Governors of the All Progressives Congress have asked the Federal Government of Nigeria to address the dwindling federal allocation to their states.
Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Progressives Governors Forum in Ilorin on Wednesday, the Chairman of Forum and the Governor of Imo State, Mr Rochas Okorocha, said that it had become difficult for some states to pay the salaries of workers.
They questioned why the allocation to the state government had continued to decline if the country was not broke as claimed by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a press briefing on Monday.
“If truly the country is not broke, then the real allocation to states should be given to them,” Governor Okorocha stressed.
Illegal Deductions
He wondered why the PDP governors were not complaining about the dwindling revenue, urging the Federal Government to addressed the issue and not politicise it.
The APC governor plan to meet President Goodluck Jonathan on the issue soon.
A year ago, the APC had said they may be heading to the court to ask the Federal Government to explain the several deductions from their federal allocations.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting of the governors in Abuja on October 20, the then Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who was the chairman of the forum at that time, said “some states in the last few months have had about 40 per cent of the allocations deducted”.
He described the deductions as illegal, stressing that every constitutional means would be explored to ensure the deductions were stopped.
The Wednesday meeting of the Governors further showed that the allocations were still dwindling, something the opposition party’s governors emphatically condemned.
Purposeful Leadership
Governor Okorocha further told Journalists that the APC would continue to provide purposeful leadership for the country if elected next year.
He stressed that a credible candidate would be provided by the party during its primaries.
Governor Okorocha expressed optimism that the 2015 general elections would be free, fair and credible, stressing that the outcome of the election would be a “disappointment to persons wishing Nigeria evil”.
Also at the meeting was the former Governor of of Ekiti State, Mr Fayemi, who was praised and eulogised by the chairman of the forum , Governor Okorocha.
Governor Okorocha said: “Mr Fayemi is a sportsman who showed a rare quality of a good politician after the election”.
Mr Fayemi expressed its support for a consensus candidate of the party for the Presidential election of 2015, “if that will ensure unity but must have internal democracy”.
Seven governors attended the meeting held at the Council Chamber of Government House in Ilorin, kwara State, capital. It lasted for four hours, with much deliberations on the 2015 general elections.
