The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, has frowned at the nation’s rising and seemingly uncontrollable debt profile.
The governors also expressed concern about the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), maintaining that the apex bank “is operating as an independent government within a government, which is a pervasion of the autonomy of the bank.”
In a communique issued on Monday an the end of their meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, the governors said the federal government spends over 80% of the Appropriation on debt servicing.
The governors said all the gains of the PDP government under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, where Nigeria exited its foreign debt obligations has been destroyed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Borrowing for frivolous items such as funding the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), is scandalous.
“Money should only be borrowed for productive purposes as Nigeria’s current debt of over N36 trillion naira is becoming clearly unsustainable relative to our earnings and GDP”, the governors said.
The governors noted that a “situation where the CBN, creates money, decides how much of it to spend, on what to spend it on, without any form of controls or supervision, is patently subversive of our constitutional order.”
The communique which was read by the Chairman of the forum and governor of Sokoto state, Aminu Tambuwal, said the CBN “has become not just a LEVIATHAN, but also a father Christmas of sorts, dabbling into every sphere and scope of governmental activity, not just as a lender of last resort, but as a full executing agency of government.”
The meeting observed that the CBN “has become such an octopus that it threatens state governments publicly, without decorum, about sanctions on any attempt to question its modus operandi.
The governors called on the bank to take immediate steps to halt the depreciation of the naira.
The communique reiterated the call for the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to urgently send the revised Revenue Allocation Formular to the President for onward transmission to the National Assembly for enactment, so that more resources are made available to States and Local Governments where ordinary Nigerians reside.
The communique called on the Chairman and members of the Commission to resign or be relieved of their duties, if they cannot discharge the constitutional duty entrusted on them by Nigerians.
The communique added that the present constitutional amendment process should make the Commission more independent and accountable to all stakeholders.
The meeting expressed support for the implementation of judicial and legislative autonomy at the federal and states levels in conformity with the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
The PDP governors further reviewed the emerging threats to our democracy, constitutionalism and rule of law and cautioned the federal government to exercise power with restraint.
The meeting also condemned the suspension of Twitter from operating in Nigeria and called for the immediate lifting of the suspension.
“The mere ego of Mr. President is not enough for such a drastic action that deprives millions of Nigerians from such an affordable means of expression and communication.
“We hope that this is not a harbinger or early warning signs of descent into dictatorship.
“The meeting noted that social media regulation can only be done within the existing laws on the subject and should not be used as an attempt to punish or gag Nigerians from enjoying constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Nigerian youths do not have adequate access to employment and a lot of Nigerians rely on Twitter for their livehood, businesses and self-employment.
“This will further worsen Nigeria’s 33% unemployment rate which is the highest in the world, improve Nigerias ranking as the country with second highest poverty rate in the entire world, all of which happened under APC’s unfortunate stewardship.
The meeting consequently requested Mr President to review the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria in the national interest.”
The governors also urged the APC led government to think outside the box to find solutions to the challenges facing electricity supply in Nigeria as the current system is certainly not delivering power needed for Nigeria’s rapid industrialisation.
