President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday met with the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states and urged them to tighten their belts in anticipation of three months of hardship as he attempts to restore sanity to the country’s fiscal situation.Presiding over the maiden meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja Buhari vowed to recover funds stolen from government coffers and stem the tide of what he called endemic leakages.
“The next three months may be hard, but billions of dollars can be recovered, and we will do our best,” Buhari said.
He accused officials of the erstwhile administration of Goodluck Jonathan of blatant corruption and abuse of office and assured the governors that the days of impunity, lack of accountability, and fiscal recklessness in the management of national resources were over in Nigeria for good.
“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; he added.
Expressing surprise that the governors had tolerated the atrocities allegedly committed with the Excess Crude Account since 2011, 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.
He added that what he had heard was going on in many agencies and corporations, particularly the NNPC, were clearly illegal.
On the refund of monies spent on federal projects by state governments, Buhari assured the governors that his government would pay, but insisted that due process must be followed.
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.
Signature : SPOREVER
Copyright : © SPOREVER
No comments:
Post a Comment
WE LOVE COMMENTS, POST A COMMENT