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Govt is not bazaar, el-Rufai tells Kaduna elite
 
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Tue, 17 May 2016   ||   Nigeria,
 
Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has told the elite that anyone who thinks government is a bazaar, or a last resort for their greed, should know that his administration is opposed to such practices. Speaking during the inauguration of boards of five parastatals in Kaduna, the governor said the parastatals had mandates that were aligned to the goals of the restoration programme, adding that they would help strengthen the public service. The agencies were the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA), the Kaduna Facility Management Agency (KADFAMA), the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) and the Kaduna State Bureau of Pensions. According to el-Rufai: “The government paid N2.7 billion in wages and pension in May 2015. That is why we commenced the verification of the public service payroll from June 2015. “If we had not done verification, we would have had to borrow N300 million just to pay salaries. If government is designed to provide a legitimate machinery to organise society and provide public goods, then its resources cannot be legitimately spent only on servicing itself. “Anyone who thinks government is a bazaar, or a last resort for fund for their greed should know that we oppose such practices, and we certainly don’t have the money to fritter on the vanities of the elite” “It is immediately apparent from their names that some of these parastatals are brand new. “Their emergence is to give effect to our quest to lay a stronger institutional foundation for the public service as a committed and effective provider of services for the people of Kaduna State. “Everyone can identify and lament the limitations that hobble public agencies, but our duty is to actively take steps to strengthen these agencies in the overall interest of the state,” the governor said. Governor el-Rufai added that “All the five agencies whose boards we are inaugurating today have mandates that are aligned to the core of the Restoration Programme that we presented as our roadmap for governance during the election campaigns. “We promised to make this state attractive to private investors who can create multiples of the few direct jobs that government can offer,” he said.

 

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