3-Year of APC Administration Repositioned Kebbi – Commissioner

By YM Bina

The Kebbi State Commissioner for Information, Yakubu Ahmed-BK has said that the 3-year-old APC administration in Kebbi State has successfully repositioned the state from its previously rural outlook.

Addressing a press conference in Birnin Kebbi, the commissioner said before the current administration came on board, Kebbi laboured under the image of a state trapped in underdevelopment.

He said the essence of the briefing was to update residents on major projects approved by the State Executive Council in March and already being implemented.

Ahmed-BK, however, explained that the briefing was not meant to give a full performance report, but to spotlight specific recent projects and funding decisions.

“Before this administration came on board, Kebbi laboured under the image of a state trapped in underdevelopment, lacking basic social amenities, critical utilities, and core infrastructure required to initiate meaningful growth and sustainable economic development.

“Key sectors were crying out for attention to reverse the trend and give the state capital and major towns the much-needed facelift, not only to catch up with peer states but also to provide the enabling infrastructure required to attract investment, and drive prosperity and growth,” he said.

Ahmed-BK expressed optimism that generality of people in the state were encouraged by the positive turn of events when, immediately after assuming office as the democratically elected Governor of Kebbi State in May 2023, His Excellency, Gov. Nasir Idris hit the ground running and matched words with action.

The commissioner noted that the current government keeps investing in infrastructure upgrades and social programmes to drive the state’s long-term growth.

He said the administration had prioritised key sectors like education, agriculture, health, transport, staff welfare, security, youth and sports, in addition to timely payment of salaries, gratuities and pensions.

He added that the government had empowered residents by providing free fertilisers and other agricultural inputs, as well as financial aid for vulnerable groups and small enterprises.

“For health, the State Executive Council approved N926.3 million to rehabilitate and remodel Martha Bamaiyi General Hospital in Zuru.

“The approval was needed due to the facility’s poor state and the urgency of improving healthcare services,” he said.

The commissioner also revealed that the council had approved N1.709 billion to renovate 21 more Primary Health Centres across Kebbi.

He said the goal “is to make the health system more effective, responsive and able to serve people’s needs.”

Ahmed-BK stated that work had already begun on the hospital and the 21 PHCs, with notable progress expected soon.

On agriculture, he said the government approved more counterpart funds for the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) and initial funding to establish the Kebbi Rural Access Roads Agency (RARA).

The commissioner said the council allocated N2 billion as extra counterpart funding for RAAMP’s second phase and N1 billion as start-up capital for RARA.

He explained that the approvals followed RAAMP’s previous achievements and the need to maintain progress during the scale-up stage.

Ahmed-BK noted that the project’s development partners remain committed to releasing their contributions.

“For RAAMP Scale-Up, the funders are ready to commit one billion dollars.

“So the Kebbi State Government had to stay current on its counterpart payments to ensure the programme succeeds,” he said.

He added that all approved counterpart funds had been fully disbursed and implementation “is underway.”

On water, Ahmed-BK said the government also approved counterpart funding for the World Bank-supported Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria (SPIN) project.

He called SPIN a strategic effort to upgrade irrigation, improve food security and enhance dam safety.

The commissioner said: “Kebbi is one of 28 states that qualified for the scheme after showing interest.”

He said the State Executive Council had approved N500 million as counterpart funding for Kebbi’s participation, and the sum had been fully paid.

According to Ahmed-BK, the project will bring major socio-economic gains, especially job creation for the state’s large farming population.

For lands and housing, he said the council approved N975.1 million to provide electricity to Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu Housing Estate in Birnin Kebbi.

He said the electrification was needed to make the estate usable and improve residents’ quality of life.

He noted that power supply to the estate would boost security, drive development, support economic activities and enhance residents’ welfare.

He added that the electrification work had already commenced.

Ahmed-BK said the projects show the Gov. Nasir Idris administration’s resolve to keep campaign promises amid many development needs.

He thanked the people of Kebbi State for their support, encouragement and prayers, saying they were key to the successes achieved.

The commissioner urged continued public backing and collaboration so that government could deliver more dividends of democracy.