Why Kaduna needs El-Rufa’i
Kaduna served as the capital of the Northern region from 1917 and is still regarded as such despite the creation of several states in the Northern region after the civil war. Kaduna has evolved, thrived and developed which gave it an enviable status in the North. But the state has witnessed a decline and stagnation, […]
Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufa’I, receives salute at the Independence Day celebration in Kaduna. Photo: Shehu K. Goro
Kaduna served as the capital of the Northern region from 1917 and is still regarded as such despite the creation of several states in the Northern region after the civil war.
Kaduna has evolved, thrived and developed which gave it an enviable status in the North. But the state has witnessed a decline and stagnation, internal rifts and conflicts for three decades consecutively starting from the 1980s. This situation coupled with inefficient state government policies, corruption and total reliance on the federal government for survival resulted in economic bust and decay in infrastructure in the state.
Since assumption of office, the APC administration headed by Mallam Nasir El-Rufa’i has implemented some bold and innovative governance reforms in order to restore the lost glory of Kaduna State. The government carried out Verification of public payroll to cut waste and tackle fraud to guarantee integrity and remove ghost workers and pensioners. The process was highly commendable because thousands of ghost workers were discovered whose names were fraudulently included in the state payroll to defraud the government. The state introduced the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) framework to mitigate corruption and improve service delivery. Open and participatory budgeting was introduced for the first time to seek people’s inputs at town-hall meetings before formally submitting for consideration to Kaduna State House of Assembly.
The government was able to introduce decisive governance reforms, efficient public finance management, greater coordination and synchronization of government policies.
Most notable institutions and agencies created in the state to accomplish the transformation agenda are: Kaduna Traffic Law Enforcement Agency, Kaduna Roads Agency and Kaduna Facilities Management Agency
Engr. Zubairu Gatugel, Kaduna