Governors on Thursday denied a claim by Senate President Godswill Akpabio that the Federal Government disbursed N1.08tn to states to address the food crisis in the country.
During the inauguration of the renovated central mosque in the Iseyin area of Oyo State on Thursday, the state Governor, Seyi Makinde, said as the Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, he could attest to the fact that state governors did not receive N30bn each as claimed by the Senate President.
Also, officials of Lagos, Zamfara, Benue, Osun, Katsina, and Enugu states told The PUNCH on Thursday that their state governments did not receive N30bn.
State governments had in September 2023 received N2bn each out of the N5bn loan offered to them by the Federal Government as a palliative to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
The economic reforms, including the subsidy removal implemented by the Federal Government, had precipitated a cost of living crisis across the country following higher transport costs, food inflation, and the plummeting value of the naira.
Speaking during the plenary on Tuesday, Akpabio said an unconfirmed report indicated that state governors received N30bn each from the Federation Account to ameliorate inflation and the high cost of food in their respective states.
“I must say that unverified report has it that each of the state governments in the last few months has received additional N30bn from Federal Inland Revenue Service outside their normal allocations from the Federation Account to assist them in ameliorating the food situation,” he reportedly said.
Akpabio challenges govs
The senate president, Akpabio, advised the governors to utilise the funds judiciously to reduce the high cost of food items and other challenges facing the country.
“We believe that every state government should utilise the funds received towards ensuring that food is available in the country.
“So, the state governments have a lot to do. They are closer to the people and I do not want to mention local government because most of the local governments are controlled by the state governors.
“My belief is that if the state government does what is needed, then the local government will be involved in sharing to make sure that these things get to the people. But we must not overlook the fact that Nigerians are not going to be interested in stories.
“Nigerians want to see action. Nigerians want to eat and we will provide food for them, there is no excuse. Despite what we met on the ground,” Akpabio added.
However, the Vice-Chairman of the NGF, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, at Iseyin, denied receiving N30bn from the central government.
Speaking on behalf of other governors, Makinde, wondered why the President of the Senate would rely on an unconfirmed report.
Makinde said he could speak for himself and other state governors said no such money was disbursed to any state.
According to him, the FIRS could not give such funds to any state, adding that all revenues go directly into the federation account, where allocations will be given to all the tiers of government.
Makinde tackles Akpabio
Makinde said, “I can speak for Oyo State, and I can also speak for any of my colleagues because I am the Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. I know when things happen. And if we want to play politics, we will keep quiet and say, let it slide, but we are not going to let this slide.
“First, the FIRS cannot give any money to any state; it is not possible. All revenues accruing to our country go into the federation account, and the money is distributed to all the tiers of government. The Federal Government does not give money to the state; the money in the federation account belongs to all of us, and it is not only to the Federal Government.
“We need to engage with our people; if our policies are not working, we need to listen to them and amend them. If the number three citizen says this is an unverified report, why does he need to say it? Does that give confidence to our people, or does it solve the problem of hunger and anger in our land?’’
“Let me say it clearly: for Oyo State and my colleagues, there is nothing like N30bn being given for food security to the states, and I stand to be challenged,’’ he declared.
Corroborating Makinde’s statement, Lagos, Osun, Benue, Katsina, and Sokoto States also denied receiving N30bn each from the Federal Government.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, refuted the claim that Lagos received N30bn.
“It’s not true. Our government, the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Dr Obafemi Hamzat, didn’t get N30bn from anybody to do anything. All of the things we are doing are in the people’s interest and we’re open and transparent. Anybody making such an allegation should put the facts on the table. Our governor didn’t get N30bn from anywhere.”
Speaking with one of our correspondents, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Kolapo Alimi, similarly dismissed Akpabio’s claims.
Alimi, who said Osun did not receive N30b as claimed by Akpabio, added that the state account books were open to scrutiny.
He simply said, “Osun did not receive N30bn. Our account books are open.”
The Benue State Commissioner for Finance and Budget Planning, Michael Oglegba also faulted the statement attributed to the senate president.
Oglegba stated that the meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee was ongoing in Abuja as of the time one of our correspondents spoke with him on the phone.
When asked about the disbursement of N30bn to each state, the commissioner said, “That is not true; I hope the Senate president was not misquoted because I have not seen that report. I’m presently at a FAAC meeting in Abuja.’’
N30bn hunger fund
He further said, “We have received many things but definitely not tackle hunger.’’
When asked to elaborate on the things received and for what purpose, Oglegba said, “I don’t have those things off-hand now.’’
The Director-General in charge of Media in Katsina State, Maiwada Dammallam, said he was not aware of any disbursement of the fund to the state government.
“I’m not aware that the Federal Government has given any governor N30bn,” he stressed.
Similarly, the Special Assistant to the Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal on Media and Communications, Mustafa Kaura, said he was not aware of the N30bn said to have been given to each state.
Kaura who spoke to The PUNCH on the phone said, “I am not aware of the money you are talking about. I am not aware of the N30bn said to have been given to each state by the Federal Government.”
Also commenting on the controversial disbursement by Akpabio, the Enugu State government said it did not know anything about the fund.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Peter Mbah on media, Mr Dan Nwomeh, stated, “We are not aware of that.”
Meanwhile, the Sokoto State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party has challenged the All Progressive Congress administration in the state on wage awards for civil servants and to be transparent in the management of the state resources.
The party described as ‘uninspiring’ and ‘empty words’ the speech delivered by Governor Ahmed Aliyu to a gathering of interest groups and stakeholders invited to brainstorm on how to address the problems of the high cost of foodstuffs and poverty ravaging the people of the state.
This was contained in a statement by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Hassan Sanyinnawal.
The statement said the governor’s speech should have dwelt on hope and assurances and the readiness of his administration to deploy optimally and transparently ‘’the recent humongous financial allocation/aid amounting to N30bn to the state.’’
The fund, it added, could assuage the challenges of galloping inflation, poverty, and hunger among the people due to the elimination of the subsidy on fuel and devaluation of the nation’s currency, which have caused untold hardships to the common man.
Instead of addressing these issues, the PDP said the governor’s speech merely ended up rehearsing the government’s past ‘minute amount of endeavour’ on the distribution of bags of grains to disabled persons and the enhancement of their monthly stipends.
The party stated, “All through the speech, the governor did not disclose how his administration intends to utilize the ‘subsidy windfall’ provided, particularly in ameliorating hunger, support to local councils and provision of Federal Government’s sanctioned wage awards to civil servants, which a number of states had done and are still doing.”
It noted that the governor’s speech left many attendees of the meeting including local government council sole administrators and civil servants disillusioned and disappointed.
PDP faults gov
The PDP, therefore, challenged Aliyu to toe the examples of his counterparts in Kaduna and Borno states, ‘’who with an air of openness told their people their monies will be solely utilized for the purpose of eradicating hunger and provision of other welfare packages as prescribed by the President.’’
Also, the party described as an ‘eye service’ the live coverage of the event on national television, saying it’s an attempt to hoodwink ‘Abuja People’ on the supposed sincerity and seriousness of the governor, ‘’which are in all senses a pseudo tackling of the myriads of socio-economic problems plaguing his state.’’
The statement read partly, ‘’The PDP in Sokoto State deeply appreciates the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, for his boldness in telling the citizens that each and every state of the federation received from the federation account N30b as part of the determined effort to neutralize the effects of poverty, hunger and high cost of foodstuffs faced by Nigerians.
“All eyes are now on Governor Aliyu on whether or not he will justify the confidence of the people of Sokoto State, especially civil servants who are gasping in horror by their not-so-good relationship with his administration.’’
The governor’s spokesman, Abubakar Bawa, could not be reached on the phone for comment on Thursday but a top official denied that the state received any funds from the Federal Government.
Also, the Chief Press Secretary to the Kebbi State Governor, Ahmed Idris, said, “Honestly, I’m not aware of such money and my boss is not around now for me to get information from him.”
•Additional reports: Bola Bamigbola, Raphael Ede, Animasahun Salman, and Maiharaji Altine
