Governor of Sokoto State and People’s Democratic Party, PDP, presidential aspirant, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has said that he will split the Offices of the Accountant-General and Attorney-General of the Federation if elected president.
The aim, he said, was to promote transparency, professionalism, fiscal discipline and loyalty to the nation in the conduct of government business.
He also promised that his government would facilitate a robust, scientific and realistic process that would lead to the restructuring of key areas of the Nigerian state and its political economy.
The governor, who made the disclosure as he laid out his vision to PDP delegates in Katsina and Jigawa states as he continued his “meet the delegates visit to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT said: “For there to be transparency, fiscal discipline and professionalism, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation must be separated from that of the Attorney General. This will be one of the first key interventions of my government.
“The Accountant-General of the Federation should be a pure professional, whose loyalty must be to the federation, not the the federal government alone. In the same manner the Attorney General mustn’t necessarily be the Minister of Justice, and mustn’t be a card-carrying member of any political party.
“The idea, for instance, of making a card carrying member of a political party an Attorney General of the Federation already compromises that office. The Attorney General ought not to be an agent of the government in power. The office should, at all times, serve the interest of the nation and the totality of the citizenry.”
To achieve a restructuring of the two critical offices of the federation, the former Speaker, House of Representatives, promised that his administration, “shall initiate an amendment of the requirement of the constitution that says that every minister appointed by the federal government must be a card carrying member of a party in order.”
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According to him, that would ensure that the Attorney General is a core professional that will work for the entire nation and deliver to the best of his ability, without prejudice.
Governor Tambuwal also proposed the restructuring of the power sector by empowering states through effective legislation to generate their own electricity.
“When I talk of restructuring, it doesn’t necessarily mean physical restructuring our land mass. I mean, instead, fiscal and institutional restructuring and the making of fundamental changes in other areas, to devolve more powers to the states and make them more effective in actualising the aspirations of the citizenry.
“For instance, there is no reason why states should not facilitate power investments within their territories. To enable them do this, we shall move power generation, transmission and distribution from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list.”
Tambuwal argued that “the energy needs of many states can be addressed by harnessing mineral deposits of hydro, coal or sunlight, as the case may be.”
He accused the Federal Government of paying lip service to the issue of minimum wage, pointing out that when government proposes an increase in the national minimum wage, it should also send corresponding bill to the National Assembly to review the federal allocation to states, so they can also bear the cost of the increased wage bill.
The presidential aspirant gave the assurance that when he eventually wins the presidential election, “Nigerians will have a leader that will make them proud at home and in the comity of nations.”
On why he visited Alhaji Sule Lamido who is a contestant for the PDP ticket, Tambuwal said: “My visit to a political father, who is also one of the founding fathers of our great party is a homecoming for me. The beauty of politics without bitterness is that it makes you focus on the humanity of others and the common good. It points you to the transience of everything except the good works we leave behind. We need this attitude if we wish to build a new Nigeria. Remember that it was a meeting with an elder brother and co-contestant from my home state of Sokoto that led to the emergence of a governorship candidate endorsed by all in the most peaceful party primaries held in the country so far.”
