The Senator who represented the Zamfara Central Constituency of Zamfara State, Saidu Muhammed Dansadau, has advised President Bola Tinubu to run a government based on “innovation” and “station charter”.
He gave the advice in Abuja on Monday during an exclusive interview session with The PUNCH.
Dansadau, who was also a former Secretary General of the Northern Senator’s Forum, said the “station charter” policy would be necessary to correct all the ills inherited by the administration.
According to him, the policy would be “an agreement between Mr President and individual appointees, who must sign to the document of performance and meeting with the set target of the government on the swearing-in day.”
The Senator, who was twice elected into the Red Chamber at the start of the Fourth Republic, under the All People’s Party platform in 1999 and was reelected in April 2003 on the All Nigeria People’s Party’s ticket for another four years to represent the Zamfara Central Constituency in the 8th Assembly, insisted that if the Tinubu-led Administration is to lead the country out of the present doldrums, it must adopt the “station charter” approach.
Dansadau informed further, “I even sent a memo to President Tinubu about the station charter. During the elections, I also sent another memo to him, which reiterates the first one.
“He should come up with an entirely new approach to governance. His government must be driven by innovations. We have to depart from the past and introduce certain new things,” he remarked.
Continuing, the politician stressed, “Before 1999, he had accused the military of incessant interventions. And we politicians have said that because of these incessant interventions, we have not been able to stabilise, and that, that is why we have failed the people of Nigeria.
“Now, we have had solid 24 years of uninterrupted democracy, and some people are recalling with nostalgia that what was happening before this new government was worse than the military regime in terms of corruption, in terms of all other things.
“So, if Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari, all tried in governing Nigeria and still bequeathed the Nigeria that Asiwaju inherited – then, the most critical thing is for Asiwaju to bring about a new approach in governance.
“Most of the policies put in place must be driven by innovations.”
While opening up further, he informed, “I told President Tinubu that he must introduce in his government what is called station charter. There’s no President in this country that has ever put that in place. Station charter is an agreement between the President and his individual appointees.
“If for instance you are the Minister of Education, on the day of swearing-in, you sign that agreement between me and you.
“In the first year, this is what I want you to achieve. Second year, this is what I want you to achieve. Third year, this is what I want you to achieve in all sectors of education under the Ministry of Education.
“He should do the same thing to the Minister of Health and other appointees. This station charter I’m advocating is divided into two – the individual station charter and the group station charter. There are certain services of government that can not be delivered by a single ministry or agency of government.
“For instance, when we are talking about securing the country; internal security, defence of the country, you don’t talk about one person. When you talk about the ministry of defence, internal security, you are talking about the office of the NSA, the DG, DSS, the NIA, the police, the military, the ministry of internal affairs.
“This is what it is called a group station charter. So, Asiwaju should have an agreement with all the leaders of these different agencies of government on what he wants them individually and collectively to achieve.
“This station charter provides an objective instrument to assess the performance of the ministers and other public officers. It also serves as a veritable tool for evaluating their performance.
“So, if you like, you may peg it to every quarter. But to give people the benefit of doubt, you may give them two quarters. If you fail in the first quarter to achieve what is expected of you, in the second quarter you may succeed.
“But if you fail in the second quarter, and in the third quarter you also fail, I think if he should fire the appointee. Nobody will blame him. But again, he may give him the whole year. And he should make it public, and tell Nigerians why the appointee was fired, and his agreement with him,” Dansadau advocated.
He maintained that this is the only way the federal government could achieve its targeted goals.
The Senator also cautioned the President against tolerating “any form of complacency” from his ministers and other appointees when they finally come on board.
