THE Presidency has accused governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of refusing to support the initiative to end herders crisis in the country.
This position is a reaction to the communique issued by the PDP Governors’ Forum, following their meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Monday, during which the governors blasted the operations of both the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity) on Wednesday said the governor provided no solution to the problems of the country but was more interested in what comes to them.
The statement said: “When the governors claim a lack of federal institutions’ money pouring into their states’ coffers is an affront to democracy, constitutionalism and federalism, they fail to mention the ugliest trend against the integrity of Nigeria with their refusal to support the Federal Government’s earnest desire to reinstate local government as the third tier and finding a lasting solution to farmer herder conflicts costing the nation lives and livestock.”
The statement said the PDP governors communique “was a spectacular demonstration to the people of Nigeria as to why the party and its representatives should not be entrusted with national leadership of the country any time soon.”
Defending the NNPC, the statement said: “NNPC is a trustee for the nation – and this means it must manage its finances with prudence and for the long-term to safeguard the financial support it bestows on our country.
“What the governors are asking of NNPC is to ‘break the bank’ for their own profligate political ends.”
The Presidency posited that the call by the governors for the CBN to stop further devaluation of the naira would have negative consequences on exports, oil revenues, small businesses and employment.
On the governors call for states to be allowed to be involved in mining, the Presidency states: “The question must be asked: ‘Why has this taken you so long?’ Such opportunities and states’ powers have been fully available since independence – yet only now the PDP realises it?
“And, of course, the PDP grieves over the Federal Government’s action over Twitter – for it represents the curtailment of their ability to use the platform to spread fake news and invented stories to the detriment of community and good-neighbourliness between the peoples of Nigeria.
“The PDP governors propose no solutions to any of our nation’s challenges in the face of COVID-19 and global economic downturn, instead, they grasp for more money and mourn their lack of access to social media to spread falsehoods and hate.
“Their statement is evidence, if any were needed, as to why the president and the APC ended the PDP’s one-party rule in 2015, were re-elected by an increased margin in 2019, and why their winning trend is set to continue far into the future.”