From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Barely 24 hours after he was declared winner by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the March 18 governorship election, the Kaduna State governor-elect, Uba Sani has said that he would govern the State without ethnic and religious sentiments.
Sani also said that he would be focused and dedicated to serve the people to the best of his ability once sworn in on May 29, 2023 as the duly elected governor of the State.
The governor-elect who stated this in his acceptance speech, added that he would follow deligently the good governance standard set by the out going governor Nasir El-rufai.
“I stand before you today with utmost gratitude to Almighty Allah for His many blessings and for making this day possible. I am overwhelmed by the affection of the people of Kaduna State who have made their democratic choice loud and clear.
“The people of Kaduna State have given us their mandate to lead in serving them for the next four years. We accept this privilege as a heavy responsibility. We shall carry out the people’s democratic directives with focus and unrelenting dedication.
“We shall govern for all, no matter how they voted, no matter how they worship or which of our many tongues they speak. Our gaze will be firmly in the direction of continued progress, peace and prosperity of the state. We shall get straight to work on sustaining and strengthening the path to development that our beloved leader Malam Nasir El-Rufai has so brilliantly opened for Kaduna State.
“I thank Malam Nasir El-Rufai and his executive team for their collective efforts since 2015 to build the foundations for a new Kaduna State. I thank every resident of Kaduna State who helped to make the 2023 elections a largely peaceful exercise.
“I acknowledge the efforts of APC leaders at all levels and the tireless work of the members of our campaign council and party supporters across the state who helped to carry our message to the people. The teeming youths, women, civil society and our many support groups worked for this victory, and we thank them.
“We are indebted to traditional, community and religious leaders who helped to foster an atmosphere of peace. I salute all APC candidates in 2023 elections for their hard work and contributions to this overall success, despite some setbacks. I am grateful to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, for his consistent support.
“I wish to specially acknowledge the support of President Muhammadu Buhari who even took the time to record a message of endorsement for my campaign. It is in the nature of democratic contestations that they are concluded with the declaration of one candidate as the winner. But we are all winners when the people freely declare their preferences at the ballot.
“I note the energetic campaigns of fellow contestants and call on them to continue to make their contributions to Kaduna State. Much has been achieved since 2015, but much remains to be done to drive Kaduna State closer to its potentials.
“Therefore, we shall be devoting efforts in the next few days to ensuring that we can begin to govern effectively from 29th May 2023 with the standards of efficiency and clarity set by the current government”. Uba Sani said.