The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Kwara, Prof. Abdulmumin Ajia, on Wednesday, unveiled his “Forward Kwara” agenda, promising a government that will be more open and committed to the welfare of the people of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ajia unveiled the agenda while addressing members of the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ilorin.
He said the agenda was offered to newsmen and the people of the state to examine, raise questions, and pass the ultimate judgment.
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According to him, Kwara’s needs are too great and urgent in order to guard against avoidable institutional conflicts.
Ajia promised to build working relationships with organised labour, businesses and communities around defined public responsibilities.
“At the centre of my plan is a return of prestige to councillors, which I describe as the frontline leaders closest to the people.
“Across the 193 wards in Kwara, not a single councillor has an office where residents can go and say, ' This is my councillor’s office.
“Under my leadership, residents will be able to begin school enrollment and fill forms at the councillor’s office, report a failing primary health care centre and obtain guidance on assistance through an accessible office in their wards,” Ajia said.
He also promised to work with local governments to strengthen councillors’ capacities and conditions of service, and to give them defined responsibilities that would come with the means to perform them.
The governorship candidate proposed a four-day response mandate for state government services, saying, “If a citizen goes to a government office on Monday, he should get response by Thursday to avoid spilling over to another Monday.
“I deliberately chose Thursday instead of five days because some officials could, out of mischief, let it slide to Monday.
“People often close their shops to sort out important issues, only for an official to delay and waste their time; under my administration, the four-day rule will become a mandate,” he said.
Ajia pledged to partner with community associations and encourage them to work with government through what he called Citizens’ Development Partnership.
While also promising to introduce what he called Community Matching Infrastructure, the governorship candidate noted that many communities in Kwara build infrastructure on their own, citing the many secondary schools in Kwara South Senatorial District as community endeavours.
“If a community drops N100, government should also drop another N100 as a match, because most of what communities do are things that belong to government.
“Even where government cannot provide funds, it should act as a partner by providing technical expertise,” he said.
On public finance, Ajia promised to disclose the gap and let evidence guide the sequencing, distinguishing what could begin right away, what requires phased funding and what needs further appraisal.
He said that his government would review spending, improve revenue administration, reduce leakage and pursue development financing and partnerships, where appropriate.
Ajia said that commitments would be published three times a year so that citizens could see where the government stands.
“Green means government is doing okay; yellow means it is falling short, while red means it is not good.
“As governor, I will attend to red first because while yellow is not going to die, red is awful and needs urgent attention,” he said.
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