Monthly allocation
Makarfi Accuses Obasanjo of Blackmail
Wants allocation to presidency pubished
From Agaju Madugba in Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi at the weekend accused President Olusegun Obasanjo of using the monthly publication of financial allocations to states and local governments to blackmail state governors.
In an interaction with newsmen in Kaduna, Makarfi dared Obasanjo to also direct the Federal Ministry of Finance to publish monthly allocations to the Presidency.
He said the Federal Government's slogan of accountability and transparency should not be one-sided,as the President should also tell Nigerians how he spends "the lion share" of the Federation Account allocations to him.
Makarfi said,"this is the height of injustice as well as paying lip service to the principle of accountability and transparency.
"There is no justification whatsoever for the Federal Government to continue to publish the monthly statutory allocations to states and local governments whereas Nigerians do not even know how much the Presidency receives.
"I think the best thing is for the Federal Government to equally publish its own monthly statutory allocation,to convince Nigerians that it observes the principle of accountability and transparency in governance."
Makarfi asked his critics to bring the best auditors from anywhere in the world to examine his financial dealings in Kaduna, saying, "I have no skeletons in my cupboard and the audited statement of accounts are up to date,from 1999 to 2003."
He pointed out that he had directed the Ministry of Finance to publish the summary of the statements of accounts for the period "so that citizens will know that we observe the principle of accountability and transparency in Kaduna State."
The Federal Government began publishing the monthly allocations to states and local governments following its observation that governors and council chiefs have not been keeping to the Federal Government principle of transparency and accountability.
Minister of State for Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, recently accused state governors of using the monthly allocations they get from the Federation Account to "buy up" foreign exchange.
"Four days to seven days after the FAAC (Federation Account Allocation Commit-tee) meeting, the exchange rate goes up," she said, adding, that "means that they (governors) are using the money to buy up dollars."
"Make telephone calls to any of the states, ask after the governor and you would be told he has gone abroad. Not only the governors, even the commissioners of finance," she added.
Usman said the governors' behaviour is the reason "there is hardly anything to show for the monies they are collecting."
The minister disclosed that apart from what goes to the National Emergency and Niger-Delta Development Commis-sion (NDDC), the Federal Government gets roughly about 48 per cent.
"If you compare that with about 53 per cent or so, you will agree with me that whatever policies and measures we put in place as the Federal Government to make our way straight, pursue transparency and accountability, if the remaining 53 per cent for the states and local governments doesn't do that, we are as good as we having failed."
She said most people couldn't distinguish the responsibility of the Federal Government from that of the states as well as the local governments.
According to her, "a local government road is bad and people say the Federal Government doesn't do its job but the Federal Government has its area of jurisdiction, it cannot jump into other areas." She said leaders should be held responsible for their actions.
Following the publication of the monthly allocation to states and local governments, the finance ministers were said to have received death threats.
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