The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 presidential election, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has urged politicians in the country to invest more in the people in order to build trust.

Kwankwaso admonished the politicians to shun money politics and other corrupt practices and focus on how to improve the lives and living conditions of the people to become better.

The former governor of Kano State made the call at the inaugural lecture of the Niger State Governor-elect, Umaru Bago and his deputy, Yakubu Garba, in Minna on Thursday, May 25.

He said: “The people want political leaders who are interested in uplifting their living standards.

“Therefore, there is the need to secure the lives of the people and invest on them in order to build trust, transparency, and accountability.

“In my eight years as governor in Kano, my best investment was in education, which I used to empower the people.

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“This was part of the reason I was re-elected after I lost in my first second term bid,” he said.

The NNPP presidential candidate, who was the chairman of the occasion, enjoined Bago to hasten up and deliver to the people the much needed  dividends of democracy.

Kwankwaso applauded the incoming administration of the state for using the lecture to invite technocrats and other stakeholders to speak on governance.

“The incoming governor of Niger State has done well by inviting technocrats and some of us who are his seniors in order to learn and avoid some of the mistakes we made during our time.

“It is an opportunity for him and his team to also learn from our strength to enable them to do better,” Kwankwaso added.

Also speaking at the event, the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, who said bad leadership was responsible for the country’s current economic woes, urged public office holders to be transparent and accountable in office.

“Transparency and accountability is the rudiment to good democratic governance,” Jega said.

On his part, Bago stated that the occasion provided a renewed hope for his administration to explore in order to develop the state.

The Governor-elect assured the people of transparency and accountability in developing Niger State.

The Star