The Jigawa State governor, Umar Namadi, has assured that the much-awaited list of ministerial nominees has the blessings of the ruling party’s governors.
Media reports that the delay in the communication of the ministerial list to the National Assembly has given rise to permutations that major stakeholders like the governors and former governors of the ruling party might be going at each other towards asserting their relevance.
But in an interview with Daily Trust in Dutse, Namadi, popularly known as Danmodi, said President Bola Tinubu has been consulting with governors and that when the list is finally released, it would not cause any rancour among the governors.
“Of course, governors were carried along. Yes, we were carried along. Certainly, Nigerians can expect a list that would not cause any rancour amongst us,” he said.
The governor, who spoke on several issues in this exclusive interview, also said the much-touted “calculator” that has become synonymous with Jigawa State by virtue of its former governor being known as ‘Mr Calculator’ was not as bad as some people had been painting it to be.
He explained that all the calculator phenomenon means was the judicious and prudent use of the state’s resources for the overall good of the public.
“The problem is that people are misperceiving what this calculator thing truly means. The calculator is to ensure the judicious use of resources, and that there is value for money. To ensure that every kobo is accounted for and as much as possible, this government would try to do what is right for the people.
“The money is meant to be spent for the benefit of the people and there is no reason why you’ll keep the money. Even for the past government, it is not so that the money has been kept but we’ve been prudent. That is why you can see that for the last eight years, on the 25th of every month, Jigawa State will pay a salary and on the 10th of the following month, we pay pension. This process is continuing; we have paid the salary already and you know the FAAC is not out yet but we have paid,” he said.
