I’ll bring corruption to its knees in AMAC — Candido

You have just been sworn in as the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). What do you intend to achieve, especially in your first 100 days in office? You see, I don’t like to discuss about 100 days in office even though it is a tradition. For me, first 100 days is same as […]

You have just been sworn in as the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). What do you intend to achieve, especially in your first 100 days in office?
You see, I don’t like to discuss about 100 days in office even though it is a tradition. For me, first 100 days is same as a complete tenure of three years. As far as I am concerned, the first 100 days of coming into office will signal the good intention I have for the good people of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). So by the grace of God, in my first 100 days in office, the people of AMAC will testify that yes, here we have a government of the masses.

We are in a period of cash crunch. Dwindling revenues have affected government at all levels. What plan do you have to augment the revenue of the council?
Good. This is one area my administration is going to take with all seriousness; we cannot get done what we promised the people of AMAC except we are able to have the resources at the disposal of the council. 
Firstly, I have discovered by the transition committee I set up that AMAC, just like I do know, is in a total mess. I have already begun to take action as there must be financial discipline in the management of the council. 
Secondly, the sources of revenue whether by the consultant or by the staff, I want to assure the people of AMAC that we are going to be disciplined in terms of managing the resources of the council. I have this at the back of my mind because it is the bedrock of achieving success of the council. 
So, if we stamp out corruption, which has already pervaded the area council, I am ready like I always said, to step on toes if only I can achieve success; if only the good people of the council will see success of governance. 
I got popular support from the people of the council, so I just have to work so that I justify why they voted for me. And because of this I am going to fight corruption and bring it to its knees. If you are a staff of the council and you are associated with the revenue drive, I am asking you to sit up, because it is not going to be business as usual. We are going to fight corruption so that we have enough resources to implement our programmes for the good people of the council.   

There are some markets in AMAC that are facing challenges of lack of infrastructure such as the motor spare parts market in Kugbo and Utako Market. What plans do you have for upgrading such markets? 
We have plans for all markets in AMAC that are facing challenges of lack of basic infrastructure, which by the grace of God, with the synergy that I am going to establish between the council and the FCT administration and the FCT minister, Muhammed Musa Bello, I am going to give those facilities a facelift so that we can have better management of the markets because these are areas that will give us resources. So by the grace of God, we are going to look into the infrastructure in all the markets in the council. I am very optimistic my administration is going to achieve positive results.
Also by the grace of God, we would open up additional markets so that we can facilitate and promote the revenue drive of the council. We cannot continue to depend on the allocation from the federation account, AMAC has the potential to fend for itself. But that can’t be achieved without creating avenues for revenue generation where we have to entrench financial discipline first. We will not allow monies generated from revenue to go into personal purses. I will not tolerate that under my administration.

It is obvious that there are high expectations from the electorate, especially as a lot   of promises were made during your campaign. How do you intend to fulfil those promises? 
I know that the people’s expectations are high as  I campaigned under the mantra of change and we intend to provide them the basic amenities they require. Governance is all about sincerity and that is why we have to tell our people on the first day we assume office what we met on ground. And after that, we will hit the ground running so that the people can really see that the promises we made for them are achieved. I have made three promises and by the grace of God, in the three years’ mandate given to me, I will make sure they are done in such a manner that people will really be proud of the person they elected into the office. Besides, it is not going to be business as usual this time around, as I am a grassroots man and I am going to run the council in a manner that will be very humane and simple. Those three areas my administration will accord priority include, education, empowerment and of course security. These are things that I want to leave behind as my legacy. And apart from providing quality service in the area of education for the benefit of our children and teachers, I intend to establish AMAC school for the gifted. I intend to come up, within just three years and by September this year, with a feasibility study on how we are going to recruit the pupils for the school for the gifted because there are talents outside there that don’t have support. We need to get them and put them under one roof from all the 12 wards. We are going to pick 10 from each ward of the council to give them the best education. 
At least, by doing this, before you know what is happening, these children have secured admission into the university and graduated. And for the teachers, their welfare will be given the necessary consideration and we will also upgrade the facilities in the school so that the children can have the best education. My administration will also accord priority to the disbursement of scholarships to indigent students learning at various tertiary institutions across the country. The disbursement of scholarship under my administration is not going to be this N10,000 or N20,000 which is given to thousands of students. We will improve it from N20,000 to something higher. It is not the quantity of students given a meagre amount that matters, but the quality of what you offer should matter most. At least, if I can get 50 or 100 students per year and give them scholarship and good facilities, it will be better for me.
In addition, my administration will also accord priority to youth/women empowerment. I am going to establish vocational centres across the 12 wards. We are going to commission feasibility studies right away. We have already identified what kind of service we are going to offer to unskilled youths and women so that they can get the necessary training and at the end, we will support them with some funds so that they can become self-reliant.

We learnt that your opponent, the PDP chairmanship candidate, Mr. Bitrus Kura, has filed a petition to challenge your victory in the just concluded council poll. Do you see this as a distraction to your administration?  
I am unperturbed by the petition filed against me by my opponent in the just concluded election because it is a tradition. When an election is concluded, some people who are dissatisfied with the outcome go to tribunal. I see it as a normal thing. He has every right and privilege to go to the tribunal to ask for what he thinks got wrong somewhere.
We are ready to appear at the tribunal to defend our victory. I believe that this victory comes from God and the good people of AMAC, so I am not afraid. He has the right to go to tribunal. And I want to tell you that the tribunal will not distract me from providing the dividends of democracy to the people that gave me their mandate by the grace of God.