Speaking at a meeting with the
governors in the Presidential Villa, President Buhari vowed that funds
stolen by government officials who abused their offices in the recent past
would be recovered and systemic leakages stopped.
"There are financial and
administrative instructions in every government parastatal and agency. But all
these were thrown to the dogs in the past. Honestly, our problems are great,
but we will do our best to surmount them.
"The next three months may be
hard, but billions of dollars can be recovered, and we will do our best,"
the president told the governors.
Expressing surprise
that the governors had tolerated the atrocities allegedly committed
with the Excess Crude Account since 2011, President Buhari promised to tackle
the issue decisively. The president declared that the payment of national
revenue into any account other than the Federation Account was
an abuse of the constitution, adding that what he had heard was going on
in many agencies and corporations, particularly the NNPC, was clearly illegal.
On the refund of monies spent on
federal projects by state governments, President Buhari assured the
governors that the Federal Government would pay, but insisted that due process
must be followed. The president promised special assistance for the three north
eastern states badly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. He also said
that a comprehensive statement on the economic and financial
situation inherited by his administration would be made to the nation
within the next four weeks.
"We will try and put the system
back into the right position. What happened in the second Republic has
apparently happened again, and even worse, but we will restore sanity to the
system," President Buhari assured the governors.
On an immediate lifeline for states
that owe salaries running into many months, President Buhari said that a
committee headed by the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, would look at
the Excess Crude Account and see what can be shared immediately.
The governors, led by chairman of the Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, had presented a wish list to the president that included:
The governors, led by chairman of the Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, had presented a wish list to the president that included:
Obedience of extant Supreme
Court ruling that all monies go into the Consolidated Federation Account;
An order from the president that
all revenue generating agencies must pay into the Consolidated Federation
Account;
Review of the Revenue
Allocation Formula;
Refund of the monies expended
by states on federal projects;
A special consideration for the
three states of the North East under Boko Haram infestation;
Full details of the amounts that
accrued into the Excess Crude Account from 2011, and how the money miraculously
shrank without official sharing.
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