Tambuwal: It’s Premature to Talk About 2019, Says Politicians Distracting Governance

Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto

Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, on wednesday said it was premature to start talking about his ambition in 2019, stressing that politicians seeking reelection are distracting governance.

He also said the state–owned independent power plant would be completed in six months.
Speaking with journalists in Sokoto, Tambuwal insisted that he was preoccupied with meeting the yearnings of people and had no interest whatsoever in discussing his political ambition in 2019.
According to him, 2019 is a long period for a politician to start dissipating his energy on reelection bid at the expense of governance.

He posited that those clamouring for political office in 2019 were distracting mandate holders.
“As you are aware, 2019 is a very long journey. Those clamouring for political office and reelection are trying to distract the mandate holders.

“Why are people trying to jump start political activities? We are still in 2017 and cannot move from governance to politics This is a mere distraction.

“I don’t encourage anybody to disengage from governance to politics. We should wait until it is the appropriate time to cross the bridge,”Tambuwal said.

He described his relationship with the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as cordial, saying there was no division whatsoever among the members.
The governor announced that the state independent power project would be completed in six months.
He disclosed that N1.7 billion would be required to complete all aspects of the project.

“I am optimistic that in the next six and eight months, the independent power plant will be completed.
“And for us to test- run it as a diesel- consuming plant for a period of time, it will require at least N500 million.
“We are currenly thinking of converting it to LPG so that we can get cheaper means of running the power plant.

“This is a project that the state government had committed huge funds in the last few years and we will not allow such monies to be wasted,” he stressed.
Tambuwal averred that his administration would leave no stone unturned in ensuring the completion of the independent power project.

On Aliko Dangote rice programme, Tambuwal said the project was still on course for the establishment of a rice mill in Kware Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
He further said Dangote had already imported the machines and work was currently ongoing at the rice mill.

On the sale of government houses to workers, the governor revealed that allocation letters would soon be distributed to beneficiaries.
“The welfare of our civil servants is very dear to me. We arrived at a cost that is reasonable to enable them pay for the houses. We also gave them a very long time frame to enable them pay,” he added.