Subsidy: Account For Increased Federal Allocations, Nwodo Tasks Governors, LG Chairmen

Nigerians should be on the toes of state governors and local government chairmen to make open how they expend huge sums of allocations coming to states and LGAs in the aftermath of the fuel subsidy removal.

The former National Chairman of the Progressives Action Congress, Chief Charles Agadenyi Nwodo, stated this on Wednesday in an interview with THE WHISTLER. He said it was not enough to keep piling the blame of the country’s economic woes on the federal government alone when the FG has proportionally increased its allocations to states and LGAs meant for the welfare of the citizenry.

He said, “It is unfortunate that the focus of the public is on the federal government alone even when states and LGAs have the greater bulk of the allocations, including the IGR they generate.

“The problem is that the conduct of local government elections in Nigeria has not been perfected. It is a game of who controls the states. The governors are still in charge of LGAs in spite of the local government autonomy being canvassed nationwide.

“Without that autonomy and strict compliance with the autonomy too, the LG officials will remain subservient to state governors who take control of the resources and direct them as they want; otherwise remote control them.

“The governors should be more blamed on the poverty existing within states. They have not come out fully even to intimate the public on the incomes coming into states. If not that the Federal Account Allocation Committee publishes revenue allocations to states and LGAs, it would have been a hidden agenda.”

He urged various state Houses of Assembly to rise to the responsibility of creating checks and balances on state governors and council chairmen to enable the citizenry to enjoy the dividends of democracy due to them.

Chief Nwodo also enjoined the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission to follow up “these allocations to ascertain how they are being disbursed.”

According to him, “One thing is giving someone money, and the other is how it is being retired. If money is allocated and no genuine process of retirement is outlined, the money could miss the road. That is how billions of naira is disappearing from various units, including those eaten by snakes.

“The civil societies should also rise to their responsibilities. The citizenry should ask questions. It is unfortunate that they are being cowed from airing their views pertaining to how their commonwealth is being managed.”