Bauchi Gov Urges His Appointees To Be Honest And Patriotic

....Declares open, State Anti-Corruption workshop for political officers 

Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi State on Thursday morning tasked his political appointees to be upright, impartial, honest and patriotic in line with principles of good governance in discharging their assigned responsibilities.

The governor who gave the advice at the State Anti-Corruption Workshop organised for Political Office Holders in the state, said the workshop is intended for political office holders and their aides in the state to gain new insights to emerging trends and development in public administration. 

Governor Bala Mohammed who declared the summit opened, observed that, capacity building and empowerment programs are valuable and important for strengthening confidence, skills, knowledge and widen horizon of the participants. 

He said the conduct of the summit is a welcome development in the management of government's Ministries, Departments and Agencies and therefore enjoined stakeholders in the economic and political arena to join hands with ICPC to promote good governance in the country. 

While pointing out that good governance is the soul of democracy, the governor said for any government to succeed, it must be seen to fight against corruption and indiscipline head-on.

"The participants of the summit must from today see themselves as partners in the fight against corruption. In other words, they must be our present-day foot soldiers in the anti-corruption crusade against this monster."

"This is a well thought initiative particularly at this time as the country is striving to entrench an enduring democracy."

He said the theme of the summit "Art and Practice of System Integrity and Value Governance as a Panacea Against Corruption, Workshop for Political Appointees and Aides in the State" it will give participants the opportunity to change and propagate best-in-class, principle- centred leadership, governance and internal managerial excellence while deepening system-wide integrity. 

"By and large, we can only achieve our dream in Nigeria if we effectively and decisively dealt with corruption which has eaten too deep in our socio-economic and political life. Our future as a successful nation can only depend on how successful we are in the fight against corruption and how effective we are in doing away with the negative attitudes inherent in us."

The governor said his administration is blocking leakages and administrative infractions in an efforts to cleanse the state's payroll as it has recently removed 2,116 ghost workers from the State Ministry of Health in which among them are 100 Doctors and 120 primary healthcare staff for working with NGOs and collecting government salaries.

On the reform programmes of the Federal Government in the fight against corruption as well as the state government's efforts in  tacking the menace, Governor Bala Mohammed said the conduct of the summit is a clear indication that Bauchi state and federal governments are on the same page on the fight against corruption. 

In a keynote address, the pioneer Provost of the Anti Corruption Academy of Nigeria, Mr. Shola Akinrinmade, applauded Bauchi state government for partnering with the academy to conduct the summit, describing it as an avenue for enhancing the capacity of the participants on good governance.