THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate for Taraba State, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, has supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s call on state governors to stop using states’ resources in constructing needless bridges.

President Tinubu had, while receiving traditional rulers from Oyo State, who came to congratulate him on the safe rescue of kidnapped school children, pleaded with state governors to use the enormous revenue accruals from the Federal Government to impact on the people.

Commenting on the huge funds available to state under his administration, the President regretted that some state governors of frittering away money on wasteful projects, lamenting that “they are taking four to five times their money. Nobody is borrowing money to pay salaries now. Pensioners are receiving their pay.

“They should do more instead of building flying over where there is no numeric traffic; build roads and artery networks to really enhance the quality of life and the accessibility of the security agencies to penetrate those areas.”

In an exclusive interview with TheGuardian, Senator Bwacha praised the President for coming out to say what the governors do not want to admit, pointing out that Taraba State governor, Agbu Kefas stands out as a prominent example.

According to Bwacha, “the people of Taraba State are not aware even of the enormous resources that come to the state from what we call the statutory allocation from the government coffer at the centre.

“Now that apart, look at the borrowing that has taken place within this time, which has exceeded the range of over N800 billion. And if you come to Taraba State today, you cannot see a project of N10 billion. That is one of the areas we’re working to improve upon, because we notice in my state, for instance, even though no project has been executed, promises have not been kept.

“Yet, even the promises that were made were not tailored along the needs of the people. For example, the Governor would go to his hometown of Wukari and say, I’m going to do a flyover bridge in a place where there is no need for it, where there is no traffic at all. You know, that is a misconception, which is not needed at all.

“You can stand in some of these junctions for one minute and you won’t see a vehicle pass. So, what does a flyover stand to benefit the people? So, this is a misplaced priority. If the Lord grants us victory, we will look at every public project as projects of the people and of government, so that no uncompleted project will be left unattended to, except where it does not serve any purpose at all.”

The PDP governorship hopeful however assured that in the bid to avoid asset depreciation, succeeding administrations should endeavor to complete all ongoing projects, particularly those that touch on the lives of the people.

On the issue of insecurity, Senator Bwacha commended President Tinubu for showing courageous leadership, stressing that if previous administrations tackled the issues of insurgency and violent crimes, Nigeria would have been spared the massive bloodshed experienced so far.

“No government, remember even when this insurrection started, if there had been an attempt to engage the US government and bring them directly into this, this matter wouldn’t have escalated.

“And, why I will continue to support Tinubu is because of his commitment to ensure that this matter is nipped in the bud. If Tinubu was not committed, he wouldn’t have invited the Americans to come and partner with the Nigerian Armed Forces,” he added.