Labour Party Guber Candidate in Adamawa Senator Abbo Ishaku Pledges N1bn Annually Per Ward

The Labour Party governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Senator Abbo Ishaku, has pledged to allocate one billion naira annually to every electoral ward in the state for grassroots development if elected.

Abbo, who was speaking to party loyalists and supporters, said his administration would run an open budget that allows ordinary people to know how public money is spent.

He said every ward in Adamawa would receive one billion naira every year dedicated to local issues, adding that the model would work.

He questioned the current N756 billion budget of Adamawa State, asking what the money is used for, noting that the pattern has been the same for years and that for 50 years, the poor do not know what is done with their money.

“Every single ward in Adamawa, every year, I will give you one billion naira, dedicated to issues in Adamawa. It will work,” he said.

“Look at what they claim is the budget for Adamawa — about 756 billion for this year, what are they even doing with the money? It was the same last year, the same as the previous year, and these things have been going on for the past 50 years. In Nigeria, the poor man never gets to know what is actually done with his money,” Abbo said.

He said during his tenure, the budget would provide one billion naira for each of the 226 wards across the 26 local government areas.

“During my tenure, what I will do is, for every ward, I will tell you… in our budget plan, I will allocate 1 billion to you,” he said.

Abbo said the money is not for consumption but for development, and that implementation would not be partisan.

“Along with the youth, traditional rulers, councilors, PDP, APC, and the Labour Party, all as a team, because this money is not for eating, it is development money. It is not money to be squandered, it is money for the people to work with,” he said.

He said a Ward Development Committee comprising traditional rulers, youths, councilors and members of all political parties would be set up, not only Labour Party members.

“A team will be formed; I won’t say that only Labour Party members will make up the committee, no. We will include traditional rulers and others, we will establish a Ward Development Committee,” he said.

He explained that the committee would sit and decide what to do with the one billion naira for the year, listing roads and projects with specific costs.

“This committee will sit down and ask, ‘What are we going to do with this 1 billion for this year?’ They will say, ‘Okay, this specific road will take 50 million, that location will take 50 million, this side will take 100 million, this place will take 200 million, that other place will take 200 million.’ Then they calculate it and realize it amounts to 700 million. Then I will say, ‘Okay, use the remaining 300 million for empowerment’,” he said.

“For this year. And for the coming year, we will allocate another 1 billion naira, and the year after that, another 1 billion naira,” Abbo added.

He said if Nigeria budgeted transparently like that, citizens would not be wondering where public money goes.

“My people, if Nigeria budgeted like this, we wouldn’t be wondering where our money disappears. For God’s sake, is there anything difficult in what I have said? Not at all,” he said.

Abbo argued that the money is available, noting that out of a N756 billion budget, if N226 billion is allocated to wards, the state would still have about N450 billion left.

“The money is there; it is said that Adamawa’s budget, with 26 local governments and 226 wards, this year’s budget is 756 billion. If you remove 226 billion, out of that 750 billion, you still have 450 billion in hand, you still have surplus funds. Why can’t you work with just 200 billion and deploy it to work for every single ward?” he queried.