World Bank: APC supports Buhari on Northeast

President Buhari reading The Nation
President Buhari reading The Nation

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governors on Wednesday backed the request from President Muhammadu Buhari to the World Bank to focus its development attention on the North-Eastern part of the country.

The party said the President’s request was not meant to give preferential treatment to any section of the country above others.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi told newsmen at the end of a meeting between that the President’s request was made in view of the specific attention that the northeast need as a result of the devastation caused by the Boko Haram activities in the area.

“It was not a statement meant to give special preference to any section of the country against the other. So, the APC throws its weight completely behind Mr. president’s decision and we believe that as long as the north east of Nigeria continue to suffer the devastation that it has suffered, and continue to represent a very dark spot in human development indices for Nigeria, there is a need to direct special attention to that part of the country.”

Bauchi state governor, Barrister Mohammed Abubakar dismissed claims that the President accused governors of not paying salaries, saying that the President’s statement to the governors at a meeting on Tuesday was part of his usual concern for the plight of workers.

He said state governors have judiciously utilized the federal government intervention in the payment of salaries and pensions, but was quick to add that the governors were not begging the federal government for money, but demanding what belong to them.

Governor Abubakar said: “I was at the meeting with the President. Mr President, in his usual faction, has always expressed his concern on the plight of workers and the downtrodden. He did not direct any accusation at the governor’s because the governors have actually utilized mist of the intervention of the federal government for payment of salaries.

“Take Bauchi state, for example, my salary bill is N5.1 billion, including states and local government. If you count the number of months that I came to FAAC and collect anything above N5 billion, it will not be more than five months in my two and half years in office.

“But because of the intervention today, I am proud to say that I am not owing single kobo salary or pension. We have in the main, utilize this intervention towards payment. Don’t forget, this is money belong to us. We are not begging for anything, but demanding what belongs to us and that it should be paid to us. I was at that meeting and Mr. President did not level any allegation against anybody.”

On why most governors of the south-west were absent from the meeting, he said: the Bauchi governor said “there is no communication gap. Two other deputy governors send words that their flights was cancelled because of weather problem. The same thing applied to the governor of Sokoto state who sent words that his flight was cancelled due to difficulty in weather.

“So, there is no communication gap whatsoever. In the past, the governors have been attending. Governors are very busy people and it is always very difficult for us to have time to be on the field in addition to running our states.”

On the recent statement credited to former interim Chairman of the party that the 2019 presidential election was open to all members of the party, he said “the meeting has not deliberated on that. The APC has a constitution and in fact. That is one of the items that was discussed, how to amend the constitution of the APC with a view to strengthening the party in line with democratic principles. We will abide with the tenets of the constitution.”

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, National Chairman of the party said previous editions of the meeting has been extremely useful not only in stabilizing the party, but also contributing immensely towards handling various challenges that have appeared before us as a nation and as a people.

 

Seven governors and four deputy governors attended the meeting which is the sixth in the series of consultative meetings between the National Working Committee of the party and the governors.

Apart from the House Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, other leaders of the party in the two chambers of the National Assembly who were supposed to be a party of the meeting stayed away without sending any form of apology.

The governors include, Nasir el Rufai (Kaduna), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Rochester Okorocha (Imo), Godwin Obaseki (Edo)  and Abdullahi Jibrilla Bindo (Adamawa) who was attending the meeting for the first time, as well as the Deputy Governors of Ondo, Kano, Kogi  and Nasarawa states.

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