Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has disclosed plans to reconcile aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a fallout of the recently conducted primary elections.
Engineer Sule made this known while presiding over the monthly state executive council meeting, at the Government House, on Monday.
He said, his administration would set up a high-powered committee that would go round the state to reconcile the aggrieved members.
According to the Governor, the committee is expected to go round and speak with various members of the party who may have felt wrongly treated during the primaries of the party, with a view to addressing the issues.
“Anyone who feels very strongly that they have not been treated fairly, there are proper procedures to address such issues. I am appealing to our members that very soon we are going to set up a high-powered committee that is going to go around and speak with various members of the party and hear how they feel about what has happened and see how best to address those issues,” he stated.
Engineer Sule used the opportunity of the meeting to congratulate the state following its feat during the March 26 national convention of the party that saw the emergence of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the national chairman of the party and other members of the national working committee of the APC.
He also congratulated all those reported to have scaled through the just concluded party primary election, even as he lamented the challenges confronting the party across the country, which saw to a former governor and a sitting senator in Kebbi State defecting from the APC.
Engineer Sule equally updated members of the state executive council on recent milestones achieved by his administration, while also making clarifications over recent appointment of permanent secretaries in the state.
The Governor used the opportunity also, to commiserate with the people of Ekye Development Area, over recent security threats that led to the death of two persons. He assured that the state Deputy Governor, Dr Emmanuel Akabe and the Special Adviser on Security, will convene a meeting this week in order to address the issue.
“We don’t take issues of security with any laxity, so we must be able to do everything we can and ensure that our people are secured. I strongly believe, by the end of this meeting, we will be able to arrive clearly about what to do,” he said.
In this regards, the Governor noted that, as part of the efforts to boost security across the state, his administration bought vehicles for some security agencies operating in the state, stressing that more vehicles have been purchased to give to more security agencies to enable them have adequate tools to be able to protect the people.
Engineer Sule disclosed that following efforts by his administration towards addressing issues relating to the 2006 population census which pegged the population of the state at 1.8m, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved for the National Population Commission (NPC), to conduct the planned trial census in Karu Local Government Area.
Intially, only the NPC training for the North Central zone was held in Lafia, with only Plateau State earmarked for the conduct of the trial census but the state government followed up on the matter and made sure Karu Local Government Area was included in the trial census.
The Governor further announced that, about 4000 as hoc staff will be recruited for the trial censorship to be conducted in Karu Local Government Area, urging members of the executive council to encourage unemployed youths across the state to benefit from the exercise.
On the recent appointment of permanent secretaries in the state, Engineer Sule explained that the exercise was strictly guided by merit, availability and inclusiveness.
He noted that the appointment of permanent secretaries is similar to that of other political appointees like commissioners, which informed that every local government area of the state is covered.
The Governor said his administration took cognizance of the fact that Kokona, Keffi and Nasarawa Local Government Areas don’t have serving permanent secretaries, stressing that two permanent secretaries were appointed from Nasarawa LGA because it is the largest council with two development areas.
He added that, the administration also considered the outcome of the qualifications examination, following which Toto Local Government Area recorded the three highest scores, with the highest getting the remaining slot for the permanent secretary position.
The Governor equally mandated members of the state executive council to monitor ongoing Federal Government RAAMP project located in benefiting local government areas, while also commending the state ministry of works, as well as all those that made it possible for the state Deputy Governor to commission the Mararaba/Udege Mbeki road.
He also commended the state ministry of environment for ensuring the smooth take-off of the Marhai Forest Reserve.
Engineer Sule apologized to the members of the state executive council for the inability to hold the meeting due to his tight schedules. He however mandated that, henceforth, the meeting should hold with the state Deputy Governor to preside whenever he is unavoidably absent.
