The Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has applauded the United States government for its sustained interest in the development of the state over the years.
This is contained in a statement on Wednesday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Muhammad Bello.
The statement quoted the governor as making the commendation while receiving the management team of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, and the Nigeria States Accountability Transparency and Effectiveness, State2State, program at the Government House.
According to him, the United States through USAID and the encouragement of the US embassy in Nigeria has extended support and recognition to Sokoto in many areas of development over the years.
The statement said: “While appreciating the gestures of the US, the governor pledged that his administration will continue to cooperate with it, its agencies as well as partners in order to not only promote and improve transparency in government, but also enhance service efficiency and effective service delivery.”
“He also assured that the state government will immediately set up a steering committee as required by the State2State project work plan adding that he will direct the steering committee to come up with their state working plan and areas of collaboration and engagement.”
Mr Tambuwal described the State2State program led by the program’s Deputy Chief of Party, Mr John Onyeukwu, as a ‘clearly important one’ aimed at improving efficiency in government and transparency in governance and governance processes.
The statement quoted Mr Onyekwu who revealed that the five year project is being implemented in six states of the country including Sokoto, and, will focus on increasing the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of the selected states and local governments in Nigeria, “particularly public finance management, education, primary healthcare and WASH.”
“Other objectives of the program are to increase efficiency of the sub national government operations, improve sub-national citizenry needs and improve government capacity to mitigate conflict,” Mr Onyekwu added.
Gov. Tambuwal commending the initiative, saying that “it is the best way to engage and support states in coming up with strong development programs that will capture the actual needs of any given state,” the statement concluded.
