Zamfara Governor pledges support for northern president
From Isah Ibrahim, Gusau
GOVERNOR Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State has pledged his support for any northerner who emerges as presidential aspirant in the 2007 general election, irrespective of party affiliation.
The governor, who made this declaration in his office at the weekend, said the North must produce the next president.
Under the arrangement, the governor noted that the nation's politics would experience some adjustments.
"As far as my personal view is concerned, I believe that this time around, the North should produce the next President irrespective of any political affiliation. People like me will not consider political affiliation in determining the next President come 2007," Sani said.
But, the governor restated his membership of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), saying that he would never decamp from the party.
"I will stay on as ANPP member for the rest of my life, but that does not mean that I will not accept realignment to support a very good northern candidate from other political parties to see that we succeed in 2007," he said.
He explained that already, all the 19 Northern States governors have decided that whoever emerges as President in 2007 must come from the North.
The governor further maintained that his government would continue to give priority to human rather than infrastructural development.
He observed that human development should remain the prime target of any government development policy and programme.
Sani stated that "a hungry man is an angry man". Hence, his government focuses attention on improving the status of people rather than focusing on white elephant projects.
He said: "If you don't have people who can ride motorcycles, cars, you don't need roads. It is true, for the first four years, we tried to fight poverty to empower our people to be self-reliant".
The governor said the programme had yielded positive impact on security situation in the state, which led the national security members to rank the state as the most peaceful in the country.
Sani also refuted speculations of his plan to reshuffle his cabinet, stressing that continuity was an aspect of good governance.
