Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris says stronger collaboration between the federal and state governments is needed to deliver the dividends of democracy to citizens.

In a chat with journalists on Friday in Abuja, Mr Idris said the complementary role of the two tiers of government would equally set the pace for the local government councils.

He said such collaborations would better achieve the objectives of locating projects, distributing social services, and educating citizens on policies and programmes.

Mr Idris emphasised that the state governors and local council chairs are closer to the people and are aware of their challenges.

“Does the federal government have farmers? Farmers are in the states. Even the vulnerable people are in the states. The state governments and local governments have vulnerable people.

“That is why some of the policies of the federal government fail because they do not carry states and local governments along,” said Mr Idris.

The governor decried a situation in which states were excluded from decision-making about policies and programmes that directly affected people at the grassroots.

“I discovered a federal government road project in my state that, as a governor and an APC governor for that matter, I was not aware of.

“In Kebbi State, we have a couple of roads that need urgent federal government intervention because they are central to the survival of our people, but surprisingly, a federal road project that is of little or no value to us as a people found its way into the 2024 federal budget,” said Mr Idris.

He added that, to show sincerity of purpose, the state government has agreed to fix those priority roads and pay them back when the federal government deems it fit.

“Now, the road that the government has captured in the budget for construction at about N158 billion is even fairly motorable and half of that amount can fix the roads that our people use often.

“I told them that democracy is very clear. When you cast your vote for a political party and the party wins, the expectation is that it will pay you back in terms of the provision of basic amenities.

“And this is payback time because our people put in place state and central governments, and as leaders of the All Progressives Congress, we must not fail the people who have confidence in us,” the governor said.

He said that, apart from the progressive governors, all other governors, local government chairmen, and councillors should be included in the federal government’s policies and programmes for the benefit of the people.

(NAN)