FRIDAY EDITORIAL
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We have a cause as a media organization to call the attention of the Zamfara state Governor Dauda Lawal over some anomalies detected from the inaugural executive council meeting he held with his council members this week.
But before raising the observations, this medium has noticed with a high sense of responsibility that the Governor is right by conducting his maiden executive Council meeting and alerting members of what is expected of them to make the forum legally stronger.
Holding weekly executive Council meeting will avail the Governor and his cabinet members the opportunity to understand the essence of team work and also understand how to work as a network to perfect some deliberate policy reforms for the transformation of the state.
However, this medium noticed with dismay two mistakes that shall not be allowed to continue because they are products of procedural illegality.
Number one is the Secretary to the state government of Zamfara addressing newsmen on the outcome of the council meeting. In our opinion that is very wrong because it’s not his job.
As Governor, you have a Commissioner for information and his primary job is to communicate council decision to the larger world and explain in details the strategies to be adopted by the council in championing the desired reforms.
Where the need arises or where some technicalities are involved, the convention provides that the Commissioner for Information be accompanied by the line commissioners affected by the council decisions to shade more light on the subject matter.
We felt it was like a deliberate attempt by the council to discredit the Information Commissioner by taking over his job and just photo shop him before the cameras as someone who only attends the council’s media briefing.
There is no convention that empowers the SSG of a state to address the press after council meeting. That is a wrong procedure and the Governor can make inquiry from his friend Prof. Kabiru Mato if that was ever done under the El-Rufa’i’s administration as a Governor of Kaduna state.
The SSG is simply a secretary to the council in charge of records and proceedings and is an ordinary member with one single vote just like every other commissioner.
It is our candid opinion that the Commissioner of Information should be allowed to do his job and also be given a free hand to interact with the media personnel because that is his job.
Secondly, we have observed another erring procedure where the Chief of Staff to the Governor has the audacity to address the media people on the outcome of the council meeting.
Is the Chief of Staff to the state Governor a member of the state Executive Council? Does he have a vote in the council like every other Commissioner? Someone should assist us with an answer.
But to the best of our knowledge, the Chief of Staff to the Governor is only allowed to be part of the state executive Council meeting as an obsever and to help the Governor in taking briefs of the resolutions of the council, no more no less.
Mr. Mukhtar Lugga was a council member for eight years and even served as the Chairman of the Forum of Commissioners under Yari’s administration, let him tell the world with deep sense of sincerity is chief of staff a member of the state executive council?
I am sure he knows the truth and let him produce evidence of where late Dahiru Zubairu of blessed memory or Engr. Abdullahi Abdulkarim ever addressed the press on the outcome of the state executive council.
Or let him produce evidence of where the duo mentioned who served as Chief of staff to Yari under whose tenure Lugga served as a Commissioner pass their votes in the council when matters of voting arises.
In a normal convention, beside the Commissioners, only the Head of Service has a vote in the council because he is representing the civil servants in the state. I doubt whether if the SSG too has a vote in the council.
We are talking harder on this procedural thing because this government is claimed to be a government of the “learned people”, and it should not be allowed to operate on an erroneous procedures.
Our prayers are two, number one is for the Governor to ensure that the state executive Council meeting is made to be holding on a weekly basis so that governance issues can be laid before the members for their deliberations andvresolutions.
The excuse of the Governor not around shall not surpass hence he has a Deputy whom we believe is more than competent to chair the council meeting.
Secondly, is for those who have no business with the state executive council to stay away from making comments that they have no business with.
I will emphasize on the analogy of one of the mentors of this media organization, Dr. Kabir Sulaiman Chafe that “Government is a corporate scientific business, and it has to be operated as such”.
May God help us.
