By Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, lampooned state governors over what he described as their unfair treatment of the administration at the local government level.
President stated this while delivering his speech at an event hosted for members of the Senior Executive Course 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President, who cited a personal experience involving an unnamed governor, portrayed the sort of corrupt practices perpetrated by some governors in dispensing resources meant for local councils’ administrations.
He said it beats anyone's imagination how some state governors would collect money on behalf of council areas in their states, only to remit just half of such allocation to the council Chairman, who would further deplete the remittance in further pilfering of public resources.
President Buhari, however, related the development to the question of lack of integrity in the character of many of those holding such offices as those of governorship and council chairmanship, adding that such actions are rather despicable and speak of the height of corruption in the country.
He said, “Speaking from personal experience, a Chief Executive of a state, a qualified lawyer, trained, the treatment of local governments, what they did, this is my personal experience. If the monies from the federal government to state governments is 100 million (naira), let's put it at 100 million. 50 million will be sent to the chairman with a letter that he will sign that he received 100 million.
“The governor will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wanted to and then the chairman of the local government will see how much he must pay in salaries, to hell goes development. Monies for the salaries will be given and the balance will put in his pocket. This is what is happening.
“This is Nigeria, it’s a terrible thing, You cannot say the person who was doing these was not educated, he was a qualified lawyer, he was experienced, yet he participated in this type of corruption.
“So it’s a matter of conscience, whichever level we find ourselves. As a leader, you sit here, with all the sacrifices the country is making by putting you through institutions and getting you ready to lead. The fundamental thing is personal integrity. May God help us."
He pledged that the recommendations contained in the presentation of SEC 44 will be painstakingly studied by the Government with the view to implementing its recommendations.
Declaring that his administration has done so much in building trust between the government and the people, the President noted that the report would largely assist in the provision of good governance to the people at the grassroots levels and by extension win back their trust in government.
According to him, ‘‘It is obvious that government cannot afford to pay lip-service to the recommendations contained in this report.
‘‘I assure you that the Report will be treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves. Government will study the report with the view to implementing the carefully detailed recommendations."
Commending the quality of the report, the commitment and dedication that went into it, President Buhari said the National Institute can always be trusted to deliver on very critical and sensitive assignments of national importance.
He expressed delight that the Institute has been exceptional in handling several assignments, and the current submission is a commendable improvement on the existing standards.
He said, ‘‘The quality of the presentation, and the confidence with which they were made, strongly attests to the quality of training the participants received during the course. I congratulate you for justifying the confidence and trust reposed in each and every one of you by your respective nominations.
‘‘I am also happy with the level of knowledge and discipline you have all openly demonstrated. I have been briefed of the rigorous training process you all underwent at Kuru. Your graduation therefore is well deserved."
He added that he was convinced that they are all now well equipped for the strategic tasks, increased responsibilities, and positions of authority of trust.
‘‘I challenge you to go back to your various establishments, units, posts, beats, departments, directorates, Ministries, Parastatals, commissions, commands, agencies to revitalize, reinvigorate, reform and rejig your various platforms and spheres of influence, responsibility and leadership,’’ he said.
Responding to the demands by the leadership of NIPSS, President Buhari promised to look into some of the challenges facing the Institute, adding that no government establishment exists without challenges.
He assured them that his administration is poised to complete the review and passage of the NIPSS establishment act and condition of service before handover in May 2023.
To this extent, the President directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation to take all necessary steps to its actualization.
In his remarks, the Director-General of NIPSS, Prof Ayo Omotayo, said the Course participants undertook study tours of 14 States of the Federation, six African countries and six countries outside Africa.
‘‘This enabled them to have both local and international perspectives on local governance, how to overcome challenges in achieving it, identify the available opportunities to strengthen it and develop workable options to be considered by government in strengthening local governance,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, a directing staff of the NIPSS, Professor Tunji Olaopa, in a chat with journalists said restructuring of the federation would go a long way in solving most of the issues bedeviling the country, including the universal insecure situation.
He alluded to the report of the Class, presented at the event to President Buhari, which suggested that for Nigeria to manage most of the challenges currently facing the country, governance at the grassroots must be set straight.
He said, “The truth of the matter, as it came out in the report, was succinctly captured by the SGF. If the local community and the grassroot is not governed, you have no excuse complaining that bandits have taken over our communities because local governance, the community, the grassroots, is the foundation of a democratic process, that’s where the people belong and because governance is not effective, people have devised self-help, survival-coping mechanism.
“While the government will take it on, NIPSS should also take up the advocacy dimension because really, from the conversation, you will see that the governors are the elephants in the room and of course, we also recognize that the governors are complaining because of over-centralization of power in the exclusive functions.
“So, really restructuring of the Federation will help the governors of the states to rethink and give ample room to local government, then a whole lot of our recommendations will be able to ride on that”, he said.
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