‘In Jigawa, nobody is stealing government money any more’

Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud served as deputy governor during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration led by former governor of Jigawa state, Dr. Sule Lamido. He was in office for the eight years from 2007 to 2015. On the eve of the 2015 general elections, Mahmud decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC). He is currently the Director General of the Badaru Governorship Campaign Organisation leading the re-election struggle of incumbent Governor Abubakar Badaru of the APC in the state. In this interview with reporters, Mahmu said Badaru’s administration has turned out a blessing in the political development of the state. According to him, Badaru not only abolished the long standing practice of governor’s security vote, he also operates strictly by the budget. Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, reports. Excerpt.

What are the tangible achievements of the Badaru-led administration in the last four years?

When this government came in 2015, it found out that the previous administration had badly vandalized the psyche of the people  such that impunity was the order of the day. Anything and everything goes during the last regime. A lot of things were messy. It was when this government came into being that Badaru started to change the orientation of our people.

You know that there  were a lot issues in the country before the 2015 elections. There was the problem of Boko  Haram leading to serious insecurity every where. Also, the economy was down. With the coming of the Muhammadu  Buhari administration, things started easing up. The economy was and is still on the rise, insecurity has reduced, Boko  Haram has been curtailed and contained.

All these actions by the federal government will naturally trickled down to the state governments. So, Jigawa is also a beneficiary of the federal government’s positive actions. Coming back o this administration; what the Badaru administration did on coming aboard was to place premium on investment in the people. This is being done by investing hugely in education.

Education has been and still a priority of this administration. He believes that once we get education right, every other thing will be right. The other one is the issue of agriculture. Agriculture for this  administration is like crude oil. And that is why the government is investing heavily in agriculture such that it even has a slogan; farming is a serious business.

This governor galvanized the youths  and ensured that they not only participate in agriculture but they are now making a living from it now. There is what is called the  cluster farming initiative. What this government did for the people through this initiative is to refocus the subsistence mindset of the small scale farmers and open their eyes to the commercial potentials of their farming activities.

The government then register these subsistence farmers and clustered them for target input provision and extension services. Initially, a maximum cluster size of 50 hectares was formed in each of the 287 wards in the state. So far, a total of 1,306 clusters were established with 61,184 farmers presently participating in this initiative. At the moment, Jigawa is heavily into  its rice farming.

What we grow presently is even much more than some states put together. Very soon, Jigawa state will not only be supplying the vast rice needs of the country but also supply the rice needed in the entire west African sub region. All these were achieved by the administration of the APC led by Governor Abubakar Badaru within the last three years or so of being in office.

You were a major player in the administration of Sule  Lamido and now in the current one under Abubakar  Badaru. What will you say are the differences?

There is a great difference between the two administrations. Before now, the country was heading for the rock. Security was a big problem including the economy. I was commissioner of finance in 2000-2005. So I know how the ministry is run. I have never  in my life  thought of getting a leader  who is so prudent, so accountable like Badaru.  Unlike before, this governor is a budget man.

Everything and anything that the government must do must be documented; that is, it must be in the budget. If it is not in the budget, then, you wont see him appending his signature. We lack his type in this country. He will never do anything outside the budget. His action presently is a big deal in our political development. When I say it is a big deal, I am talking from experience.

I know how government operates in this clime but for him to have brought about a complete paradigm shift from the stat us quo, it is a big deal. When he came into the government, he abolished the use of security vote. He is the first governor in Nigeria that stopped the use of security vote immediately he was sworn in. And for us in Jigawa state, it is really something novel.

Talking about projects, what has been happening to the projects left unfinished by past administrations in the state?

Unlike in the past, the governor insisted on completing projects left behind by the past administration even though they are from different political parties with different manifestos. Yes, that is why I said this governor is a big deal in Nigeria today. His actions are totally different from what is operational in Nigeria presently. It is unheard of that a new government from another party and different manifestos  would still continue the projects of his predecessor.

These are part of the qualities this man possesses. He completed these projects, first of all, because the projects are for the people. More importantly, it is the people’s projects because it is the people that own the resources. He first completed some projects worth more than N100b which he met on ground before starting his own. His action is a real progression in our political developments.

We need more of Badaru in our polity. we need more clean businessmen in our polity. We need  more of clean and god-fearing people like Badaru in our polity. if everyone that is god-fearing is staying back from participating in politics, there wont be serious minded people in politics. If Badaru too had stayed back, how would we have had this benefits the state is presently enjoying now.

The more of people like Badaru in the polity, from the ward, to local government, to state ad the federal, the better for this country. I can say this because I have been part of the system here in Jigawa since 2000 and I know how things were being done around here. How many governors in Nigeria refused to collect or use security votes in the administration of their states? Badaru is really different.

Defections have been rocking the politics of your state for a while now. Why do you think people are decamping?

The gale of defections is actually from the opposition PDP to our party. And I can tell you that the defections were not induced. If you know Badaru very well, you will know that the governor would be the last person that would induce anybody with money. Badaru is not different from President Muhammadu Buhari. He is a very prudent person. I was once a chieftain of the PDP, a strong one at that.

I was the deputy governor to Dr. Sule Lamido for the eight years of his administration. Now,  let me say this, whoever is coming to APC is coming essentially because of two things. One, they are coming because they have since discovered that their lifestyle have changed. Dependence on them by people have also reduced because the people are busy themselves.

They are seeing the developments every where which are also beneficial to them as well. Two, some of them are coming because of some of us who left the PDP. If we could leave the party, they believe they  also have no reason to still remain there. Presently, I have more than seventy groups waiting for me to declare their support and decamp to the APC.

Not only in PDP, but several parties including the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In the last one or two weeks, that is what we have been doing; receiving new members who interestingly, are even willing to support us financially. Last week, I was in two local government areas where we witnessed the defection of twenty two ward chairmen, two local government chairmen and many others.

Are you not worried that the state is tilting towards a one-party state with the defections?

Yeah, it may likely happen because if the government is truly for the people and if it is truly caring for the people, there is the likelihood that the people would be voting such  party into government all the time. Now, everyone can see that nobody is stealing any money, because there is nothing to steal. Besides, the governor, a self made, well contented person, a business man of international repute, will not steal your money.

And the allocations received are accounted for through the various mass benefiting projects across the state. Nobody is preventing you from  joining the party. Nobody is bribing his way to secure contracts. Everything is on merit. I don’t need to know the governor before I get certain things done. Rules are rules. Unlike in the previous administrations, rules here cannot be broken.

The problem with our country before now is that people go along with the trend. By trend I mean where the money is. That is where people will go to, even if it is detrimental to the development of the generality of the people. Things are changing. Ideas now rule the world. Prudence, I can say, is one  word and major reason why people are in love with this administration.

Now, everyone is trending towards agriculture which fortunately is paying their bills. As we speak here, I am the director of campaign, we are not collecting money from the  government. We source the fund and resources we use on the campaign ourselves. Badaru isn’t giving us a dime. This campaign is been financed by the people. Now, people are watching and looking at our lifestyle.

In Jigawa, the people know that their money is not being stolen. They know that whatever that is earmarked  for this project will definitely go into the project. And not only that, they know that the project will be seen physically, not on paper. With all that is on ground presently, both in the state and at the federal level, APC will be returned, God willing, to power during the next general elections.