**Promises transparent, accountable govt
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Katrina state Governor-elect, Dr. Umaru Dikko Radda on Friday paid a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at Presidential Villa, Abuja just as he promised the people of Katsina a transparent and accountable government.
Speaking to State House Correspondents after a closed-door meeting with Buhari, Umaru who came with the out-going Governor of Katsina state, Hon. Aminu Bello Masari said that he was at the seat of government’ to thank the President as the leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He told reporters that: “I think we just came here with my governor and our leader, to meet Mr. President and to thank Him for what he has done to us as a nation and what he has done to us as a leader of the party. We came to appreciate him. We came to pay the glory to Almighty Allah for making this victory possible for us.
“And to also congratulate Mr. President, because the victory we got in Katsina, he has his own input because we leveraged on what he has done in Katsina state and to Nigeria as a whole.
“So we thanked Mr. President, and we felt that we should come and show him our certificate of return as issued to us by INEC.
On what will the Katsina people expect from his administration after his inauguration, Umaru said he has a blueprint on how to turn Katsina around in all spheres of governance, pointing out that he has made his points clear on what to do.
Said he: “Thank you. I think we have made our points very clear. And we have rolled out our strategic policy for the state and just the day before yesterday, we inaugurated our strategic policy review committees. We want to kickstart our work immediately we are sworn-in as governor and deputy.
“So I think we are doing everything now to ensure that we put everything in place so that we hit the ground running immediately after swearing-in.
Asked what he will do to restore terror-ridden swaths of land in Katsina to farmers as the people have not been able to farm in the past few months due to insecurity, he assumed that security will be a priority.
“Yes, I have said it over and over that security is our first priority. This is what we are going to give much attention to because it is only when you have peace and security that you can be able to go to the farm, school, hospital and even the market.
“So security is very cardinal in the economic development of any society. And agriculture is one of the major areas of employment in our state. And it’s a major area of livelihood, our people so it must provide security to our people. And we promise to involve the locals and we promise to involve use of technology in tackling the security issues in my state. Thank you” he said.
On what the President told him during the closed door meeting, Umaru said: “The President has always been advocating for transparency and accountability in government. And he has always urged us to be fair to Almighty God in discharging our responsibility, You know that it is very important to understand that apart from the questions from the press apart from the question from the people of Katsina State, Almighty Allah is going to ask you when you meet him, so I think we are going to do our work diligently and we’ll ensure that we are transparent and accountable to the people of Katsina as much as we can. Thank you”
