Tambuwal in Benue, vows to address poor power supply, others

Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal

Oluwatosin Omojuyigbe

A People’s Democratic Party presidential aspirant, Aminu Tambuwal, has vowed to restructure the power sector by empowering states, through effective legislation, to generate their own electricity if elected as President.

The Sokoto State Governor, who disclosed this in Markudi during a courtesy visit to Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, said his government would facilitate a process that would lead to the restructuring of key areas of the Nigerian state and its political economy.

Tambuwal noted that to have transparency, fiscal discipline and loyalty in the conduct of government business, he would split the offices of the Accountant-General and Attorney-General of the Federation.

He said, “When I talk of restructuring, it doesn’t necessarily mean a physical restructuring of our land mass, but fiscal restructuring and the making of fundamental changes in other areas, aimed at devolving more powers to the states and make them more effective in actualising the aspirations of the citizenry.

“For instance, there is no reason why states should not facilitate power investments within their territories. To enable them to do this, we shall move power generation, transmission and distribution from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative lists. The energy needs of Benue and many other states will also be tapped into and harnessed.

“For there to be transparency, fiscal discipline and professionalism, the office of the Accountant General of the Federation must be separated from that of the Accountant General of the Federal Government.”

This, we have to do, as one of the first key exercises of my government, if I receive the mandate to be President of this great nation. A serious nation desirous of making progress should have an Accountant General for the federation different from the Accountant General of the Federal Government.

“The Accountant General of the Federation should be a pure professional, whose loyalty must be to the federation, not to the Federal Government alone. In the same manner, the Attorney General mustn’t necessarily be the minister of justice and mustn’t be a card-carrying member of any political party.

“To achieve a restructuring of these two critical offices of the federation, we shall initiate an amendment of the requirement of the constitution that says that every minister appointed by the federal government must be a card-carrying member of a party in order to correct this. This is to ensure that the attorney general to be appointed is a core professional that will work for the entire nation and deliver to the best of his ability, without prejudice.”

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