BY LINUS CHIBUIKE
GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party have warned the All Progressives Congress Federal Government not to crucify Governor Godwin Emefiele of Edo State for sounding a note of caution on its management of monetary policy.
The PDP Governors Forum said it was alarmed at the partisan slant that had been given to Obaseki’s patriotic advice, as regards his claims that the Federal Government printed N60billion to augment March allocation to states.
It criticised the Progressive Governors Forum for attacking Obaseki in its recent statement on the same issue, describing the attack as unhelpful.
The PDP Governors spoke in a statement signed by the Director-General, PDP Governors Forum, Cyril Maduabum, made available to journalists on Sunday.
The APC Governors had reacted to the exchanges between Governor Obaseki and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, over the former’s claim that the Federal Government printed N60bn to augment March allocation to states.
The Minister said no money was printed, describing Obaseki’s claim as falsehood and very sad, while the Edo Governor stood by his claim and advised the Federal Government to stop playing the Ostrich.
The APC Governors, however, faulted Obaseki’s position, saying they had waved it off initially as an off-the-cuff remark made in a private meeting until he released another statement on the same issue.
The Progressive Governors Forum, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, said, “We were however shocked to see yet another response from our colleague to the rebuttal by the HM Finance insisting that the March 2021 FAAC was augmented via the printing of money.
“Given the significance of the statement from a sitting governor and the possible negative impact it has brought to the credibility of both the Federal and State Government in managing government finances, the Forum is obliged to put a statement out.”
The PGF added, “To set the records clear and to the best of our knowledge, the total distributable statutory revenue for the month of March 2021 was N596.94 billion.
“Due to the shortfall in gross statutory revenues by N43.34 billion compared to the previous month, an augmentation was made in the sum of N8.65 billion from the Forex Equalization Fund Account, which brought the total distributable revenue to N605.59 billion.”
While describing Obaseki’s assertion as unfortunate and inaccurate, the governors noted that federation revenues distributed monthly primarily consisted of mineral revenues from the sale of oil and gas, as well as non-mineral revenues from customs and excise duties, company income tax, and value added tax.
“It would therefore be helpful to admonish ourselves as leaders to work collaboratively in tackling these challenges rather than resort to cheap and demagogic point scoring in our quest to rescue the economy,” they said.
PDP GOVERNORS
But the PDP Governors, in the statement released on Sunday, argued, “It is unhelpful for the Progressive Governors Forum to join the fray in the manner it did by its recent statement attacking the bona fides of Governor Obaseki who merely warned the monetary authorities about the danger of uncontrolled use of Ways and Means, that is, the printing of Naira, to support government’s expenditure.
“Governor Obaseki has a background in economics and finance and is a very responsible governor who talks in a measured way.
”His advice, which by the way has been corroborated by none other than the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, himself, and the international ratings agency FITCH, should be heeded rather than being crucified for sounding a note of caution.”
They added, “No doubt, the Federal Government has been supporting the states in the area of agriculture, budget, refund of Federal Government executed projects by states and a few other areas of intervention.
“Is CBN trying to be vindictive and vengeful by recalling its loans to the states because of an informed advice by a governor? It is unfortunate that governance has plummeted to this level.”
They advised the Federal Government to plug financial leakages in the system and curb wasteful expenditure of billions of naira on projects that could be executed by the private sector.
This way, the Forum said, a lot of money would be saved in the process, thereby relying less on ways and means by the CBN, “which brings pressure on the Naira with its inflationary consequences.”
“Inflation in Nigeria is currently at 18.2 per cent, the highest in recent years. We should all be concerned to find ways of steming the tide. We are all involved in the urgent task of rescuing the economy of Nigeria and nobody should indeed play the ostrich,” the PDP Governors Forum reiterated.
