2027: Kaduna PDP Gov Candidate Unveils Plan To Tackle Insecurity, Poverty

The Kaduna State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Usman Shehu Bawa, has pledged to tackle insecurity, poverty and poor educational outcomes through a development agenda focused on human capital investment, economic empowerment and institutional reforms.

Bawa said his proposed administration would prioritise security, healthcare, education, infrastructure and job creation to improve living conditions and create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

He spoke during a one-on-one policy dialogue with governorship candidates in Kaduna State, organised by the Partnership for Issue-Based Campaign (PICaN).

The PDP candidate said sustainable development required long-term planning, effective use of public resources and policies that addressed the needs of communities across the state.

He promised to adopt a bottom-up approach to governance, with consultations across Kaduna’s 255 wards to identify local priorities and guide the allocation of resources.

“Our approach is a bottom-up approach, not a top-bottom approach,” he said.

Bawa explained that his administration would consult stakeholders across the state’s three senatorial zones before deciding on projects, insisting that public spending should reflect the actual needs of residents.

“We want to build the bridges in the exact wards that need those bridges, not build boreholes where you do not need them or build classrooms where you do not need them,” he said.

He said the approach would help prevent wasteful expenditure and ensure that government projects delivered tangible benefits to communities.

On security, Bawa said a peaceful environment was essential for residents to pursue their livelihoods and for businesses and investors to operate with confidence.

He identified healthcare, education, economic empowerment and infrastructure as other priority areas, promising to improve access to essential services, strengthen social protection and support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The governorship hopeful also pledged inclusive governance and equitable distribution of resources, saying the state’s different religious and social groups should have a sense of belonging.

He said his development agenda would cover human capital development, justice, peacebuilding, institutional reforms, innovation, technology, agriculture and environmental sustainability.

Bawa further promised to establish a multi-level monitoring and evaluation system to track government projects and promote accountability in the use of public funds.

Under the proposed arrangement, community, ward and local government committees would monitor projects at the grassroots level and report implementation gaps to higher-level structures.

He said involving residents in monitoring projects would help ensure that contractors delivered work according to specifications and that public investments served their intended purposes.

Bawa said his proposed administration would be guided by the PDP manifesto, with emphasis on accountability, strategic planning and policies capable of delivering lasting benefits to residents.

At the engagement, he also raised concerns about the state’s debt profile, alleging that Kaduna’s total public debt had reached about N1 trillion.

“Currently, Kaduna State is in a debt trap. The total public debt of Kaduna State is N1 trillion,” he said.

He cited external debt figures and the state’s external debt-to-revenue ratio in support of his concerns. However, the figures presented by the candidate were not independently verified at the event.

Beyond his policy proposals, the candidate recounted his experience in the mobile phone and accessories business, saying he had travelled between Nigeria and Dubai to source products for sale in markets across Kano, Kaduna and Abuja.

He said identifying market opportunities, calculating costs and taking measured risks helped him expand his business.

He encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to remain committed to their ideas and explore opportunities to build sustainable businesses.