A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe state, Jibrin Barde, has said that his party still presents the best option for the people at 2019 election.
Barde also came down hard on the current administration of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state adding that, given the opportunity, the APC will revamp the state’s infrastructures, which is in comatose.
The former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sun Trust Bank, also assured that if given the opportunity to fly APC flag and become the next governor in Gombe State, he would dedicate himself to the development of the state.
Speaking with newsmen on Friday, the governorship Aspirant added that when you compare the state to others in terms of allocation received over the years, the state “is not developing.”
His words: “I have reached the pinnacle carrier as a banker and it is time to give back to the society and the only way I can do that is to take the position of leadership. We have a clear vision of empowering the youths.
“I want to ensure that governance can be done with a high corporate responsibility. The [PDP] administration is full of deception. It is a time bomb that is waiting to explode. When you have young energetic youth who are actually jobless, it is a fatal ground for a lot of things. We need to harness these resources and that is why I have decided to join the race.”
While lamenting what he called infrastructure decays in Gombe State, Barde said: “Our people have no access to potable drinking water, it doesn’t take the state government [anything] to maintain the dam that was constructed. The Gombe metropolis spends N5 billion annually just to buy water.
“Our education system has completely collapsed. Some of the children
do not have classes, they study under the trees. The hygiene is below
human standard. Our hospitals are just mere mortuaries. This is totally
unacceptable given the huge amount of funds the state government has
received. The state has debt to the excess of N100 billion.
“My 11-year-old daughter, who I was to
school, challenged me. She said, “now that your generation has failed,
and I looked at her
and I asked ‘what do you mean?’ She said, “you are going to make my
generation fail. It got me thinking.”
The APC chieftain also believes that, “Leadership is about service. I
decided to look at that opportunity. I am seeking the flag of our
party (APC) in Gombe State.”
“Why I have decided to this is because we don’t have to sit on the
fence any longer. My state consists of about 11 local governments in
the Northeastern part of the country and in the last seven years, the
resources that came our way have been mismanaged. All the development
indices you can think of have collapsed.”
When asked to comment on crisis rocking the APC and the ongoing
reconciliation, the governorship aspirant said there was no division
in the APC, adding that it is normal for its members to disagree.
“I don’t see any crisis in the party, to be honest with you.
Reconciliation does not mean that there is crisis. The party is intact
as far as I know. There is no division in the party. Disagreement is
allowed. So, it is a natural process and it healthy for a democratic
process.”
