When Governor Mohammed Abubakar took the mantle of governance on May 29, there were lots of expectations, especially with the change mantra of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on whose platform he won the number one seat in Bauchi State.
People expected to see him, at least in his first 100 days, starting the salvaging process of the rots and decay the state found itself in, owing to the supposed misrule of his predecessor, Isa Yuguda of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The expectations became heightened following Abubakar’s boast at the famous Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa Stadium, during the historic inauguration of the APC administration, of his genuine determination to rescue the people from the shackles of poverty.
The governor then lamented that the APC administration inherited about N125 billion debts from Yuguda’s administration, promising to trace looted funds, government properties and lands. And appearing to be faithful to his words, the governor recovered several government vehicles and other properties and traced an aircraft belonging to the state to far away Morocco, through the assets recovery committee that he set up.
According to Abubakar, his government in its bid to meet the expectations of the people, has done a lot towards revamping agriculture in the area of fertilizer procurement, Yankari game reserve rehabilitation, as well as creating better working environment for civil servants through better labour relationship with the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in his first 100 days in office.
The state APC government is boasting that its 100 days in office is only a milestone that has rekindled the hope of Bauchi workers as government has paid their outstanding salaries incurred from the misrule of the PDP government, saying the state is yet to receive President Muhammadu Buhari’s bailout funds, explaining that the Federal Ministry of Finance had written to Zenith Bank in that regard and that soon Bauchi State will receive the money.
Abubakar in his 100 days in office address, stressed that within 100 days in office the administration had commissioned various projects as well as paid N160 million as counterpart funding to eradicate polio.
Among the giant strides recorded, according to the governor, is the resuscitation of patient feeding, fuelling generating plants in all the hospitals, procurement of essential drugs worth N87 million among others, assuring that the administration has since inception, prioritised the health sector towards eradication of diseases through affordable health services delivery.
It is also of note, that in its 100 days in office, the governor is alleged to have borrowed N4 billion loans without the approval of the State Executive Council, SEC and the State House of Assembly, an allegation the governor has kept mute on even as it is drawing outrage from all quarters.
While the APC government is happy with its achievements in the first 100 days in office, it can be recalled that the Chairman, National Congress of Democrats and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain, Alhaji Abubakar Dogon Yaro Bibi, only scored the performance of the Bauchi State Governor in the first 100 days in office as a poor beginning, saying there was nothing tangible to show to the electorate.
Yaro Bibi, who made the statement recently in a chat with selected newsmen in his residence in Bauchi while commenting on the governor’s 100 days in office, alleged that the governor is using N80million, through the office of the Chief of Staff to run the affairs of government house, which was against his campaign promises that he will account for every public funds he spent.
He said: “This governor is the most travelling governor; very soon we will declare him missing because of his frequent travels.”
He appealed to the Bauchi State House of Assembly members to investigate and made public the truth about the N4billion loan obtained by the state government and the recent state governor’s trip to Czech Republic.
Pundits have said that the APC has nothing to tender at 100 days in office since there is no machinery of government with the non-appointment of commissioners and other political appointees to help the government to implement its blueprints, saying the governor may likely play the tunes of Yuguda by claiming to be hunting for technocrats. The pundits point out that it was the same technocrats that finally prepared the whole PDP administration for failure and eventually forced the party out of government.
A stitch in time they say saves nine. Only time will tell how well this government of change will live up to its promises and meet the peoples expectations.
