Katsina: Drama, theatre of the absurd play out

According to him: “In the last four weeks, KTSG LG account has gone down from N30 billion to just N2 billion as at today. Most payments are suspected to be bogus,” he alleged. If not for unsuspecting readers who might not understand the grandstanding associated with bitter politicking, responding to this incredulous mindset would have […]

According to him: “In the last four weeks, KTSG LG account has gone down from N30 billion to just N2 billion as at today. Most payments are suspected to be bogus,” he alleged. If not for unsuspecting readers who might not understand the grandstanding associated with bitter politicking, responding to this incredulous mindset would have been a waste of time and space. However, for the record, responses like these are always meant to set things straight.
But before I do that, let me remind you that the official in question distorts facts and manipulates events to suit his primordial political antecedents. And now he is the one today being put forward by a party that intends to replace the People’s Democracy Party (PDP) in a state that has seen tremendously unprecedented infrastructural development since 1998.
For the record, the local government funds insinuated to have been squandered in the imagination of Inuwa and his co-travelers by the current administration was actually used as an appropriated capital as well as recurring expenditures in the state budgets of 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. This is evidenced in the statutory approved budgets of these years by none other than the state’s House of Assembly.
The local government council budgets as enumerated in the 34 local councils’ books have provided for the expenditure of these funds on youth/women empowerment, transportation, security, teacher’s welfare, traditional institution support, electoral process support and staff welfare in the state’s local government councils. For the avoidance of doubt, it is evidently clear to all residents and visitors alike that 15 houses each were built in all the 34 local using part of the joint accounts which Inuwa surreptitiously manipulated to suit his dangerous political shenanigans. Apart from that, it is a well-documented fact that additional classrooms were built in the 361 wards of the state as well as drainages and feeder roads.
All these were done in adherence to the state/local government joint account and with the full participation of the council chairmen, present and past. Additionally, 400 vehicles were procured and will soon be distributed to 400 youths from the 34 local government councils of the state as part of ongoing poverty alleviation and youth empowerment programmes of the state government- which has of today- targeted and reach over 3000 youths across the 34 local government councils of the state. It is also a fact that part of the development initiatives carried out using the funds which are erroneously and mischievously alleged by Inuwa to have been misappropriated, is the purchase and distribution of over 5,000 motorcycles to another set of thousands of unemployed in the state – an initiative that has rid thousands of youths of poverty.
Then there’s the unprecedented traditional/Islamic scholars’ welfare scheme introduced in the 34 local government areas of the state, an initiative of the state government in conjunction with the 34 councils to ensure and enhance the independence of these great institutions so as to protect their integrity and reverence. Or is Inuwa and his cohorts forgetful about the fact this class of citizens deserve a sustained welfare scheme that create balance in our communities? Or does he see this initiative as waste? Currently, the 34 local government councils have procured over 250 Hilux trucks with the sole aim of fortifying the security of lives and property in their communities under this same joint account. Civilian JTF and vigilante groups in these 34 councils were formed, equipped and trained to ensure peaceful coexistence and support to the police in the discharge of their duties – an action that has since ensure that Katsina is now one of the most peaceful states in the federation.
For those who are interested in knowing how and where these funds were spent, another area was in the settlement of all previous contracts executed by several governments in the past. These liabilities have created serious security threats to the state, but the decision to pay all these liabilities have reduced tension in the state and has further improved the socio-economic wellbeing of the people. Therefore, it is difficult to understand why Inuwa is setting up his theatre of falsehood, and the absurd. And he seems to be so willing to create fiction in an attempt to discredit the improvement of the living conditions of a people he claims to want to serve.
Danmusa can be reached at [email protected]