Revenue Allocation: Northern Govs Challenge FG
From Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Governors of the 19 Northern States have challenged the Federal Government to publish what it has done with its share of allocation from the Federal Accounts Allocation Commit-tee (FAAC). They also condemned the allegation that governors are looting the treasury of their states.
Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Alhaji Danjuma Goje of Gombe State, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues in Abuja at the weekend told newsmen that the governors took exception to a statement credited to the Minister of State for Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, that governors misappropriate their state allocation. That was a false and unfair criticism, he said.
"Let them tell us what they have done with their own share of allocation. Let us see the figures and let Nigerians be the judge," Goje said.
Reiterating the need for the Federal Government to publish the details of its own allocation from the FAAC and the projects on which the funds were expended, Goje said condemning state governors as thieves was a mere ploy to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
The exchange of words between top officials of the Federal Government and state governors over the utilisation of the revenue due to states from the Federation Account began in April when Usman alleged that governors usually used 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."
Usman's position was supported by her senior minister in the finance ministry, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who also affirmed that governors have not been honest in the use of funds accruing to their states from the federation purse.
Several state governors have since challenged the duo to provide proofs of their allegation instead of making general insinuations against state governors.
Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi went further than some of his colleagues who had earlier joined the fray on the issue when he accused President Olusegun Obasanjo of using the monthly publication of financial allocations to states and local governments to blackmail state governors.
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."
Information and National Orientation Minister, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu, had, however, assured that Federal Government will soon publish the allocation to ministries.
The Gombe governor who spoke on other issues also called on the Obasanjo administration to allow the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocaiton Committee (RMAFC) to determine the new revenue formula.
Goje stated that RMAFC has done a thorough work on the new revenue formula and that the withdrawal of the bill before the National Assembly will not solve the problem.
Goje also said the Northern states governors have concluded plans to privatise the New Nigerian Newspapers.
Goje defended his recent restructuring of the emirates council system in Gombe State, explaining that it was aimed at enhancing development and sanitising the traditional institution by restoring it to its past glory.
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