Our Take on Akpabio’s ₦30 Billion FG Intervention To Governors
On Wednesday, 23rd February 2024, Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio dropped the bombshell that “an unverified report shows that state governors received thirty Billion Naira (₦30 Billion) each from the Federal Government to reduce hardship” or to cushion the biting effects of the widespread hardship and devastation in the land.
As Nigeria’s number three, Akpabio’s words carry a great deal of weight, nor would anyone ever harbour any doubt about words spoken by the country’s Senate President. So, it did not take long before a barrage of thick fire started aiming at Nigerian Governor’s. Nigerians did not care to note that even by Akpabio’s admission, information on the release of the said funds came from an unverified report. Perhaps, the attacks on our governors were this thick and assured because Nigerians have been burnt so many times by them that a searchlight scrutinizing every claim against state governors long suspected of shortchanging governance at the subnational level seemed like the right, even patriotic thing to do.
The renewed scrutiny may also not be unconnected with the conduct of governors in the recent past, specifically when Covid-19 intervention funds shared by the administration of erstwhile president, Muhammadu Buhari were alleged to have ended up on the desks of Bureau De Change operators for onward conversion to hard currency for ease of looting. Indeed, the reactions of Nigerians to Akpabio’s claims shows that our people have now been wired to believe the worst about our state governors. It must be said that his gloomy opinion of our governors was shaped by a dark precedence on their part.
Just when it appeared as though Akpabio’s bombshell was right on the money, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state and deputy governor of the Nigerian Governors Forum used the occasion of the commissioning of the newly-renovated multi-billion naira Iseyin Central Mosque Iseyin to publicly refute the claims made by Akpabio that governors received ₦30 Billion from the federal government outside their statutory allocation purportedly to address food insecurity in their state. Governor Umo Eno, of the Akpabio’s home state of Akwa Ibom has also refuted the Senate president’s claim, clarifying that FG only gave out ₦2 Billion as a loan to states.
Ordinarily, Nigerians would have been looking towards the federal government for clarification, but then, Akpabio is federal government. The question then is, where did Akpabio scoop his unverified claims of ₦30 Billion intervention to states from? The truth is, Akpabio is giving to these superfluous claims, forgetting that governance is a profoundly serious business. The Senate president must be reminded that the office he occupies is a staple of the Nigerian people and must therefore be accorded the respect it deserves. As governance go, there are no greater sources of government expenditure than the president and senate president’s office. Akpabio must therefore reign in his impulses and desist from further bringing the office he now occupies to disrepute.
It is rather mischievous that a senate president and Nigeria’s number three will go to press and share with the Nigerian people information from an unverified source. We believe this is the height of disrespect for the Nigerian people and the least expected of an occupant of his office is a public apology. We believe Akpabio was deliberately transacting in mischief because as Nigeria’s number three, it will not cost him anything to verify such claims before going to press, unless, of course, as it has emerged, he was deliberately playing to the gallery. Godswill Akpabio’s gaffe is one of the reasons why experts have maintained that such public communications be left to trained public communication professionals.
Notwithstanding Akpabio’s less than Senate Presidential behavior, it must be said that his goof has brought something to the limelight. When Seyi Makinde denounced Akpabio, he did not reveal the ₦2Billion that Governor Umo Eno will later admit was given to governors albeit as a loan. Nigerians will love to know if this intervention loan has been expended towards the purpose for which it was earmarked.
It goes without saying that Nigerians have been made wiser by the past actions of many governors who take money from the federal government only to convert same for personal spending sprees in tax havens. Henceforth, we believe that the FG should imbibe the culture of sharing details of such monetary interventions to states with the Nigerian public as this will help save the Akpabio’s of this nation the need to transact in grandiloquent hyperboles. Leaving details of such transaction in the public domain also serves as a warning to governors that Nigerians are aware of the funds and the purpose for which they were received.
We maintain that shrouding the details of such important transactions in secrecy have been counterproductive. This much cannot be overemphasized. Our leaders should note that Nigerians are currently dealing with so much and although Akpabio has added catharsis to his job his description, it will help if the emotions of Nigerians as well as the polity are not unnecessarily heated.
