Governors of the 36 states of the federation have expressed worry over the declining state of the nation’s earnings, declaring that: “we are in bad shape.”
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, led by Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state stated after their meeting last night that they needed to come together and discuss “intensively” about the economy.
Addressing newsmen after their closed-door meeting, Yari disclosed that the Governors noted that they were in very bad situation, lamenting that, “If you look carefully at this month’s federation account, it’s the worst ever in the last six years, so definitely we had to come to a round table.”
He said: “We were elected under different party platforms to perform, not just to pay salaries. It is worse not to be able to pay salaries, so the issue is very, very serious that we are coming back to discuss it and if we have the opportunity we will come back to see our leader, Mr. President.”
The governors disclosed that they want a permanent solution, not just bailouts, adding that the diversification is a “long term programme” but that they want something to live on in the short term.
According to Yari, “We are looking for a short term formula for you to live, at least survive before the long term. So on diversification, we are looking on agriculture, which is supposed to be the major focus long time ago but has been neglected by the past administrations.
“Now that we found ourselves in this situation we are working harder to diversify the economy and to look forward to a more permanent solution should oil go out of existence but at the same time we have to look for a short-term solution.”
