Tambuwal Decries Politicisation of Public Service

By Onuminya Innocent

Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has expressed worry over the politicisation of the operations of public office by public office holders.

The governor said this Wednesday when he received the National Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Professor Muhammad Isah, at the Government House, Sokoto.

The governor made the assertion against the backdrop of a revelation made by Prof. Isah that the number of Sokoto indigenes benefitting from the conditional cash transfer instituted by the CCB was not much.

He said contrary to what the Chairman disclosed, the state government had been giving all necessary support to the programme, but some undisclosed highly placed personnel in Abuja were sabotaging its efforts, thus shortchanging the people of Sokoto state.

Nonetheless, Governor Tambuwal said that state government had established a high profile team under the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Saidu Umar (Mallam Ubandoman Sokoto), in collaboration with the leaders handling the programme in order to ensure that significant improvement was recorded on the matter.

Tambuwal also called on the federal government to properly fund the CCB to enable it perform its duties effectively.

On COVID-19 palliatives received from the federal government, Governor Tambuwal said they were handed over to the state’s Zakkat and Waqaf Commission (SOZECOM), which distributed same judiciously to the needy.

He called on the public service to give maximum cooperation to the CCB to encourage it in carrying out its responsibility without any hitch.

On the request for public enlightenment on the activities of the bureau in the state media organisations, the governor directed the ministry of information to collaborate with it (CCB) with a view to allotting them free airtime to publicize the activities of the organisation.

Earlier in his address, the national chairman CCB, Professor Isah, said they were in the state to monitor the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives provided by the federal government to different states.

He expressed satisfaction with the method used by Sokoto state government in the distribution exercise of the palliatives.

Professor Isa also challenged the Sokoto state government to intensify efforts to ensure that the number of conditional cash transfer beneficiaries registered increases.

He also stressed the need to the state government to intensify the effort on public enlightenment and training of officers that will handle the programme.

The CCB Chairman had earlier condoled the governor, his family and people of Sokoto state over the death of late Barrister Inuwa Abdulkadir, former Vice Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC).