Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The immediate former Governor of Zamfara State, Anduallziz Yari, has advised his successor Governor Mohammed Bello Matawalle to stop chasing shadows and concentrates on how to impact the state with meaningful development.
Yari urged the state governor to retain the e-payment salary system that was introduced by his (Yari) administration rather than reverting to manual payment that is susceptible to fraud and manipulations.
The former state governor also advised his successor to jettison the building of a new government house at the cost of N7 billion, which should not be a priority to a state that could barely afford to pay N30,000 minimum wage.
In statement made available to THISDAY by Yari’s Media Aide, Mayowa Oluwabiyi, the former governor of the state cited the instance where a deputy governor of the state was treated as a ghost worker as one of the main negative challenges of reverting to manual system of paying salaries.
Yari stated that recent attempts to disparage his achievements, such as the e-payment of workers’ salaries, have made it imperative for him to speak out.
According to him, “it is now impossible to shortchange the Zamfara people through the wicked ghost worker scheme. All such attempts, like the one they are now struggling to explain, will continue to fall like a pack of cards.”
The former governor also dispelled reports of how a relation of former Commissioner of Finance, Shehu Idris, was part of the cartel that misappropriated public fund whereas no such relation existed in real life. “These lies have attracted litigation for defamation where they will have to prove the authenticity or otherwise of their claims.
“Many well thinking people are beginning to wonder why the current state government is obsessed about former Governor Yari despite the obvious distraction it constitutes to governance.
“This ridiculous trajectory is leading some people to wonder if the inadequacies of the present Peoples Democratic Party controlled state government will also be blamed on the former governor. It is disheartening that for a man who utilised his tenure as governor to practically transform the state will now be vilified this way.”
The former governor then recalled that his administration constructed over 700 kilometers of road, including federal, state and township roads, upgraded primary healthcare centers to hospitals and connected over 100 communities to the national grid for power supply.
Yari also said that the people of the state are still relishing the projects executed by his administration like the building of 168 Semi-Urban Water projects across the state as well as many other dividends of democracy he brought to the electorates and advised the incumbent governor to continuity with the foundation of good governance his (Yari) administration handed over to him.
