Abubakar Audu: set to be declared governor-elect

The Independent National Electoral Commission is still hours away from declaring the winner of Saturday’s governorship election in the central Nigerian state of Kogi state.

But businessmen in the state are already  setting agenda  for the new governor.

The Kogi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture urged the incoming administration in the state to put measures in place that will facilitate the revival of ailing state-owned industries in the state.

Its Vice President (Indistry), Mr Habuh-Rajan Suleiman, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja on Sunday.
He decried the slow pace of development in the state, adding that ‘time has come for the harnessing of the enormous natural and human resources in the state’’.

Suleiman also called for the resuscitation of the state-owned Trade Fair Complex now converted to a park for articulated vehicles.

He said the resuscitation of the complex would open new vista of economic opportunities for the growth of commercial activities that could create more employment opportunities for the people.

Suleiman also called on the new government to put in place modalities for the success of the recently enacted Public Private Partnership (PPP) Law in the state in order to attract foreign investors to the state.

He said the law would ensure the needed synergy between the state government and the private sector, to stimulate investors’ interest in the state’s abundant solid mineral potentials.

‘’Kogi is blessed with 22 of the 34 solid minerals in the country, all that is needed is the right leadership to channel these resources to improve the lot of the people of this state,’’ he said.

Suleiman said that with sound industrial policy, backed with purposeful leadership, small scale and cottage industries would spring up to facilitate rapid development of the state.

On tourism, Suleiman described Kogi as the home of tourism in Nigeria in view of its vast and rich tourism potentials but urged that the sector must be properly harnessed to achieve the desired objective.

He also called for the resuscitation of the state-owned Trade Fair Complex now being used as a park for articulated vehicles, adding that the resuscitation of the complex would open ne vista for the growth of commercial activities and create more employment opportunities for the people.

In a separate interview with NAN, Evangelist Frank Kato, a clergy, also called on the state government to focus on the development of the infrastructure.

‘’Infrastructure must be provided for the smooth take-off of industrial development of Kogi; with that, wealth will be created, the welfare of the people particularly the civil servants, will be enhanced ,’’ he said.

According to him, the measure will boost government’s effort at reducing youth unemployment and its associated problems across the 21 local government areas of the state.