Buhari extols Bagudu, Dogara as loyal party men

• PGF lauds Kebbi, Nasarawa govs for commitment to APC manifesto
• Kwara lawmaker wants governors’ fora scrapped
• I’m not elected just to pay salaries, Bauchi gov tells workers

President Muhammadu Buhari has extolled Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State and former House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, as they marked their birthdays on December 26, describing them as committed party men.

Buhari, in a message by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, yesterday, in Abuja, expressed satisfaction in the duo’s records of service to the country and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the president, the two politicians have distinguished themselves in their areas of responsibilities.

The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) has also applauded the roles played by Bagudu and Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa towards the implementation of APC’s manifesto.

In a statement by Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, yesterday, the forum appreciated Bagudu’s initiatives towards unity among APC governors.

Acknowledging Bagudu’s leadership, vision and painstaking commitment to the development of the APC under President Muhammadu Buhari, the PGF also commended Sule’s leadership, vision and commitment to a united, prosperous Nigeria.

While Bagudu, the chairman of PGF, marked his 60th birthday yesterday, Sule marked his 62nd.
KWARA State House of Assembly member, Saheed Popoola, has said that the regional governors’ fora should be scrapped for allegedly slowing down development at the local councils.

Popoola, representing Ojomu/Balogun/Offa Constituency, said the alleged refusal of members of the fora to sign into laws the bill on local council autonomy literally crippled that tier of government.

Speaking to reporters in Ilorin, at the weekend, he blamed Governor Adbulrahaman Abdulrazak of Kwara State for the ongoing rift within the state’s chapter of APC.

BAUCHI State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has told civil servants in the state that his duty as governor does not end in paying salaries, as he lamented using the state’s N7 billion monthly allocation for payment of salaries at the expense of capital projects.

When Christian communities paid him Christmas homage at the Government House on Saturday, Mohammed complained of some workers who earn double monthly remunerations, thereby inflating the amount spent on salaries.

The governor said: “People are creating exclusion within the nominal roll in order to cause disaffection between us. Maybe because of the thousands of workers we are paying, some of them will just deliberately be excluded. But the government is providing 100 per cent of money required to pay salary.”

Mohammed noted that his administration inherited gratuities of over N28 billion, which he claimed to have been offsetting.