A leader should be responsible and accountable - Governor Aminu Masari

 

 President Muhammadu Buhari averted the collapse of Nigeria-Gov. Masari

But for the conscientious efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to salvage the country, Nigeria would have collapsed at the peak of the current economic recession, Governor Aminu Bello Masari has said.

Speaking at the state media summit held in Katsina on thursday 13/03/2017, Masari described Buhari as a magnanimous leader with strong character and political will that had been lacking in moving the nation to the promised land.

State governments, he said, would have been unable to pay salaries, pensions and execute infrastructural development if President Buhari had not come up with bail-out fund, budget support fund and payment of Paris Club refund.

Masari, who admitted to Katsina state and its local government areas receiving about 217 million dollars from the Paris Club refund, lamented that the federal government, during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s era refused to give state and local government areas the money while former President Goodluck Jonathan only paid some states.

“The current president said Nigerians voted for him and the oath of office he took is for all Nigerians. He said all states should be given the amount that was deducted from their allocations,” said Masari.
In view of the president’s desire for a secure and stable country, he said governors are able to pay salaries, gratuities, fund their budgets and continue to discharge their obligations.

"which president has ever done this to salvage the country? i want to imagine if these interventions were not there, this country would have collapsed because no state could pay salaries, no state could honour its obligation," he argued.

He added: “The money used for most of the capital projects is the money we collected for infrastructural development of N10 billion which was given by the president. You know, what the president has done, no president has ever done it.

“When we won elections, governments across the country were not paying salaries and could not pay; he came out with bail out for those that have salary arrears to pay and for those who have pensions and gratuities arrears to pay. For any governor who refuses to pay, he refused not because he has not collected the money. In Katsina, we paid all the retirees up to December 2014. We collected N11.086 billion.”

Masari also expressed confidence that given the efforts of his administration at restoring the pride of the state in key areas of agriculture and education among others, Katsina could compete with any state in the next five years in view of the possible fate of oil following the advancement in technology and renewable energy.

“We depended so much on oil and we have seen the consequences of that,” said Masari while reviewing the progress of the state.

He confirmed that “by May this year, the construction of 85 mw solar plant will commence in Kankia and we hope that by the end of the year, the other component that will produce 120 mw in Kankia would have come on stream because all preparations had reached more than 70 per cent.”