BuhariState Governors want Ecological Funds shared, they should be told off
State Governors have demanded that the nation's ecological funds be shared among them. No one should listen to them
State Governors are at it again.
Under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the State Chief Executives marched to the nation’s capital and tabled a request before Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele and Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun.
They want the ecological funds shared
“We are concerned seriously about the environment. The desertification in the North, oil and gas spills in the South-South and erosion in the South-East”, said NGF Chairman, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State.
“And we have a lot of funds in the ecological stabilisation funds. Those funds are not being discussed at National Economic Council(NEC).
“What we discuss at NEC is usually briefing on excess crude account and the federation account. But this fund is not being discussed at that platform.
“We will like to have this fund available every month because those funds are federation funds and we are having so many problems. We need the money,” Governor Yari said.
We need the money.
Ecological funds are monies set aside by the Nigerian federation to tackle issues like flooding, desertification, oil spills, environmental degradation and erosion, among others.
The funds have always been under federal control
The ECA had savings from Nigeria’s crude oil output during the years of high oil prices and boom.
Finance Minister during the Jonathan era, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, would have none of it and put up a fight to stave off the greedy State Exceutives.
The Governors cited relevant laws to back up their demands that the money be shared.
Long story short, the Governors had their way and the ECA was emptied.
Here we go again.
The case could be made that under a spendthrift Jonathan, asking that savings be shared was received wisdom on the part of the Governors. Or that in an administration where the money was always going to be stolen anyway, why save when you can share?
On the surface, there’s some transparency and accountability with the way the bureaucracy is set up under Buhari. Or so we've been told.
So, why demand to share what is being saved for a rainy day? (Pun intended).
The ECA had savings from Nigeria’s crude oil output during the years of high oil prices and boom.
Finance Minister during the Jonathan era, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, would have none of it and put up a fight to stave off the greedy State Exceutives.
The Governors cited relevant laws to back up their demands that the money be shared.
Long story short, the Governors had their way and the ECA was emptied.
Here we go again.
The case could be made that under a spendthrift Jonathan, asking that savings be shared was received wisdom on the part of the Governors. Or that in an administration where the money was always going to be stolen anyway, why save when you can share?
On the surface, there’s some transparency and accountability with the way the bureaucracy is set up under Buhari. Or so we've been told.
So, why demand to share what is being saved for a rainy day? (Pun intended).
Yes, the States are cash-strapped, everyone is broke and dying, but will sharing the ecological funds automatically solve all financial problems afflicting the States?
Who says these State Governors won’t fritter their respective parts of the booty if shared?
State Governors really have to think of creative ways to get their districts out of financial crisis instead of always looking to the center, cap in hand.
A lot has been said about fiscal restructuring as a final panacea here, but while we try to figure out how to go about all of that, it should embarrass these State Executives each time they head to Abuja to beg for funds when they can actually generate some money from their States if they as much as put their thinking caps on.
What kind of country always looks to share its savings as a way of getting out of every problem?
The Buhari-led federal government should tell these lazy Governors off.
About time they stopped begging and got to work.
The ecological funds should be used for what they were meant for--solving ecological problems.
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