Ahmed Makarfi: I’ll carry out devolution of powers if elected president


Former governor of Kaduna State and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Alhaji Mohammed Ahmed Makarfi, has promised to operate a system of government where there would devolve power in the country in order to make the task of governance easy at the central level.

Makarfi stated this, on Friday, when he met with delegates and other stakeholders of the party in Bauchi State.

He maintained that power was too concentrated at the federal level which, according to him, was responsible for the challenges the country was experiencing.

His words, “Under my watch, if elected as president of the country, we will make sure that devolution of power takes place.

“We will devoid power down to the centre in such a way that both states and local governments will be able to manage their own resources.

“We need to restructure, by restructuring, I mean that the states and the local governments will be so empowered to generate their own revenue, instead of relying solely on the federal government for allocations.

“All the stakeholders in the country will be carried along by looking at previous reports, remove what is obsolete and bring what is new.”

The presidential aspirant said that he would operate an open government that is approachable 24 hours of the day. He said that he would give a listening hear to the priorities of the citizens in order for it to be reflected in government programmes.

He promised to tackle security challenges bedeviling the country, saying that he had achieved a record of restoration of peace in an issue of conflict when he was the governor of Kaduna State.

“I have a record of restoring peace in Kaduna State during a conflict. At that time, I was able to arrest the situation that should have engulfed the whole state in a crisis” he added.

He said that if elected as president, he would sponsor the education of the underprivileged children via loans which they will pay back when they start working and earning salary.

The presidential aspirant said that he would operate a system of government whereby there would be devolution of power at the centre in such a way that the task of governance would not be cumbersome.

In his address, Vice Chairman of the party in the state, Alhaji Harun Shitu appealed to the delegates to vote for Makarfi during the presidential primaries, saying that the time has come for power to shift back to the party in order to address the challenges bedevilling the nation.