August 12, (THEWILL) – The current blame games between the Federal Government and the states over the disbursement of N550 billion leaves much to be desired.
During his August 4, 2024, broadcast to Nigerians on the heels of the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hunger and hardship, President Bola Tinubu said the Federal Government had disbursed N573 billion to the 36 states.
No sooner had the President done so than the Vice-Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, took to his X account to deny any such grant.
According to Makinde, the President’s claim was yet another misrepresentation of facts. The governor said the funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project—a Programme for Results intervention.
He said, “The World Bank facilitated an intervention to help states in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery. CARES means COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus. It was called Programme for Results because States had to use their money in advance to implement the programme. After the World Bank verified the amount spent by the State, it reimbursed the states through the platform provided at the federal level. The Federal Government did not give any state money; it was simply the conduit through which the reimbursements were made to the 36 states for money already spent.
“It is important to note that the World Bank fund is a loan to the states, not a grant. So, the states will need to repay this loan. Note also that NG-CARES, which we christened Oyo-CARES in our state, predates the present federal administration.
We have quoted the governor at length to underline our concern for the alarming turn that an ugly relationship between the centre and units is gradually taking. Note that Governor Makinde also stated that “this was another misrepresentation of fact,” meaning this was not the first time such a claim was being made.
Recall that sometime in February this year, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio alleged that the Federal Government disbursed N1.08tn to states to address the food crisis in the country.
Akpabio, who made the allegation during plenary, said each state governor received N30bn each from the Federation Account to checkmate inflation and the high cost of food in their respective states. According to him, the money was disbursed by the Federal Inland Revenue, an unlikely source, which on the face of it, should have made Senator Akpabio wary of his statement. Yet he went ahead to call on the governors to make use of the fund to address the cost of living crisis ravaging the country.
As it turned out, the President of the Senate lied. Again, it was Governor Makinde that denied Akpabio’s claim and his other counterparts followed suit.
For one, according to Makinde, the FIRS cannot give any money to any state. All revenues accruing to the country go into the Federation Account and the money is distributed to all the tiers of government. The Federal Government does not give money to the state; the money in the Federation Account belongs to all the tiers of governance and it is not only to the Federal Government. Period.
At a period when the government’s policies have raised the cost of living crisis across the country, following higher transport costs, food inflation and the crashing value of the naira, all of which have precipitated the ongoing protests, we call on the authorities to stop inflaming passions by resorting to false claims and allegations. It is divisive and calls to question the place of due process and accountability in the governance process.
