Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, has urged top government officials to ensure effective governance and public service delivery to facilitate the implementation of physical projects for the socio-economic development of the state and country.
Al-Makura gave the charge during a three-day retreat for political and public officeholders and top government officials of Nasarawa State, held at Royal Choice Inn, in Makurdi yesterday.
The governor said that effective service delivery was a reflection of the collective responsibility of leaders to diligently serve the populace in fulfilment of their yearnings and aspirations, and noted that it was mandatory for public officials to be exposed to modern trends and techniques in policy and decision making as well as best practices for the execution of public programmes and projects.
“Given our peculiarities as one of the fifth generation states in the federation, it is imperative for us to be in full grasp of issues in development, with the attendant challenges of service delivery as fundamental requirements for good governance. Indeed, these challenges are defined by the elements of transparency, accountability, prudence in the management of public funds and, above all, the principle of due process in the execution of government projects,” Al-Makura stated.
The governor further noted that? the state government was committed to ensuring public-private partnership (PPP) and? the use? of? information technology in keeping with the resolve of his administration to reposition the public service as a vehicle for efficient service delivery, which he said would constitute the driving force of governance in the state, adding that it would update and upgrade the competences of leaders in human management.
He pointed out that in a presidential system of government, operational conflicts are inevitable and they sometimes take the semblance of muscle-flexing and even mistrust, and added that such disagreements were necessary for the functionality of the principle of checks and balances, which, according to him, was a whetstone for the efficacy of democracy.