The Chairman of the 2023 Gubernatorial Transition Council in Niger, Dr Suleiman Ndanusa, has advised the new Gov. Umar Bago to take tough decisions to transform the state.
“To correct things will require courage and tough decisions,” Ndanusa said.
Ndanusa, a former Director General, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Monday.
He, however, expressed optimism that Bago was up to the task.
Ndanusa said: “This is because he is energetic, courageous and he has the passion to develop the state.
“And for those reasons, I have no doubt in his capacity and ability to do Niger right.”
According to the transition committee chairman, the governor is taking over power during very interesting and challenging times.
He said: “It requires an unusual commitment, an unusual stand on some issues to achieve the transformation that the state direly needed.”
Ndanusa, who is also the Jarin Nupe, added that efforts must be made to explore more sources of revenue, both taxed and untaxed.
“We must create an enabling environment to attract foreign and local investors,” he urged.
He added that Nigerlites in other parts of Nigeria and in the diaspora must be attracted to come back home and invest in the state as a precursor to other foreign investments.
Ndanusa also urged that all the leakages in the system must be blocked and must have a sustainable debts profile.
Similarly, he called for the realignment of the state’s public service, while there must be forensic and data-based wage and pension bills.
Ndanusa further urged Bago to hire the best hands in all sectors of the economy, while there should be a delivery unit to routinely monitor the desired outputs of government’s policies and programnes.
He commended the governor for finding them worthy of the epochal assignment and pledged to do more to take the state to greater heights.
