The Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF) and Ekiti Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has explained why Nigerian governors are grossly underperforming.
According to him, the drop in allocation from the federation account has had dire consequences on the performance of governors as they are forced to perform within the little resources available to them.
The governor stated this as a special guest at the commissioning of the rehabilitated 2.7kilometers Bosso Estate Roads Network in Minna, Niger State, yesterday.
He said poor finances of states made it difficult for governors to fulfill their election promises to electorates. He said as a first-term governor some years back, states were receiving more money from the federation account because crude oil sold for over $100 then, but that the reverse was now the case.
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‘These are challenging moments for us in our country. Governors are faced with limited resources,’ Fayemi lamented saying it was becoming more difficult for governors to meet their social responsibilities to the people, especially with the fight against banditry and other criminalities and its attendant funding challenges which the state governments have to face.
He praised the Niger governor for being ‘one of the most astute managers of limited resources at his disposal.’
Fayemi gave the ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC) conducted last Saturday a pass mark.
‘The congresses, by and large, have been very good, naturally, when you are in competition there may be a few skirmishes this is allowed but when you speak collectively you can give us a pass mark.’
Governor Abubakar Bello tasked the NGF Chairman to take the financial challenges facing state governments to President Muhammadu Buhari.
‘You are aware of the challenges we met in 2015, the price of crude oil has dropped, amount received from the federation account has reduced, whereas running cost has increased. Development of infrastructure has become more difficult for most state governments,‘ Bello said.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK