TheCable

Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, better known as Dattijo, Kaduna commissioner for budget and planning, has announced his intention to contest as governor of the state in the 2023 election.

He made the announcement on Tuesday while addressing party leaders and supporters at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in the state.

Dattijo said he has the necessary experience to be the next governor of Kaduna, adding that he would invest in people and technology. 

“Having served in the state executive council since 2015 and briefly as chief of staff to the governor, gave me the opportunity to understudy and understand how governance works,” he said.

“It was then I knew that governing a state like Kaduna is not child’s play.

“Our leader and the state governor, mallam Nasir el-Rufai, tried his best and raised the bar in terms of providing infrastructural development and good governance.

“That is why the state needs a credible person with competence to lead it in 2023.

“We need to be careful in making a choice that whoever becomes the next governor is someone that is well experienced and grounded educationally.”

Speaking with journalists afterwards, Dattijo said if elected governor, he will focus on “securing Kaduna by investing in people and technology, rural transformation by connecting rural economies to agriculture and solid minerals as well as urban infrastructure”.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna government has directed its appointees interested in contesting the 2023 elections to resign by March 31.