Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State has sworn in two new commissioners, a permanent secretary and 17 newly elected local government chairmen, urging them to place public interest above personal interest.
The new commissioners are Dr Abubakar Bukar Kagu and Dauda Alhaji Idi, while Barrister Fatima Ibrahim Makintami was sworn in as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice.
Speaking at the swearing in on Thursday in Damaturu, the state capital, Buni said the appointments were based on merit, expertise and commitment to service.
He announced Dr. Kagu, a law teacher at the Yobe State University with over 20 years’ experience at the bar and bench, as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
He said Dauda Alhaji Idi, a retired director who completed 35 years in the Civil Service without blemish, is now Commissioner for Livestock Development.
Buni said the swearing-in had filled the vacuum in the State Executive Council, while the election of the council chairmen and councillors had delivered democracy to the grassroots.
He said his administration had remained consistent in conducting local government elections to give the people a sense of belonging, a feat that earned Yobe 64.3 per cent and second best-performing state in Democratic Performance in an assessment by Kimpact Development Initiative.
The initiative assessed electoral participation, political inclusion, institutional effectiveness and civil liberties.
The governor commended the Yobe State Independent Electoral Commission (YOSIEC) for conducting a peaceful and credible local government election as verified by observers, civil society organisations and the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).
Buni said his administration had in the last seven years, employed graduates, invested in training and retraining of civil servants and reformed institutions to upgrade service delivery.
He cited recent successes in the health sector, including total hip replacement surgery at the Yobe State University Teaching Hospital and maxillofacial surgery at the Damaturu Specialist Hospital, as well as accreditation of the hospitals by the West African College of Physicians and West African College of Surgeons for postgraduate residency training.
Buni congratulated the 17 council chairmen, most of whom were re-elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and charged them to deliver more dividends of democracy.
He also tasked them to work for the victory of the APC in the forthcoming general elections, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term, the state governorship candidate, Baba Malam Wali, his own senatorial ambition, and other National and State Assembly candidates.
He appealed to political stakeholders to conduct their activities peacefully, warning that government and security agencies would ensure peace across the state.
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