How can citizens report a stolen or abandoned project and track government spending?

Answer: My policy expands conditional cash transfers to poor households conditioned on school attendance and child vaccination, paired with a revitalized National Homegrown School Feeding Scheme. Q49: Politicians make promises during elections and often fail to deliver them. How will Nigerians track your promises, see how public money is being spent and hold your government accountable when commitments are not fulfilled? Answer: My administration will launch an online "Promise Tracker" portal and implement Open Government Partnership (OGP) standards to publish live budget spending, contract awards, and performance metrics.

The cases are endless, and the problem seems interminable. The APC-controlled government has failed woefully to give the people the basic things expected of a responsive government. It is a clear manifestation of the failure of governance. The government has continued to play the ostrich while the nation is plagued by insecurity. While the weak and vulnerable are neglected, the government is making empty rhetoric about reforms. And while our young men are abducted, killed, or conscripted into the army of the terrorists and our women and girls are ravished and subjected to different forms of gender-based violence, the authorities do nothing. This is in negation of the constitutionally guaranteed commitment that the security and welfare of citizens is the primary responsibility of government. I stand in solidarity with my fellow citizens and sympathise with the victims and their families. I urge the security agencies to rise up to the challenge and save innocent citizens from the horrors of banditry and terrorism. -AA

Monday's reported killing of more than 40 persons in Zurak village in Wase Local Government of Plateau State, and earlier killing of nearly two dozen residents in the Tilengpat community of Pushit district, in Mangu Council and Mandar Shar and Kopnanle villages in Mangu and Bokkos Councils of the same state stands condemned. We need to reflect on the fact that the persons being killed are human beings, a creation of God. This bloodletting and continued waste of precious human lives is not acceptable. Sadly, it is a reminder of the escalating state of insecurity, which contradicts the propaganda of this administration that security is improving. The incidents in recent times put a lie to their claim. It is about time that the issue of State Police is approached with the urgency that it deserves. I need to warn that community policing as being canvassed in some quarters can never be a substitute to State Police.

I am saddened by reports of the attack on Yargoje village in Kankara LGA of Katsina State, which claimed scores of lives and the kidnap of vulnerable women and children. It is also sad that the bandits ambushed the police armoured personnel carrier responding to the distress call at Gidan Tofa and Dan Nakwabo villages, killing four police officers and two members of the Katsina State Community Watch Corps. Most worrisome to me is that these acts of banditry and terrorism have become routine, with the government seemingly helpless and nonchalant about it despite the enormous annual budget for defence. While I sympathise with the families of the victims, I will once again call on the government to be alive to its responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the citizens. -AA https://gazettengr.com/bandits-ambushed-patrol-team-killed-20-security-agents-in-katsina-police/

TINUBU PROTESTED JONATHAN’S FUEL PRICES. FIVE NIGERIANS ARE NOW REPORTEDLY IN CUSTODY OVER “TINUBU MUST GO” T-SHIRTS — ATIKU Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded the immediate release of five Nigerians reportedly arrested in Borno State over T-shirts bearing the words “Tinubu Must Go.” He said that if a political slogan is the reason for their detention, those responsible must explain how wearing a shirt became an offence in a democracy. In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said President Bola Tinubu once stood with Nigerians protesting fuel prices under President Goodluck Jonathan, but now presides over a cost-of-living crisis that has made the same fuel, along with food, transport and electricity, painfully expensive. “Tinubu opposed Jonathan’s fuel policy in the streets. Nigerians are living with the consequences of Tinubu’s fuel policy in their homes. Parents are cutting meals. Workers can scarcely afford the journey to work. Families are being crushed by bills that rise faster than their income. And when citizens put their anger on a T-shirt, the response is reportedly an arrest. What kind of democracy grants its President the right to protest, then takes that right away from everyone else?” Atiku asked.

Meanwhile, local contractors who completed government projects remain unpaid. Many borrowed from banks to do the work and now face demands for repayment on money the government owes them. Some have lost their property; their representatives say some have died under the financial strain. Bola, why do your friends get huge contracts while Nigerian contractors have to protest to be paid for work they have already done? Pay the contractors. Publish what is owed and when it will be paid. Nigerians are entitled to know whose prosperity your government is building. Nigeria’s public debt stood at ₦166.79 trillion at the end of June, and your government is now discussing another $1.5 billion in World Bank loans. Before you borrow another dollar in the people’s name, tell them what the money already borrowed has delivered. Name the projects. Show what they cost, who benefited and who was paid. From my first day in office, I will put affordability and the protection of life at the centre of government. We will begin bringing down the costs of food, fuel and power, improving access to healthcare and education, and restoring security to communities living in fear. I will account for public spending and measure progress by what Nigerians can afford and whether they can live safely.