By Sola Shittu, Gombe

Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya on Saturday, said his administration will continue to champion policies that will give citizens in the state the opportunity to have access to good governance through the provision of life supporting interventions, especially in times of need.

Governor Yahaya stated this at the flag-off ceremony of Phase II of the state-wide distribution of palliatives to poor and vulnerable households in Dukku Local Government Area of the state.

He said the distribution of the relief materials is a tradition of his administration aimed at addressing the hardships faced by the people during the current COVID-19 pandemic as well as individuals affected by flood disaster and the over 2000 victims of the  recent Billiri crisis.m

According to him, “The state government had earlier expended the sum of N775 million on the procurement and distribution of palliatives to the people of the state to cushion their sufferings.

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“This government will continue to work within available resources to address the needs and concerns of the people to which we swore to serve, irrespective of social, religious or political affiliations. In order to ensure justice and fairness in the distribution of the palliatives, this administration has put machinery in motion to ensure that the materials get to the intended beneficiaries at the local, ward and polling unit levels”.

The governor revealed that in the year 2020, his administration was able to reach out to over 65,000 poor and vulnerable households across the state, adding that the phase ll of the distribution exercise also targets same number.

On some of the requests made by the Chairman of Dukku Local Government Area, the governor said his administration is not unmindful of water scarcity in the area, hence his collaboration with the Federal Government’s PWASH programme and the resuscitation of RUWASSA by his government to address the challenges of water in Dukku, Kwami, Furnakaye and Balanga local government areas of the state.

He expressed the hope that with these interventions by his administration, the challenges of water scarcity will in no distant time be a thing of the past in the worst hit LGAs of the State.

Speaking earlier, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Manassah Jatau who also doubles as the

Chairman, Gombe State Palliative Distribution Committee, said to ensure equity, justice and fairness in the exercise, the state government constituted his committee which subsequently birthed the local, ward and polling unit committees.