Why governors are corrupt –Ex-Zamfara governor

From ATTAHIRU AHMED, Gusau
Monday, November 07, 2011

Just as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned some governors for alleged corrupt practices, former governor of Zamfara State now Senator, Ahmed Sani has disclosed that it was bad  condition that makes governors to be corrupt. Senator Sani said in an interview recently in Gusau that when he left office he was broke as there was, no entitlement or proper benefit.

According to him, becuase the money he had when he left office, as state governor could not buy him a house of his choice, he had to take a loan from the bank to purchase a house in Abuja. The former Zamfara governor, revealed that if governors could get their entitlements as stipulated by law, they would have no reason to be corrupt. He maintained that a good politician always make a good calculations, adding that when he was the state governor, he tried to be friendly with all especially civil servants in the state. Senator Sani, who was believed to be the godfather of Zamfara ANPP, explained that he is only a political leader not godfather.

He advised the present governor to be friendly with all, stressing that he should not be vindictive.
“Be fair to all, try to fulfill your campaign promises to the electorate, don’t be aggressive, but fight those who fight you after you have won election.” Speaking on “Nigeria at 51, he said, “so far so good, but we are not good enough I believed the way we are going, if urgent steps are not taken to change the situation in this country, there may be a revolution.”

According to him, there was a time he had a meeting with Mr. President where he advised him to address the issue of power in the country. “If he (President) can just address the issue of power and make sure it was solve, he would have left a legacy for which he would be remembered after his period.

“Let him (president) just address the issue of power alone and make sure that it was completely solved, I am sure you will agree with me that he would be remembered all the time as the best president Nigeria ever had,” he said.
He stressed that power is the heart of every business in Nigeria noting that the problem of the sector has affected every part of the country economy. “The president should put his focus on the power sector, without power virtually every sector has problem, you cannot have agro-allied industries.”

Yerima Bakura who was known for reintroducing of the Sharia legal system, advised that the issue of adequate power supply could be best solved when there was commitment. “Power supply can be tackle if there was commitment, it can be reorganised in three years ,” he said.

 SOURCE: Sun Newspaper, 7 November 2011. http://sunnewsonline.com/