100 days: Different strokes in states as new govs grapple with realities of governance

As new governors clock 100 days in office, Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines how they have fared so far.

THE new governors like all other elected office holders are 100 days in office. The time is not enough to assess their performance because it constitutes about six per cent of their four-year tenure. Nevertheless, it was sufficient for them to lay the foundation, and prepare the policy direction of their administrations.It seems most of the new governors are still learning the rope with the exception of very few that hit the ground running immediately after inauguration on May 29. Their predecessors in office compounded their problems because they inherited empty treasury, excruciating debts and backlog of salaries owed workers. It was a big challenge for the new governors. The situation report varies from state to state:

Kaduna

In his acceptance speech on his nomination as the APC candidate for the governorship election in Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai said that the time had come to rebuild Kaduna again and promised to introduce policies that will impact positively on the citizenry if elected. True to his words, Governor el-Rufai has lived up to expectation since he assumed office in the past 100 days. His administration has become a reference point in the country.

To reduce the cost of governance, he and his deputy have taken a 50 per cent pay cut and encouraged other political office holders elected or appointed to follow suit. The ministries have been pruned down from 19 to 13; he appointed 13 commissioners as against 24 by the immediate past administration, 10 special advisers instead of 41 and 12 special assistants as against 400 appointed by the former government.

On assumption of office, the first thing he did was to stop the practice of allocating subsidized fertilizer to prominent persons in the state to the detriment of ordinary farmers. He has banned begging in the state. His government was the first to stop state sponsorship of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem. For job creation, he has initiated his scheme to revive taxi services in major urban centres. The aim is to create jobs for owner drivers. The scheme has started in Kaduna with 200 vehicles.

The el-Rufai administration has carried out bio-metric verification of the state’s employees in order to update the payroll and prune the number of personnel in the public service. He has also initiated some polices that will soon be ready for implementation. They are tax reform, improved healthcare delivery, security of lives and property, provision of basic infrastructure, health, sports and sanitation.

Analysts believe that Kaduna State will witness tremendous changes under el-Rufai if he sustains the tempo of his administration in policy initiative and implementation.

Lagos

It seems there is policy shift in Lagos State from urban to rural development. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has focused on road projects in the rural areas that have suffered neglect in the recent past. His first outing on assumption of office was to inspect the Ipaja-Ayobo road in Alimoso Local Government which has been under construction for more than four years. He promised that the seven-kilometer road will be ready for use in the next three months. Similarly, he visited Somolu Local Government to inspect Igi-Olugbi/Okupe/Aladejobi road construction where he expressed displeasure over the slow pace of work. He promised completion of the road very soon.

In line with his promise to carry out all-inclusive reforms for efficient public service and sustainable development, the governor has realigned some ministries and agencies in order to cut the cost of governance and curtail the effect of dwindling federal allocations on the state.

About a fortnight after he resumed office, Ambode, dissolved all the boards of the state government’s agencies and parastatals. It also signalled the beginning of comprehensive reforms, which the governor promised just after he took the oath of office on May 29.

However, the boards of four strategic institutions were utterly exempted from the dissolution, which according to reports, affected about 76 parastatals and agencies. The institutions, whose boards were not affected, include Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Lagos State Civil Service Commission, Lagos State Judicial Service Commission, and Lagos State House of Assembly Commission.

Besides the dissolution of the boards, Ambode kicked off the process of his reform programme a day after his inauguration. He started with a meeting with the body of permanent secretaries in the state, sharing his vision for a greater Lagos with them. Subsequently, he had a meeting with all the law enforcement agencies in the state, thereby setting the tone for people-driven governance.

Expectedly, the decision to reform the state public sector for optimal performance had stoked criticism in some quarters. Some critics of the dissolution argued that the decision obviously contravened Ambode’s commitment to ensure continuity in government. Others argued that no administration ever dissolved all boards of agencies at a time.

For some public servants in particular, Ambode’s decision to dissolve the board was welcome due to what many of them described as the compelling need to reform and restructure the public service for effective service delivery. Aside, it elicited a high degree of public approval, which some civil rights activists said was essential if Ambode “must realise his vision for greater Lagos.”

But findings obviously showed that the realities in government functionaries and structures “have necessitated the need for the Ambode administration to embark on public sector reforms and dissolve the boards of parastatals and agencies,” which they believed, should be restructured and streamlined to meet the need of a new Lagos.

From the findings, three critical trends in the state public service informed Ambode’s decision to embark on the on-going reforms and restructuring. First, there are permanent secretaries, directors and heads of parastatals and agencies, who have been at the helms for over one decade. A principal officer in the State Public Service said the trend contravened a circular by the Federal Civil Service that no officer “should serve more than eight years in such strategic offices.”

Second, the state public service is over-bloated already, thus, creating a culture of redundancy and impinging on the productivity of the public servants generally. Another principal officer confirmed that there “are a lot of permanent secretaries, directors and heads, who have spent a long time on the same position. This trend is clogging the wheel of effective service delivery because it has rendered so many people redundant.”

Third, the new administration came at a critical time in the history of Nigeria, which Ambode himself acknowledged at his inauguration, called for the need to cut the cost of government meaningfully. The principal officer said although the state still generated almost 60 per cent of its revenue internally, its federal allocation had dropped by at least 40 per cent, which creates a significant shortfall that might undermine public service.

He, therefore, said it was imperative “to cut the cost of governance because it is a stark reality for a people-oriented government. It is even more imperative now that allocations from the Federation Account have dropped significantly and about 18 states of the federation owe salaries ranging from three to nine months.”

Ambode said his administration would restructure where required; eliminate poor human resource practices, and accelerate the pace of reforms in the spirit of good governance just “to meet the needs and aspiration of Lagos publics.”

Rivers

Governor Nyosom Wike is yet to put the electioneering campaign behind him. Instead of settling down and face the business of governance, the governor keeps attacking his predecessor, Rotimi Amaehi on a daily basis. He has drawn loans more than any other governor in the last three months. Within two weeks of assuming office, he took a loan of N30 billion which was followed by another N20 billion.

On his first day in office, Wike appointed an acting Chief Judge for the state and the State Acting President of Customary Court of Appeal.

He has embarked on filling pot holes on some roads such as Diobu, Borokiri, Iwofe road, GRA, Akpajo, Eliopranwo, Tombia extension roads. He donated 64 vehicles to the police to enhance their operation in the state. He has complete 50 housing units of two bed room flat.

Plateau

Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has achieved the target he set for himself in his first 100 days in office, his media aide, Emmanuel Nanle has said.

Nanle said: “We inherited a state with sundry crises that we are trying to resolve. But by all standards of assessment, I can tell you with confidence that the governor has achieved the targets he set for himself in the first 100 days.

“We have a peculiar problem of insecurity on the Plateau. We inherited a debt burden of over N222 billion, including workers’ salary arrears of seven months, industrial action in various sectors including a long one by civil servants, judiciary staffs, joint union of tertiary institutions and so on. There were grievances everywhere by all stakeholders. Assumption of office was like wading through a surging current of typhoon-triggered flood. But we tried to remain focused because we came on a mission to rescue, and we have made substantial achievements, 100 day on.”

Nanle said there are several achievements to count, particularly mentioning the effort to find peace among the warring Berom and Fulani on the Plateau. He said the initiative has yielded a positive feedback with the tribes commencing talks for the first time in years.

He also said the new administration had addressed a substantial backlog of workers’ salaries, returned them their duty posts, just as he said contractors on various projects have resumed work after they were remobilized by government.

Benue

Within 100 days, Governor Ortom was able to clear the backlog of salaries inherited from the Suswan administration. He has been able to stem the Fulani attacks on farmers in recent times by engaging them in dialogue. Like his counterparts in other states, he has reduced the number of ministries and political appointees to reduce cost in governance.

He has continue with the projects inherited from the past administration and promised not to abandon any.

He has provided refuse bins across the state, especially in commercial areas and markets, to stem the spread of diseases through waste and dirt. In the long terms, an incinerator to burn waste should be installed in large towns in Benue State.

While commending the governor’s good start, some stakeholders have advised that the issue of the Makurdi Greater Water Works should be open to the Benue people to unravel the mystery of 16 years of work on a water project that has never yielded tap water.

Niger

Governor Abubakar Sani Bello is committed to the completion of abandoned projects in the state. He had ordered contractors to go back to site and complete their projects or face the music, like the Bomas – central market road which is one of the most important roads in Minna which has been under construction for more than three years and was later abandoned, the contractors are back at work. Construction work has commenced on Kuta road.

Bello has cancelled state sponsored of pilgrims on Hajj which only benefits the influential people. He has saved hundreds of millions of naira through the cancellation. Niger State has joined other states in the North Central to curb the heinous activities of cattlemen and armed bandits which have started yielding good results.

The first thing the governor did after assuming office was the approval of the resuscitation of the abandoned statewide water projects started by former Governor Kure.

Bello has ordered the reclaiming of lands belonging to public from people that encroached on them. Since he came on board, the gang fights in Minna environs have subsided.

A stake holder believes the governor deserves a pat on the back for these achievements within 100 days. According to him, “Niger state had gone through a lot. If you travel to other states in the North and South, you will agree with me that we have been left behind in terms of good governance. We are starting from scratch”, he remarked.

Adamawa

Governor Bindow has placed priority on security, road construction and agriculture. Adamawa being one of the epicenters of Boko Haram insurgence, the state government spends about N50 million every month on security challenges. To give Yola a face lift, the state government has embarked on rehabilitation of roads in the state capital.

To ensure that the real farmers have access to fertilizer, the state government has subsidized the cost in order to boost food production in the state. It has procured fertilizer worth N3.5 billion to be distributed to the farmers at low cost.

Taraba

Since Taraba State Governor Ishaku Darius’ assumption of office, Taraba State has seen critical developments. Seen initially as a political neophyte, the governor’s stint as minister of state for power under former President Ebele Jonathan’s administration enabled him to influence activation of the Kashimbilla Dam and Mambilla Hydro Power projects in the state.

During his inauguration speech, the governor told the people he had come to ‘rescue Taraba’ and that a lot of sacrifices would be made to restore the soul of the state.

He ended the ‘culture’ of incessant electricity blackout in Taraba by settling half of the state’s debt to the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) for improved power supply. He also declared a state of emergency on the water sector following the unending scarcity of portable water in the state capital, Jalingo, and its environs by ordering immediate overhaul of water plants in the state.

Enugu

Hundred days after his assumption of office, Enugu State governor, Rt. Hon Ifeanyin Ugwuanyin, said, it has started delivering on his campaign promises the people.

He listed employment generation, rural development, security and justice as some of the areas he has recorded tremendous achievements.

“In the area of employment generation which centres on investment, promotion, agriculture and provision of critical public utilities and infrastructure, our administration has made efforts to rehabilitate road networks in the state. It has also set the machinery in motion for the commencement of massive construction of new roads both in urban and rural areas across the state.

“We have constituted an Economic Advisory Committee to advise government on best economic policies that will engender sustainable growth and development for the state through investment promotion, industrialisation, wealth creation, skills among others.

“We have achieved the payment of 30 per cent equity contribution for our civil servants between grade 01-10, for the purchase of 100 units of one bedroom flats at Elim Estate, Ibagwa Nike, Enugu and handed over keys to the houses to the lucky winners of the apartments.

“Within these 100 days that we assumed office, we can beat our chest that we have made progress towards the actualization of the lofty dreams we have for the people.”