At Inaugural Gombe State Executive Council Meeting, Governor Inuwa Lists Priorities

…Says 2nd term will focus on social integration, economy, infrastructure

 Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, on Tuesday presided over the inaugural session of the State Executive Council, urging the new cabinet members to serve with diligence, commitment, and dedication towards ensuring progress, development and economic prosperity of the state.

Governor Inuwa also emphasised the importance of unity among members of the State Executive Council, highlighting his administration’s commitment to sustaining the priority of social, economic, and infrastructural development set during his first term.

Providing additional insights into the meeting, secretary to the state government (SSG), Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, explained that the governor anticipates full adherence to the oath of office taken by members of the State Executive Council, emphasizing their commitment to uphold both the letter and spirit of the constitution.

Professor Njodi further emphasized that during the meeting, Governor Inuwa reaffirmed his administration’s resolute dedication to fulfilling his campaign promises, which centered on building a financially robust state aimed at fostering shared prosperity.

“The Governor has said no single ministry would operate as an Iceland. Everybody should be able to work together with one another. He urged them to work according to the dictate of the constitution. He equally pledged to deliver on all his campaign promises, reassuring for more dividends of democracy in his second term”, the SSG said.

Also speaking, commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Muhammad Gambo Magaji, said Governor Inuwa emphasized to council members the need to harness their intellectual capabilities to ensure that the system operates in the best interest of the people, maintaining that Inuwa’s second term would be driven by reforms which have already started in the first tenure.

He further noted that despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic at the early stage of his administration in 2020, the state managed to achieve commendable progress in infrastructural expansion, economic growth, and human capital development during his first term in office.

“In the last four years, we have been able to improve infrastructure, revitalize healthcare services and improve livelihood through the provision of basic amenities. We have been able to improve performance index in governance. We equally raised Gombe up on the transparency index from number 36 to number 6. All these culminated into the ranking of Gombe twice as number 1 in the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria”,  the commissioner explained.

He also mentioned that the state secured over 26 billion naira in grants during Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s first term through the effective implementation of the State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) report.

On the upcoming Gombe State Investment Summit 2023, the commissioner noted that Goinvest 2.0 will provide another opportunity to showcase the state’s investment opportunities.

He also mentioned that the expansive Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, Gombe’s key industrial hub, is currently more than 90 percent completed.

On the recent ranking of the state by Budgit, a transparency and accountability organization, the finance commissioner said the number 6th ranking of the state is based on administrative openness as it affects reforms, accounting procedures, budget and SEFTAS requirements that ensure payment of contractors on time and clearing of arrears of civil servants in the state among numerous others.

Earlier, the commissioner for Information and Culture, Hon. Mijinyawa Mohammed Tilde, had appealed for the support and collaboration of journalists in the state to ensure the successful realization of Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s consolidation agenda.