics and other corrupt practices and focus on how to improve the lives and living conditions of the people to become better.
The NNPP Presidential candidate, who was chairman of the occasion, enjoined Bago to hasten up and deliver to the people the much needed dividends of democracy.
The former Governor of Kano State applauded the incoming administration of the state for using the lecture to invite technocrats and other stakeholders to speak on governance.
“The incoming governor of Niger state has done well by inviting technocrats and some of us who are his seniors in order to learn and avoid some of the mistakes we made during our time.
“It is an opportunity for him and his team to also learn from our strength to enable them to do better,” he said.
Similarly, Prof Attahiru Jega, former Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who said that bad leadership was responsible for the country’s current economic woes, urged public office holders to be transparent and accountable in office.
“Transparency and accountability is the rudiment to good democratic governance,” he said.
Also, Bago said that the occasion provided a renewed hope for his administration to explore in order to develop the state.
He assured the people of transparency and accountability in developing the state.
Alhaji Abubakar Bello, the outgoing Governor of the state, advised the incoming governor to be careful in selecting his cabinet members to enable him to choose the best hands to succeed.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture was tagged, “Addressing the challenges of socio-economic development at sub-national level in Nigeria.”
The state had rolled out a five day programme for the inauguration.