Senate President Akpabio cites unverified report that governors receive N30bn each to reduce hardships 

 

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said an “unverified report” indicated that state governors received N30 billion each from the Federation Account to ameliorate inflation and the high cost of food in their respective states.

Last September, the federal government said N2 billion was released to governors out of the N5 billion loan it offered to each state as a palliative to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.

During the plenary on Tuesday, Mr Akpabio said information available to him indicates that apart from the first tranche of funds given to the governors, an additional N30 billion was also given to them through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

“I must say that unverified report has it that each of the state governments in the last few months has received additional N30 billion from Federal Inland Revenue Service outside their normal allocations from the Federation Account to assist them in ameliorating the food situation,” he said.

The senate president advised the governors to utilise the funds judiciously to reduce the high cost of food items and other challenges facing the country.

“We believed 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 ground” Mr Akpabio added.

Mr Akpabio also referenced protests staged against the high cost of food items and the cost of living in different parts of the country.

On Tuesday, residents of Ibadan protested the high prices of food and other commodities.

Two weeks ago, residents of Minna, Niger State, trooped out in large numbers to protest the rising cost of living.

Last Monday, residents of Sokoto also protested the high cost of living in the country, calling on the government to find a lasting solution.

But, the senate president claimed that many of the protests were sponsored by some group of people against the federal government.

He said the protesters and their sponsors failed to recognise efforts made by the Senate and the federal government to fight inflation in the country.

“The situation is revolving daily. You can see a lot of protests here and there but those people are not aware. Most of those sponsored protests are not aware of the kind of efforts being made by this Senate to tackle the situation together with the joint management team of the Federation Government of Nigeria.

“There is no father that will want to see his child sleep in the night without food with the stomach grumbling, so we must provide. That is why I said we must not limit our discussion to – we will not import food, wherever we can find food to put on the table of Nigerians, we shall do so”.

Mr Akpabio explained that the worsening state of the economy was caused by COVID-19, insecurity and the N30 trillion Ways and Means advancement obtained by the Muhammadu Buhari administration from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“It is an uncommon situation which has been execrated by many factors, from COVID-19 to insecurity to inflation, to even the ways and means of N30 trillion that put so much pressure on the Central Bank of Nigeria and left a very big gap in the financial situation such that if this government inherited this situation it tried to feel the gap. It means that people will not eat, salaries will not be paid, and nothing will be done until the gap is filled. We have taken it and we must move on,” he said.