The presidency said the governors elected on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform offered no solution to the nation’s challenges in the face of COVID and the global economic downturn.
Malam Garba Shehu, the president’s senior special assistant for media and publicity, said this in a statement Wednesday in Abuja.
Shehu said the governors “instead, they are looking for more money and mourning their lack of access to social media to spread lies and hate.”
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that the presidential aide was reacting to a statement released Monday by the PDP governors at the end of their meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom.
Governors condemned the manner and manner in which some government agencies like the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were run under Buhari’s administration.
However, the presidential spokesman said, “The statement from the PDP Governors Forum was a spectacular demonstration to the Nigerian people of why this party and its representatives should not be given the national leadership of our country anytime soon.
“Deploring the decision of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) not to make contributions to the Federation account, the governors seem to believe that the NNPC can spend the same money twice: once for the oil subsidy – that they all support – and then for their states through the Federation Account.
“The NNPC is the administrator of the nation, which means that it must manage its finances prudently and preserve the long-term financial support it gives to our country.
“What the governors are asking the NNPC to do is ‘break the bank’ for their own libertine political ends.
“A similar lavishness and contradiction is prominent with their call for the Central Bank to appreciate the value of the Naira.”
According to him, this will hurt exports (including the oil revenues on which the NNPC depends) as well as small businesses and jobs.
He argued that a valued currency would benefit those overseas luxury spenders.
“This, without a doubt, is the main desire of a typical PDP governor.
“When governors claim that the lack of money from federal institutions flowing into the coffers of their states is an affront to democracy, constitutionalism and federalism,” he said.
He added that they “fail to mention that the ugliest trend against Nigeria’s integrity comes at their own hands with their refusal to support the federal government’s sincere desire to re-enter local government as a third tier and find a lasting solution to the conflicts between farmers and herders which cost dearly the nation lives and raises livestock.
“This initiative brings rights and support to generations of all ages to provide solutions to the challenges that different communities in our country have faced, but the governors of the PDP reject it.”
Shehu said that with this, the governors denied all Nigerians their constitutional right to live and work in any state in the Federation – “preferring to appeal to ethnic division and hatred rather than support the first practical solution offered since independence.
“Likewise, the governors call for greater involvement of States in mining and geophysical activities within their States.
“The question must be asked, ‘Why did it take you so long?’ Such opportunities and state powers have been fully available since independence – but is it only now that the PDP realizes it?
The presidential aide also condemned the stance of PDP governors on suspending Twitter activities in the country.
He noted that governors use the Twitter platform to spread fake news and make up stories.
“And, of course, the PDP grieves over the federal government’s action on Twitter – as it represents the limitation of their ability to use the platform to spread fake news and fabricated stories to the detriment of the community and good neighborliness between the peoples of Nigeria.
“Their statement is proof, if it were needed, of why the president and the APC ended the one-party regime of the PDP in 2015, were re-elected with an increased margin in 2019, and why their winning trend is expected to continue far. in the future, ”he added.
