JUST IN: Governors under scrutiny as economic hardship, hunger worsens

There are worries that state governors are not doing enough to alleviate the suffering of citizens despite the significant increases in revenue allotted to the various levels of government following the elimination of fuel subsidies.

This comes as Nigerians struggle with more economic hardship due to rising inflation and the ongoing depreciation of the Naira in the exchange rate.

This is all the while the nation has been dealing with security issues, including regular attacks by armed individuals in different parts of the country.

According to ZINGTIE, the cost of products and services is rising daily and is now out of reach for the underprivileged.

Remember that on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu declared the elimination of oil subsidies, which worsened the country’s economic position.

According to the ZINGTIE, citizens of Niger, Kano, Kogi, Ondo, Oyo, and other states have been protesting the harsh economic conditions.

The government of Nigeria has come under fire from the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) for failing to address the country’s mounting economic suffering and insecurity, even with massive financial allocations and monthly security votes.

Apart from this, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Northern traditional rulers have expressed their displeasure over the hardships in the nation caused by the elimination of gasoline subsidies, which has led to increased transportation expenses and food inflation.

Though many Nigerians still hold the federal government responsible for the current economic crisis, many have started to wonder what state governors are doing to lessen the suffering of their constituents in their regions.

According to the ZINGTIE, the Federal Government criticized the governors chosen on the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) platform on Tuesday of last week, demanding an explanation on whether they had raised funding for their constituents.

Following a statement by the PDP governors urging the APC-led federal government to step up and handle the nation’s escalating economic hardship before it got out of control, the federal government responded.

The PDP governors had blamed Tinubu’s administration for the crisis, claiming that Nigerians’ current suffering was caused by the country’s security and economic issues.

“The forum consequently urges the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, embark on initiatives involving all the sub-national governments to bring a lasting solution to the crises,” said the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.

“Nigerians should ask PDP governors how far and how well they have utilized the increased revenue to better the lives of Nigerians in their respective states,” stated Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information & National Orientation.

“It is on record that most states controlled by PDP owe workers and pensioners months of unpaid salary and pension arrears. The PDP governors have defaulted in paying gratuities to their retired workers. It is also a fact that many of the PDP governors have not paid N30,000 minimum wage to their workers since it took effect more than four years ago. All of these anomalies in their states contribute significantly to the economic pressure their citizens face.

“If PDP governors are genuinely interested in the living conditions of Nigerians and are not just stirring up disaffection and ill-will towards the federal government, we urge them to meet their obligations to workers, pensioners, and local contractors and see the multiplier effect.

“It is disappointing that PDP governors talk about rising costs of living and food when they have not done much to increase food production in their states. The land in Nigeria belongs to the states, not the Federal Government.”

To help the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) buy food to give to the underprivileged in their states, the federal government authorized N5 billion for each state in December 2023.

This development follows the increase in the price of food and gasoline due to the withdrawal of commodities subsidies.

The governors have benefited greatly from Tinubu’s administration’s help and the large windfall in revenue allocations; they recently received N7 billion and N2 billion, respectively, for infrastructural support and palliative gasoline subsidy.

In light of this, state governors have no excuse to let their constituents down, according to Bayo Onanuga, Special Advisor to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, who also pointed out that since June 2023, all levels of government have received higher income allocations.

“The 36 states have enjoyed overwhelming support from President Tinubu’s administration, having recently been given N7 billion each for infrastructure support, in addition to the N2 billion earlier given as fuel subsidy palliative.

“State governors thus have no reason not to do a lot for their people, instead of the obsession with the center. By spending money on roads and other infrastructure, many jobs will be created, and people will have money to spend,” Onanuga said.

The House of Representatives has directed its Committees on Special Duties, National Planning, and Economic Development to investigate how state governments are using the extra funding from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, or FAAC, and how much of it is being spent, according to a report published in the ZINGTIE.

This transpired after the House floor in Abuja, where Rep. Ademorin Kuye (APC-Lagos) adopted a resolution of pressing public interest.

According to Kuye, FAAC gave states and local government units extra money in the final seven months following the elimination of subsidies.

According to him, the amount of money received by states and local government areas in 2023 was N6.57 trillion, twice as much as they received in 2022. However, he contended that over 14.2 million people were still living in poverty despite the states receiving more money.

He said that even with the increase, some states still needed help making ends meet, paying salaries, running government agencies efficiently, running public transportation, and getting access to clean water.

He said that the jobless rate in some states rose to over 51%.

“It is worrisome that some state governors have brazenly refused to complement the Federal Government’s poverty amelioration efforts and are not driving the necessary economic transformation.

“If the states were doing the needful, that would have reduced the suffering of Nigerians,” Kuye said.

Revenue allocation increases

The Federal Government, State, and Local Government councils received a total of N1.1 trillion in December from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, or FAAC, in January.

The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation’s Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations, released a statement after the FAAC meeting for January 2024 that stated that the Federal Government received N383.872 billion, the State Government received N396.693 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N288.928 billion of the N1,127.408 billion total distributable revenue.

The benefiting States received N57.915 billion as derivation money or 13% of the mineral revenue.

From the N458.622 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N68.793 billion, the State Governments received N229.311 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N160.518 billion.

The Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) of N17.855 billion was divided as follows: N2.678 billion went to the federal government, N8.928 billion to state governments, and N6.249 billion to local government councils.

N138.672 billion of the N 287.743 billion Exchange Difference earnings went to the Federal Government.

N54,226 billion was given to the Local Government Councils and N70.336 billion to the State Governments. The beneficiary States received N24.509 billion, or 13% of the mineral earnings, as derivation money.

Despite the additional funding, many state and local government employees are left to lament some governors’ failure to fully implement the N30,000 minimum salary, according to ZINGTIE research.

According to inquiries made by the ZINGTIE, several problems continue to plague the implementation of the minimum wage in numerous states, including Abia, Rivers, Zamfara, Anambra, Imo, Kogi, and Taraba.

The National Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was ratified by former President Muhammadu Buhari more than four years ago.

Most state workers claimed that governors were only making token gestures toward enacting legislation establishing an N30,000 minimum wage and adjusting compensation accordingly.

NLC producing state-by-state wage award implementation lists

A senior Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) official confided in the Daily Post that the union is gathering a list of state government wage award policies that have been put into effect.

He mentioned that the drill was still going on.

“Recently, the national body of the NLC put up what we call State-Labour/Government activities status, wherein we are asked to report the level of implementation of minimum wage, that of wage award, number of union members and so on; about five items.

“It is at the end of the exercise that we can say ‘this state is paying or this state is not paying’, so, we can have a kind of statistics of states that are paying and those not paying, those that are half way and so on and so forth. The report is ongoing, I think the last date for the submission is today,” he said.

A media and communication scholar at Peaceland University, Enugu, Nduka Odo, told ZINGTIE in an interview that more efforts by the governors to lessen Nigerians’ suffering should result from the increased funding allotted to state governments.

Odo believed that since state governments were given greater funding, more inquiries should also be made of them.

“They should shoulder more responsibilities,” he said.

He suggested that to address the deteriorating status of the economy, the state governments collaborate with other organizations to establish a social security funds system.

He said, “Increased revenue allocation to state governments should translate to more efforts on the part of the governors to alleviate current hardship that Nigerians are going through. But the real question is, are we seeing that from them? Are we seeing commensurate efforts?

“The answer is no. I have not seen the concerted efforts of states to shoulder the pains of the most downtrodden, especially in this economic quagmire.

“Everyone is focused on the Federal Government. That’s right, since the FG controls almost everything. This is in spite of the chokehold state governments have on local government.

“However, we should focus on where the money goes. If more money is allocated to state governments, more questions should be asked of them too. They should shoulder more responsibilities.

“In some countries, people receive social security funds. Such funds help people to feed and take care of themselves when they’re unable to do so.

“The state governments should work with other agencies to create a similar system in Nigeria. Recent policies have driven citizens out of hinges. This chaos needs to be stopped before it consumes all.”

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