The President of the Senate, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has said that he holds governors in high esteem and, therefore, would not say or do anything to disparage their efforts in improving the welfare of Nigerians at the sub-national level.
In a statement issued in Abuja and signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Honourable Eseme Eyiboh, Chief Akpabio said he is not oblivious of the fact that State governments are functional partners in all the efforts of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu and are also valuable stakeholders in the various legislative engagements of the legislature in creating the nexus between the legislature and the people.
Chief Akpabio’s statement came as a clarification of various misconceptions in the public domain on the statement credited to him in plenary of Wednesday, February 21, 2024, during the presentation of a report of the joint Committees on Finance, Agriculture/Food Sufficiency, Banking and Insurance.During the session,he commented on the payment of an unverified cumulative sum of about N30billion to the sub-national governments by the Federal Government for various interventions to ameliorate the food situation of Nigerians at the sub-national level. He said the unfortunate conjectures to take away the kernel in the material facts of FAAC payment are rather regretted. “The well-intended motive of urging state governments to collaborate with the Federal government of President Bola Tinubu to facilitate strategic interventions to mitigate the prevailing economic situation in the country remains the underpinning motivation in the comment”, he further explained.
Chief Akpabio added that he has always demonstrated commitment to team-building and shall not do less in the circumstance. He therefore urged the sub-national governments not to be distracted by any misunderstanding of the context and true meaning of the statement credited to him.
“I recognizes and appreciate the current efforts of the governors at ameliorating the adverse effects of the current inclement socio-economic environment and therefore invite more hands on the plow to complement the renewed hope agenda”, he said.