By Halimah Olamide
Governor of Oyo State Seyi Makinde on Thursday accused President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio of lying to Nigerians that governors collected N30bn from the Federal Government.
Makinde, while speaking at the commissioning of the Iseyin Central Mosque, wondered why a senior official of the government would make such alleged outlandish statement knowing it is false.
Accusing Akpabio of contributing to the already tensed situation in the country, Makinde said it is not impossible for the Federal Inland Revenue Service to pay money meant for the people of the country just like that.
NPO Reports that Akpabio had said that each state had been paid N30bn as budget support.
|In direct response to the Senate President’s statement, I can speak for Oyo State as the Governor, and other States as the Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, when I say that no such payment was ever received.
“In fact, what has happened is that of the N5billion that was announced by the Federal Government last year for State Governments, Oyo State has only received 2 billion Naira. Also, contrary to the agreement, the Federal Government is already asking for the money to be refunded,” Makinde said
He added the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) cannot give money to any State Government.
“All revenues accruing to our nation goes into the Federation Account and is distributed to all three tiers of government. The Federal Government does not give States money. The money in the Federation Account belongs to the three tiers of government,” he added
Accusing Akpabio of playing politics with his statement, the Oyo state governor said “I have said this before, and I will repeat it again: this is not the time to play politics. This is the time to get the thinkers of this country to come up with solutions that will take us out of the doldrums.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has shown good faith towards the Federal Government by supporting policies that benefit our people, such as the removal of fuel subsidy. However, we will point out that some people are trying to divert attention from the real issues by peddling political half-truths and untruths.
“As stated in a recent press release, PDP Governors are not interested in political solutions to Nigeria’s pressing issues. As sub-nationals, we are focused on bringing development to our people, growing our economies and providing interventions where possible.