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Tag: Successor

  • ‘Orji will hand over to competent successor’

    ‘Orji will hand over to competent successor’

    Former Special Adviser on Public Communication  Abia State governor, Ben Onyechere, in this interview with Musa Odoshimokhe speaks on the 2015 succession battle in the state. 

    What are the issues that will shape the 2015 election in Abia State?

    There will not be issues because everything is in line and there is unity of purpose in all that takes place in the state. During the period of Orji Uzor Kalu, there was indiscipline in the political arena.

    In this dispensation  however, Abia State Governor Theodore Orji as the leader of PDP in the state has promoted discipline as far as the political atmosphere is concerned. As a result, anybody can now aspire to any position in Abia State. This was not the case in the past.

    But, he is yet to announce his successor…

    The governor will not allow just anybody to come in as the next governor. He wants somebody who he can trust to build on the foundation he has laid. He wants someone who will add value to what is currently on ground. Theodore Orji will not want anybody to jeopardize the architectural legacy he has built in the state. Anybody who is coming to take over from him will be thoroughly screened, he must be a performer, he must be disciplined and possibly come from among the ranks. He must not be somebody who will come from the top. Definitely, it will not be a case from top to bottom; he can’t afford to beat about the bush in this matter. The governor will certainly support anybody who will live up the expectation of the people.

    Are you saying there was no foundation on the ground when Governor Theodore Orji came on board?

    There was no foundation when he took over governance; there was no foundation in the state at all. The former governor came as a dictator; he was playing politics of propaganda. He siphoned most of the fund coming to Abia State and used it in his private capacity. The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has already mentioned this. He did much more than you could meet the eyes in Abia State. He did not build anything nor lay a foundation that could be built upon. He merely did some political whitewash on some roads which crumbled as soon as he left. That is why the current government has the credit. His successor Theodore has succeeded where Kalu failed. Kalu never wanted anybody to succeed where he failed.

    But, there are records to show that Orji Kalu succeeded…

    If I may describe the person of Governor Theodore Orji in clear terms, I have never seen such a man before. You could take him for granted, but he knows how to handle the situation rightly. He is somebody who is exposed because of the type of education he had. Orji Kalu thought he could take him for granted because of his subordination and patriotism. He thought he could use him as a soft landing even though he was more popular than him. Theodore Orji brought credibility to Kalu’s government even though the buck stops on Kalu’s table. For someone to have worked as chief of staff for eight years with him, he knew his worth and wanted to use the man as soft landing because that was the only way out.

    Was that the reason why they quarrelled?

    Yes, but the quarrel did not start suddenly; it was premeditated. Orji Kalu had this subtle plan to stop Governor Orji, so that he will be denied a second term. The issue began to arise when Orji refused to succumb to the dictates of Kalu. He wanted to remain in a position where he will continue to dictate the political pace in Abia. But, unfortunately for him, those of us who are in the national office of the PPA thought he could not do this to him. The issue is not about Kalu and Theodore, but Kalu and the whole of Abia State. We saw him as a virus because Abia is made of intellectuals. The state can boast of many political big names, so it was not easy for Kalu to achieve that. You can fool the people some time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. So, it was not just Kalu versus Theodore, but Kalu against the people who said no to his antics. The people said Theodore should be allowed to maximize the political gain the state started enjoying under his government. Abia people said he would do much better if was given eight years, otherwise they would not allow him to control the state afterwards.

    Kalu wants to come to the PDP. Why is Abia PDP not allowing him to return?

    The same question has been recurring over and over again. He knows that there is leadership in place, and that  he cannot be leader anymore. His main objective is to play the spoiler’s game once again. He is not coming back to help rebuild the party, because he has his own party. His party, the PPA, is still a living party, so how can he be in two parties? Nobody will allow such a thing. He has to resolve the PPA matter before talking of the PDP.

    What is the assurance that what happenned between Kalu and Orji will not happen between Orji and his successor?            

    Kalu’s case is peculiar in all circumstance. Everything to him is a game in the name of commercialization. He wants to achieve commercial gain from any venture. He wants to maximize gains. In any case, like I am telling you, Governor Orji will sit down with the elite and the people of Abia to screen somebody who has passed through the ranks. He must be somebody who has a name to protect.

     What will be the preoccupation of Governor Orji between now and the next election?

    He will be occupied with the completion of the developmental programmes started under his watch. He is so much concerned about rewriting the history of Abia State. He is a disciplined person; he is somebody who value his name. Hope you are aware that he has reinstated those Abia indigenes who were temporary put out of job in the Abia civil service? Remember he did the biometric staff audit to ascertain those in the civil service. He started so many things and wants to make sure they are completed before he leaves. He wants to rebuild and rebrand the state. The political development he has brought to Abia state is still evolving under him.

  • UI VC urged not to truncate selection of successor

    The immediate past Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, University of Ibadan, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has expressed concern on the selection of next Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, calling on the incumbent, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole not to do anything that will truncate the process.

    The selection process of a new Vice Chancellor, it was learnt will soon begin.

    He asked him (Prof. Adewole) not to avenge what was done to him about four years ago, by attempting to truncate the selection process of his successor.

    Olanipekun, a legal luminary in whose tenure Adewole was appointed the VC of the institution in 2010, gave the charge during his remark as the chairman of the 60th birthday celebration of the VC held at the International Conference Centre, UI, Ibadan.

    He described Adewole as a very brilliant scholar and seasoned administrator par excellence, who emerged tops in all the screening exercises conducted for candidates in 2010, before he was appointed by the Council of the institution.

    Olanipekun, while recalling how several attempts were made by some fifth columnists, who later wrote petitions, to truncate the selection process under his chairmanship of the Governing Council, said he stood his ground because of all the aspirants, Adewole was the best then.

    He told Adewole to “let UI be UI. It is greater than any individual; UI is bigger than you and me. Don’t avenge all the injustices meted to you. Don’t grudge anybody, don’t be partial, don’t truncate the process; don’t sabotage the process. The battle is over. You are what you are by the grace of God. Support the council in choosing your successor.“

    The legal luminary described Adewole as a “cat not only with nine lives, but one with 18 lives, who surmounted all the travails and conspiratorial petitions hatched against him by his traducers.”

    “Everybody scored Adewole highest of all the candidates. He came tops in all the screenings and that was why he sailed through at last,” he added.

    He then charged the VC to the Book of Psalms, chapter 90, last verse, where it is written that God should teach us how to count our days…”, while welcoming him to the ‘camp of the real elders’.

    Many dignitaries present on the occasion showered encomiums on Adewole, a seasoned gyneaco-logist. Among them were the Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by his Commissioner for Health, Lagos State Governor Mr Babatunde Fashola, represented by Otunba  Fatai Oluganbe, Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, represented by the Chief Medical Director of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Prof. B.A Adetiloye, Emeritus Professor Olu Akinkugbe, Prof. Adeniyi Gbadegesin (VC, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso), the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade represented by Oba Dr. Olusanya Dosunmu, Prof. Tekena Tamuno, Prof. Ayo Banjo, Chief Adebayo Akande of the Ibadan private radio station, Splash FM, and Prof. Oladipo Ladapo, among others.

  • 2015: Rivers Ijaw seek support to produce Amaechi’s successor

    2015: Rivers Ijaw seek support to produce Amaechi’s successor

    It was tagged a sensitisation symposium. But, its theme “The Eastern Delta in the Political Development of Rivers State: Past, Present and Future” shows that this event organised by the Eastern Delta People’s Association (EDPA) is about the future of Rivers State. Any doubt about this was erased when speakers began to mount the podium at the Atlantic Hall of the Hotel Presidential Port Harcourt. The riverine communities of Rivers State, at the symposium, demanded to produce the successor to Governor Rotimi Amaechi in 2015.The event, which attracted persons across party lines, had in attendance the cream of Rivers Ijaws from all walks of life, including traditional rulers, elder statesmen, political office holders, religious leaders, women, youths and students. Interestingly, despite the political crisis in Rivers State, which has divided the people along party lines, the political elite still came under one roof to demand that riverside communities must produce the next governor.

    Since 1999, this part of the state has been unable to produce the governor, despite its huge economic contributions to the state and country. The Eastern Delta people spread across the coastlines in the over ten local government areas of Andoni, Opobo-Nkoro, Bonny, Okrika, Ogu-Bolo, Port Harcourt (South), Asari-Toru, Degema, Akuku-Toru and Abua-Odual and so on agreed at the event that the time had come to discard parochial interests to agitate for the state’s number one seat.

    The Chairman of the Steering Committee of the EDPA, Deacon Lawrence Jumbo, said the Eastern Delta People’s Association is a non-aligned socio-political group that seeks to promote unity, peace and progress among the people of all Ijaw- speaking communities in Rivers State and set the agenda for human and infrastructural development of the Ijaw communities of Rivers State and the state at large. He said the group also pursues the protection and preservation of the ideals of equity, fairness and justice as it relates to the Ijaw speaking people of the Eastern Delta. He said the symposium was the first step in a series of socio-political actions to actualise these objectives. Jumbo added that there was an urgent need for the people of the Eastern Delta to have a platform to articulate their interest ahead of the next political era. He said nature had so made it that the Upland/Riverine dichotomy in Rivers State was undeniable, adding that it would only be fair and just for both distinct geographical and cultural groups to produce the governor of the state successively. Jumbo added that the symposium provided a veritable and non-aligned platform for Rivers Ijaws to articulate and realise their dream of leading the state after a long wait of sixteen years.

    He said: “This long wait is gradually affecting the collective psyche of the riverine people of the state to the extent that their place in the polity and the socio-economic development of the rather challenging coastline areas of the state is not sufficiently guaranteed.”The Chairman of the occasion, Ambassador S. M. K. Taribo, the Co-Chairman, Rear Admiral O. P. Fingesi, the keynote speaker, His Highness , Alabo Dagogo Fubara, who is also a professor, and the two paper presenters, Faye Dikio (SAN) and Dr. Okere Iragunima, called for unity among Rivers Ijaws and bridge building with their neighbours and brothers in order for the dream to be realised. They expressed dismay at the dwindling educational and economic fortunes of the Eastern Delta, despite the educational strides and economic advancements in times gone by due to early contact with the Europeans. They, therefore, called for all people of goodwill and means in the Eastern Delta to both initiate and/or support any effort that would bring back the glorious days of excellence in education and commerce. Former Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Sir Gabriel Toby, a former Commissioner in Rivers State, Alabo Paworiso Samuel Horsfall, and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, all spoke extensively on the need for equity, fairness and inclusiveness in the governance of Rivers State.

    Rivers State Commissioner for Information Mrs. Ibim Semenitari and a member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Dawari George, also buttressed the need for unity among the Ijaw clans of Rivers State, noting that that all Rivers Ijaw sons and daughters irrespective of their political affiliations should embrace every effort to address the challenges of the coastal communities and the state.

    Toby stressed that care must be taken to ensure that the effort of uniting the people of the Eastern Delta behind a common agenda was not truncated as was the case in the past.

    Sara-Igbe called on the political class in the state not to renege on the unwritten code of rotation of power between the upland and riverine peoples of the state. Alabo Paworiso called for the unity of all Rivers Ijaws and stressed that they must uphold the tenets of politics without bitterness and the ‘pulling down syndrome’.

    Mrs. Seminitari also chronicled the achievements of the administration of Amaechi, such as the ongoing construction of the Andoni-Opobo Unity Road,Okrika ring road, Bolo bridge, shore protection of Egbomung Andoni, the award of the Trans-Kalabari Road and the land reclamation project at Opobo Town, numerous model primary schools and health centres spread in Ijaw communities of Rivers State and challenged all Rivers Ijaws to give their support to only eminently qualified men and women who have a good grasp of the development challenges of the coastlines and are committed to ensuring even development across all communities in Rivers State.

    In another breadth, Dr. George challenged the people of the Eastern Delta not to allow oil economics and boundary matters to divide them as justice and truth must be the foundation for addressing such matters. At the end of deliberations, the session adopted a seven- point communiqué, which emphasized the unity of all Rivers Ijaws towards the security and development of the coastline areas and the demand for the chance to produce the next governor of Rivers State. The session was, however, careful to note that the aspiration of the Eastern Delta can only be actualised through the support and goodwill of other ethnic nationalities of the state. They thus appealed for the understanding and cooperation of all ethnic nationalities for a chance to lead the state.

     

  • God will choose my successor, says Amaechi

    God will choose my successor, says Amaechi

    Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi said at the weekend that God will choose his successor at the appointed time.

    He said he would pray to God to make His choice on who becomes the next governor of Rivers State.

    Amaechi spoke at St. Barth’s Anglican Church, Bera Deanery, during Senator Magnus Abe’s thanksgiving service in Gokana Local Government Area of the state.

    The senator organised the thanksgiving service to express appreciation to God for surviving the attack on him by the police during a Save Rivers Movement (SRM) rally in Rumuola, Port Harcourt.

    Amaechi said the next governor would be somebody of reliable character who would continue to transform the state.

    He said: “You must prepare for the next election so that you will teach them a lesson and the only way to teach them a lesson is first to pray to God, after praying go and register if you don’t have a voter card. If you have a voter card, wait for the election and vote against PDP.

    “I have not started praying for who will take over from me. When I start you will know. The prayer for now is God, we want you to deliver APC, God, we want you to lead us to build a party called APC.

    “The moment we are convinced that we are finished with that, I will put my knees again on the ground, and I will tell my wife and I will tell my pastors. Usually, when we go to God, we don’t go with a name, if you go with a name you are not asking God to make a decision, you are telling God I have made my decision, God please make this decision for me so that we don’t meet failure in the course of the struggle and once God chooses whoever will be governor, I believe that all of us will work together to support the person because all these things we have done so far, if we don’t get the right person in, they would collapse. They will spend four years stealing money before they will remember that you exist because we know them. We have documents, they have served under us.”

    Amaechi added: “I was the first to tell him (Abe)to travel abroad because of his condition.”

    Abe said he was grateful to God for sparing his life.

    He displayed the doctor’s report from the Princess Grace Hospital, London confirming that he was shot.

    Immediate past Rivers State commissioner of police Mbu Joseph Mbu denied that his men shot the senator.

    But Abe said at the weekend: “Anybody who says I do not have any cause to thank God, is an idiot. I just want all of you to join me to thank God for saving my life. People were here, busy organising demonstrations, to show that nothing happened to me. I do not begrudge them, because we live in a society where human lives are not valued.

    “If it is where human lives are valued, nobody would do that, when someone has gone through the pains I went through. When I got to a society where they value human lives (United Kingdom), their reaction was quite different from the reactions from my home country. That is the difference between Nigeria and places that value human lives.”

    The Bishop, Diocese of Ogoni (Anglican Communion),the Rt. Rev. Solomon Gberegbara, thanked God for saving Abe’s life and prayed for His continuous protection to the family of the ex-Rivers SSG.

  • Sanusi’s successor

    Sanusi’s successor

    •The choice must figure in professionalism and the independence of spirit

    IN a few months, the office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor will be vacant, and it is important that Nigerians show interest in who succeeds the incumbent. We shall not assess the performance of Lamido Sanusi until he eventually bows.

    But we want to peer into the post-Sanusi era, with a view to suggesting what we need from the new boss of the apex bank. Since independence, the occupier of the post has often served as a kind of potent fly on the wall. We knew he worked but we were hardly drawn to his doings as the man who regulates the outflow and inflow of money in the financial system.

    The last two heads have stirred emotions in the country, including Charles Chukwuma Soludo and Lamido Sanusi. Their predecessors operated as though below the radar.

    But some explanations can put this in context. Most of our CBN chiefs were appointed by the military and there was little fractious temper because partisan politics was antipodal to the high hand of military rule. The second explanation is that the Nigerian economy has gradually slid into tumultuous times, tossed by inflation, the descent in the value of the Naira, overdependence on oil, diminishing productivity and decaying infrastructure.

    The third reason is the impunity and vainglory that have attended the rebirth of the political elite in this republic. This has engendered the politicisation of the office, and policies have failed to earn the trust of the divides of our politics.

    Hence we witnessed the consolidation move conducted in the Olusegun Obasanjo era under the direction of Soludo, and the gains and losses are still matters of contention. Of course, his attempt to revalue the currency in the guise of saving it fell upon the rock. The Sanusi era has been marked by a wave of policies viewed by some as populist, others as partisan. Some other policies have been seen as anti-establishment and another group saw other actions as servile.

    In Nigeria today, it is difficult to be neutral about money. Yet at no time in our history do we need a steady hand on top of our money flows. That is why whoever takes over from Sanusi must serve the nation with wisdom, professionalism and patriotism.

    This does not call for the jettisoning of what the person meets on ground, especially in an economy where questions have quaked the air over missing trillions of Naira, over what constitutes real and unreal subsidies, over where political interests interlock our paternity.

    The person will winnow the good from the dross, the pure from the meaningless and contentious. The presidency and the National Assembly must be wary of our needs as a country in picking this person. We do want a CBN governor who can speak the truth, even if we recommend that he be more grand than grandiose, less reticent, not servile, and decidedly professional.

    Having an equable temperament does not recommend silence but an understanding of the weight of words to push the economy this way or that. He must be a seasoned economist with a deep grasp of the interplay of the economy and society. He must not be so doctrinaire as not to adapt to the dynamics of a modern economy in a state of flux. He must distinguish – and coalesce – the economic and the financial, which means a nexus must be found between productivity in the real economy and the level of money flows in the system. That way, neither runs away from the other, and crisis is averted.

    Given the charged polity, we hope that whoever emerges strikes a bi-partisan pose and poise, with a strong sense more about how to redeem a dying money than how to satiate a particular interest.

  • Pope installs Job’s successor today

    The ancient city of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, will today host thousands of Catholic faithful, as Pope Francis I installs Archbishop Gabriel Abegunrin as the Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ibadan, following the retirement of Archbishop Felix Alaba Job after 43 years in office.

    Yesterday, the venue of the event, SS Peter and Paul Seminary, Bodija, was wearing a new look. Hundreds of security personnel have been deployed in the area.

    Archbishop Job, having attained the age of 75, the canonical age of retirement, applied for retirement. His application was approved by the Pope last October 29.

    His successor, Rev. Abegunrin, is the bishop of Osogbo Diocese, a position he will retain until a new bishop is appointed to succeed him.

    It was gathered that the pope’s representative, Papal Nuncio Augustine Kasujja, arrived Nigeria from Rome yesterday.

    Chairman of the Installation Planning Committee Rev. Fr. Felix Ethapemi warned that there may be traffic on the Bodija-Secretariat axis and adjoining roads today.

    He said: “It is important to note that the traffic situation in Bodija is always tight on working days, so the Central Planning Committee urges the faithful to come to this occasion by public transport or park their vehicles at the designated parking lots to ease congestion at the Major Seminary.”

    Fr. Ethapemi appealed for understanding and urged the public to consider taking alternative routes around Bodija, instead of the University of Ibadan (UI)-Secretariat road, during the ceremony.

  • Suntai: my successor’ll do better

    Taraba State Governor Danbaba Suntai believes his successor will perform better than him.

    He spoke yesterday at the Christmas Day service at the Unity Chapel, Government House, Jalingo.

    Suntai said he had touched several lives, but he has also not touched the lives of many.

    “To the lives that I have touched, I thank God. To those I have not been able to touch their lives, I am pleading that they should be patient with me.

    “And if I am not able to impact your life during my tenure, my successor would do that.

    “As a human, I have my limitations, but I believe that God will give us a successor, who will perform better than me.

    “For me, I cannot do more than what I can do, because that is the strength and wisdom God has given me,” he said.

    The governor said he would remain grateful for the mandate given to him to serve the state.

    He said: “I want to apologise if I have wronged anyone of you. It is not my intention to offend anybody.”

    He thanked the people who stood by him during the “trying times”, and asked them to continue praying for him even after he leaves office.

    Suntai said he was aware that some people were “suffering” because they are supporting him.

    He asked them to remain patient because they would soon smile.

    Tears flowed freely from the eyes of many, including Senator Emmanuel Bwacha.

    There is a power play between Suntai and his deputy, Garba Umar.

    Suntai was injured in a plane crash near Yola, Adamawa State, in October, last year.

    But when he returned from treatment abroad, Umar refused to revert to the position of deputy.

    Former Governor Jolly Nyame, who was at the service, said the governor would complete his eight years in office and hand over, because God did not destine anyone to take over his seat.

    Nyame, who was born on Christmas Day, clocked 58 yesterday.

    Nyame said: “How can you invite someone to come and eat in your house; during the dinner, something happened and the man packed the food and is also trying to drive you out of the house?”

    The former governor said he decided to reconcile with Suntai because he wants the right thing to be done and to be part of the historic hand over.

    Nyame said Suntai was strong enough to take charge.

    The cleric said: “As I am here (in the church) phone calls will start coming in to know why I am here, but I will not deter in what God has asked me to do.”

    Nyame also prayed for Olusegun Obasanjo to reconcile with President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “What has happened in Taraba State between me and my successor (Suntai) is happening between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan,” he said.

  • My successor, by CBN boss Sanusi

    My successor, by CBN boss Sanusi

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi spoke at the weekend of the qualities expected of his successor.

    Sanusi, due to step down as CBN boss in June, said whoever will be picked by President Goodluck Jonathan to take over at the apex bank must be able to develop the market.

    “Central banking has changed. I think the market has developed. To be honest, if any Central Bank Governor misbehaves, the market punishes the economy immediately. So, the market is a major factor. Even as a governor, by the time your capital market crashes, and your currency goes down, you will know that it is either you restore stability, or you are out of the job. That’s important,” he said.

    Sanusi, who has said he would not seek reappointment at the expiration of his five-year tenure, spoke at the weekend during the Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR) fifth anniversary in Lagos.

    He said: “Now, tomorrow (yesterday), it will be six months to the end of my tenure. Probably a bit early to be talking about the next Central Bank governor, but I do hope that about two-three months before then, there should be some announcements; I suppose. Central bank governors don’t make comments on who they think the person should be. It is not my business to do that. It’s the President’s decision.”

    He said although names of his likely successors were already in public view, new candidates might emerge before the announcement.

    Analysts have tipped some of the CBN deputy governors among Sanusi’s likely successor. Deputy Governor, Operations, Tunde Lemo; Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Sarah Alade; and Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Kingsley Moghalu have been mentioned. Also linked with the job are: Managing Director, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mustafa Chike-Obi; Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria, Bisi Onasanya and Managing Director, Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukuede.

    Sanusi said it would be good for his successor to be named on time. “If I have anything to say, I would want to encourage that we announce two to three months before the end of my tenure so that everybody knows who that person is and what his views are,” he said.

    On the economy, Sanusi spoke of the need to invest in areas that promote growth, adding that progress is being made in the power sector reforms.

    “If you want to invest in the economy, then you need to invest in areas that create growth. And there are a lot of things to look out for. First, where is the government budget and where are we spending money? Nigerians have to decide whether to invest short term or long term. We want to enjoy cheap petrol, but the money subsidising petrol is the money that could go into education. It could go into infrastructure. It could go into power. It’s a choice,” he said.

    Sanusi said low interest rate alone cannot foster growth, unless it is accompanied by structural reforms. “And even if you have very low interest rate, that will not create growth and services without structural reforms. I always tell people, I am only the governor of the Central Bank; I am not the Minister of Agriculture or Minister of Education. I am not the Minister of Finance. I am not the Minister of Industry. We have to continue to improve services across the entire value-chain for growth to happen,” he said.

  • I’ve not anointed a successor, says Yuguda

    Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda has debunked claims that he has anointed his successor.

    Yuguda said such claims were rumours and a figment of the peddlers’ imagination.

    He said: “It is only God who knows tomorrow and He’ll ordain the next governor when the time comes.

    “Yes, as a human being I must have interest in who comes after me but it is only God who can choose for us.

    “God will give us the right person, who will continue with the good work we have started for Bauchi people. Someone who will make the people his priority; make life better for them, even better than what we have done.”

    The governor said his government completed a few projects started by the previous administration because such projects were good and have a positive impact on the people.

    Yuguda said the people would determine who will be the next governor.

    He said: “Whatever happens, we should know that it is only God who gives power to whomever He wishes and takes it away from whoever He wishes”.

    The governor appealed to the electorate to continue to support his government as it strives to make life meaningful for them.

  • PHCN’s successor firms ‘ll deliver on power, says BPE

    Ahead of the take off of the 13 successor power generation and distribution companies next month, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has assured that the coming on board of the GENCOS and DISCOS would mark a turning point in the history of the power supply in the country.

    It added that the decision to allow private organisations to invest in the sector is a good one, which is capable of making the nation achieve the objectives of providing electricity for economic growth.

    BPE’s spokesman, Joe Anichebe, said the technical expertise of the 13 successor firms is not in doubt, adding that they have what it takes to improve the status of electricity generation and distribution in the country.

    He said the agency took the technical proficiency of the companies into consideration before allowing them to submit bids for the power projects.

    Anichebe said a lot of companies were evaluated based on their technical skills prior to the period before they were selected to offer bids, adding that they were found to possess enough expertise to run the sector.

    He said the new entrants have excellent track records, noting that they stand out in the markets that are bigger than where they have won the bids to manage the distribution and generation assets.

    “The winners have the required technical skills,” he said.

    Anichebe said the companies would not experience difficulties in the area of collecting revenue because of their expertise. “Like any other business, people will pay for the services they are enjoying. In the case of utilities’ bill, they use what is called aggregate collection and losses system because people are not paying for the power they are using,” he said.