June 30, 2015 And in Nigeria, President Buhari has vowed to recover billions of dollars allegedly stolen by officials. The President has also vowed to restore financial “sanity”.
Nigeria’s states are currently having a hard time of it, with governors saying they need federal government support to offset a funding crisis.
Most of the states obtained loans from the domestic bond market and banks when oil prices were high, to fund infrastructure projects, but with the plunge in the price of crude, governments are facing funding challenges.
According to lawyer and activist Ebun Adegobruwa, there is however, a double standard
“The lifestyle of the governors, the lifestyle of their children, of their families is not synonymous with what the workers are going through. So there is a deception here. Bogus and fat salaries in the name of security votes, in the name of estacodes are being collected by the governor and their cronies and their families and they plunge their states into poverty and misery and then turn around to be complaining. I don’t think that Nigeria should give any sympathy to the governors. Wherever they have taken our money to, they should go and bring it and use it to pay salaries and use it to invest and use it to better the lives of their members,”
IT specialist Toyin Osho says
“Governors have not being proactive enough. If you look at our states, all around we have natural resources but it’s been a thing that they are always running to the federal government to get funds and they are so used to that, and I want to say they are lazy because if they are not lazy, if they look around their states there should be things to develop to make money and its not every time you run to the federal government, the centre,”
According to a statement released by the presidency, a committee headed by the vice president will look at how to use the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as a lifeline for states that owe salaries running into months and see what can be done immediately. Details of Nigeria’s economic and financial position are expected to be published within four weeks.