299
 |
| Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed |
Bauchi State Governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant Bala Mohammed yesterday said the success of Amotekun in the Southwest has dispelled the fear of restructuring.
He and Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal were in Gombe to lobby for PDP delegates’ support.
Mohammed said if elected President, he would embark on restructuring that will ensure devolution of power to the states and the local government to improve the quality of lives of the people.
“Some of these issues of mistrust and suspicion will be done away with if we discuss. Let’s take for example, the state police.
“It has nothing to do with shortchanging any section of the country; it is just about delegating power to the states.
“It has been done in the Southwest. The Amotekun is improving their quality of life. What has it got to do with encroachment on the power of the federation? Nothing.
“In fact it will reinforce the structure of the federal government because it will make life and property safe and secured and it will not remove anything from the federal government,” he said.
He said as a bureaucrat, he will bring his experience to bear, in terms of making good policies and programmes and will not be doing it blindfolded because he is tested and trusted.
Mohammed said: “I will bring policies and programmes that will create wealth, that will open up the economy, and that will look inward, rather than outward.
“That is what we need and I will do that with humility and with tact and knowledge.”
On the separatist agitations, Bala said he would make them see the futility of breaking away from the country.
“I will make them contribute even more to the centre. I will restructure the country, reinvent the country, reconstruct the country. In the sense that the periphery will be powerful,” he said.
Tambuwal said if elected as president, he would ensure protection of lives and property.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives Speaker spoke at the PDP secretariat in Gombe.
“I have provided all that needed to be provided for security agencies. So far, I have provided over 500 vehicles for the security agencies.
“Whatever support they require we give them. Under my leadership (as president), I will do all that it takes to support security services in the states.”
Tambuwal said as one who has transversed various communities in Nigeria, he has the magic wand to turn things around for the better.
“Poverty is all over and it is ravaging our land; we have the men, women, youth, we have the human resource and in Gombe we have the natural resources in abundance.
“Why are we wasting time to explore the oil that we have in Gombe and so many resources that we have underneath?
“Why are we not utilising the Dadin-Kowa dam that can generate hydro-electric,” Tambuwal said.
