APC Governorship aspirant in Borno pledges to develop post Boko Haram blueprint  

BY ABDULLAHI ISAH, MAIDUGURI

All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Borno state, Alhaji Kashim Imam has promised to convene Borno Stakeholders Conference with a view to develop a post insurgency blueprint for the transformation of the state when elected.

Alhaji Kashim Imam who disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri on Tuesday said ” I am also going to convene local, national and international donors’ fund raising to raise money for the implementation of the blueprint. “

Imam  who was  Presidential Liaison Officer to  the Senate during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure  said “there are pools of funds from the developed western economies waiting for would be beneficiaries to access but  for  lack of articulated business plans. These  funds are lying waste. So I am going to use my office to access these funds for the post insurgency  transformation of the state,” .

Alhaji Imam also said he is going to introduce new formalities that will enhance the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), stressing that it is unfortunate that the state’s IGR is poor and the state solely depends on Federation Account.

 A state like Lagos generates N30 billion monthly, with annual  internally generated revenue generation of over N400 bullion compared to the entire 19 northern states that generate only about N180 billion annually. So we have to do something to change the narrative,” Imam added.

The gubernatorial aspirant also promised to introduce free and compulsory education in primary and secondary schools and also sponsore indigenes to study in national and international universities, more especially in science education.

On the issue of local government autonomy, Imam said the administration is going to scrap Joint Local Governments Account and will ensure free and fair local government elections, pointing out that under his watch , local councils will get their subvention direct from source.

On the mode of primary elections adopted by Borno APC, Alhaji Imam said as a committed party  man, he will abide by the decision of the party, however, in his own personal opinion he does not see anything wrong with direct primaries, as it is the most Democratic way of election, which is the practice in most developed democratic nations.