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The Director General on Media and Publicity to the Governor of Kogi State, Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo has assured the people of the state of the determination of Governor Yahaya Bello to make it the centre of super excellence.
Addressing newsmen after the New Year service at the Living Word Zonal Headquarters of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Ilorin, Fanwo said the Governor was “God-sent to liberate the State from the shackles of underdevelopment, division and oppression.”
His words: “For many years, Kogi was held down by the satanic forces that promoted underdevelopment, ethnic chauvinism and blinding corruption. The emergence of Governor Yahaya Bello is to destroy the cog in the wheels of our progress.
“The Governor has started well and will reposition the State with his 2017 Budget of New Direction, which has played up the need to concentrate on capital projects that will catalyze the economy of the state.”
Fanwo urged the people of the State that are resident in Kwara State to invest back home as the government is opening up the economy of the State for competitiveness and opportunities. He said Kogi will become the agricultural capital of Nigeria in the next four years.
“Governor Yahaya Bello is working with a focus. First, he has been able to ensure a credible payroll system for the civil service. We now know the real civil servants on our payrolls as names of ghost workers and unintended beneficiaries have been removed from the payrolls. This is critical to the public service reforms of the New Direction Agenda.
“Moving forward, right-sizing the civil service is inevitable. We cannot continue to pretend it is the Government who should lead our economic renaissance. Modern economies are private sector-driven. Kogi cannot be an exception. The government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello will strive to reduce recurrent expenditure to the barest minimum while emphasis will be placed on infrastructural facelift to grow the economy.”
The image-maker said government’s civil service reforms agenda will be pursued to “a desired conclusion” in order to “build a State in which the wealth of the people is the wealth of the State.”
He said on its part, government has continued to grow the Internally Generated Revenue to reduce the state’s over-reliance on federal allocations.
“2017 will no doubt, herald the glory of our dear State. Governor Yahaya Bello is out to make a point with the 2017 New Direction Budget. Government will ensure compliance to the public sector rules as they affect budget performance. Ongoing and new projects will be well funded to deliver projects that are the standards of the New Direction.
“We are focusing on our thematic areas to ensure people have instant benefits from our programs and projects. Poverty must be fought to a standstill with our human, mineral and material resources. Kogi will be great under the present administration.”
The Director General said the highly successful Staff Verification Exercise will stand as “a historic achievement that will save billions for the State and help bridge the infrastructural deficit we have been experiencing,” calling on the people of the State at home and in the diaspora to support the present administration.
“The Staff Verification Exercise will stand as a historic achievement. The success of the exercise was a product of the political will of the Governor to have a vibrant and discipline civil service. Today, many road projects are going on across the state simultaneously. Some of them will be ready for commissioning soon. Contractors now know it is no longer business as usual as the present administration abhors corruption.
“Our Zero-Potholes Program on Lokoja roads have drastically improved traffic. The present administration helped to cushion the hardship on federal roads across the State through palliative measures. We are hopeful that the Federal Government will provide permanent solutions on those roads soon. Today, Lokoja is cleaner because we have a Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources that has stirred a revolution in environmental sanitation.
“This administration brought the Chief Justice of Nigeria Games, a national event to our ultra-modern Confluence Stadium and the competition was a huge success. The Governor wants the Super Eagles to start playing matches in Lokoja very soon. On January 27, we shall tell the whole world what we have achieved for our people in the last one year.”
Fanwo reiterated the resolve of the Governor to shun politicking in 2017 but concentrate on delivering good governance to the people of the State.
“The steely diplomacy with which the civil service reform was achieved is a pointer to the personality of the Governor. 2017 will not be a political year as he will concentrate on delivering democracy dividends to the people of Kogi State. Politicians can continue to play their game while the Governor concentrate on servicing the people of Kogi State.
“At the end of his tenure, Kogites will be proud of their Governor.”
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