…Bemoan the rising insecurity, unemployment
….Recommend restructuring, decentralization of security architecture, devolution of powers to states, LGAs
By Emeka Alex Duru
Editor
Rising from their meeting in Makurdi, Benue State on Friday, the governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, under the aegis of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, PDP–GF, took a review of the state of affairs in the country and passed an emphatic verdict of failure on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government. The governors particularly scored the administration low on the rising spate of insecurity in the country, ethnic, religious tensions and the widening fault lines among the component units as well as the bludgeoning unemployment rate among the youths. They lamented the suffocating grips of the federal government on the states, stressing that the trend works against their contributing to lifting the country out of its present piteous situation.
The PDP-GF made its observations in a communique after the meeting. The meeting noted and condemned the alarming drift of Nigeria which it said, if allowed to continue, will make Nigeria a failed state. The governors also expressed deep concern and alarm at the deteriorating relations between various groups in Nigeria, stressing that this has given rise to ethnic and tribal tensions, religious divisions, and various forms of social and political cleavages. The Governors concluded that Nigeria is in dire need of leadership at the Federal level to avert the looming disaster.
They noted that Nigerians are no longer guaranteed under the present government as a result of leadership incompetence and mismanagement of the nation’s affairs. While admitting that they have a role in stabilizing the ship of state the PDP governors claimed that their hands are tied behind their backs alleging that the entire coercive authority in the country is monopolised by the APC federal government. Going forward, they recommended decentralisation of the security architecture of Nigeria to involve States and Local Governments. The governors specifically called for urgent devolution of powers and restructuring of the country in a way that brings together various groups and tendencies in the country, stressing that the measure appears to have become imperative and timely now as Nigeria cannot afford another civil war.
The meeting called on the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to send a new Revenue Allocation Formula that allocates more resources to States and Local Governments to the President for National Assembly’s action, noting that it is a scandal that 21 years after the 1999 Constitution came into being, no new Revenue Formula is in place.
The governors also called for a more transparent and accountable running and operation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
They frowned at what they described as intimidation of sitting governors by the APC administration using all sorts of weapons like security agencies, unequal access to federal resources, promotion of divisions in the opposition political parties with fake promises and falsehoods. In particular, they called on the. President to lift the “No flight Zone” order and other intimidating tactics, imposed on Zamfara State, arguing that similar measures have not been extended to similar states with security challenges like Kaduna, Borno, Katsina, Yobe and others. “This is mostly politically motivated to ensure that the Governors move over to APC”, they lamented.
The Governors were distressed that Nigeria is now officially the country with the highest unemployment rate in the world at 33%, blaming the situation on poor management of the economy by the APC-led federal government.
The meeting was attended by Governors Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, – Sokoto State (Chairman); Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu – Abia State – (Vice Chairman); Udom Emmanuel – Akwa Ibom State; Sen. Douye Diri – Bayelsa State; Samuel Ortom -Benue State; Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa – Delta State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi – Enugu State; Nyesom Wike – Rivers State; Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde – Oyo State; Arc Darius Dickson Ishaku -Taraba State; Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri -Adamawa State; Godwin Obaseki – Edo State; Bello Mattawale Maradun -Zamfara State; Deputy Governor Sen. Baba Tela – Bauchi State.