A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe State, Jibrin Barde, has said that the current administration of People Democratic Party (PDP) in the state is characterised with deception, which he added has led to a total collapse of infrastructure.
Barde, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sun Trust Bank, however, assured that if given the opportunity to fly the APC flag and become the next governor in Gombe state, he will dedicate himself to the development of the State.
Speaking with newsmen on Friday in Abuja, the APC governorship aspirant said he has decided to contest for the exalted office because “ every development indice you can think of has collapsed.”
He added that when you compare the state to others in terms of allocation received over the years, the state “is not developing.”
His words: “I have reached the pinnacle of my career as a banker and it is time to give back to the society and the only way I can do that is to take the position of leadership. We have a clear vision of empowering the youths.
“I want to ensure that governance can be done with a high corporate responsibility. The PDP administration is full of deception. It is a time bomb that is waiting to explode. When you have young energetic youths who are actually jobless. It is a fatal ground for a lot of things. We need to harness these resources and that is why I have decided to join the race.”
While lamenting what he called infrastructure decay in Gombe State, Barde said: “Our people have no access to potable drinking water, it doesn’t take the state government (anything) to maintain the dam that was constructed. The Gombe metropolis spends N5 billion annually just to buy water.
“Our education system has completely collapsed. Some of the children do not have classes, they study under the trees. The hygiene is below human standard. Our hospitals are just mere mortuaries. This istotally unacceptable given the huge amount of funds the state government has received. The state has debt to the excess of N100 billion.
“I was challenged by my 11-year-old daughter who I was taking her to school. She said now that your generation has failed and I look at her and I said ‘what do you mean?’ She said you are going to make my generation fail. It got me thinking.”
The APC chieftain also believe that “Leadership is about service I decided to look at that opportunity. I am seeking the flag of our party (APC) in Gombe state.
“Why I have decided to this is because we don’t have to sit on the fence any longer. My state consists of about 11 local governments in the north-eastern part of the country and in the last seven years the resources that came our way has been mismanaged. All the development indices you can think of have collapsed.”
When asked to comment on crisis rocking the APC and the ongoing reconciliation, the governorship aspirant said there was no division in the APC, adding that it is normal for its members to disagree.
“I don’t see any crisis in the party, to be honest with you. Reconciliation does not mean that there is crisis. The party is intact as far as I know. There is no division in the party. Disagreement is allowed. So it is a natural process and it healthy for a democratic process.”
