From Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
A former commissioner representing Kwara State at the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman, has disclosed steps he is going to take to rescue the state from economic downturn if elected governor next year.
According to him, the state is richly endowed with enough resources to create clusters of production for aggressive and productive youths in the state from which the state could exact tax to be ploughed into the social infrastructure part of governance like education, health and social security.
“It is not enough to go to Abuja every month to seek monthly allocation from oil to bring and spend in Kwara,” he said.
“Any stupid man on the street can spend money so that is not what a governor is elected to do principally.
“A governor is elected to create more money from what is given to him; he is expected to be creative and not to borrow recklessly in such a manner as to plunge future generations into debt,” Yaman added.
Speaking further, the governorship candidate lamented over the alleged huge debt incurred by the state under the current administration of Governor Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq.
“As we speak, Kwara state is indebted to an amount in excess of N100 billion and we service debt by as much as N1.3 billion per month.
He accused the APC administration in the state of gross incompetence, saying that it has refused to think outside the box, save and make Kwara prosperous as they promised back in 2019.
Giving an inkling as to his plans if elected governor, the PDP candidate says that with the abundance of natural resources and existing infrastructure like the state cargo airport, nothing stops the country from exporting cotton which can be grown in the Kaiama axis of the state.
“As a matter of fact, that area has the same soil that can grow cotton, flower and many other products that can be exported via our cargo airport in Ilorin.
“There are only four airports in the country that has the quality of runaway we have on our airport, ” he added.
Also on cotton, Yaman said that with the plans he has for power, the cost of production of cotton will be competitive.
“I have spoken to Chinese companies who could build generators powered by coal.
“We have coal in abundance in nearby Kogi that can assist in power generation needed by the cotton clusters we intend to create.
“With that, we can make our product competitive and undercut illegal imports, provide jobs from which tax can be paid to the government,” he said.