President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has denied speculations making the rounds that he’s at struggle with state governors over his push for native authorities autonomy throughout the nation.
In July 2024, the Supreme Court docket delivered a landmark judgement affirming monetary autonomy for the 774 native authorities areas within the nation.
Regardless that most of the governors rushed to conduct native authorities elections of their states, their physique language has proven that many usually are not comfy with the transfer initiated by the federal authorities.
However addressing state governors who paid him New 12 months homage led by Vice President Kashim Shettima and members of the Nigeria Governors Discussion board (NGF), Tinubu emphasised the vital function of state governors in driving Nigeria’s improvement and prosperity, saying their management on the subnational stage is central to reaching meals safety, financial prosperity and fast nationwide development.
“You might be crucial hyperlink to Nigeria’s prosperity and improvement. The federal authorities accounts for about 30 to 35 per cent of the allotted income; the remaining involves you. The agricultural worth chain will depend on you. You personal the land, and the job is in your arms,” he mentioned.
President Tinubu referred to as for stronger collaboration between the federal and state governments to handle urgent challenges, together with native authorities autonomy, agricultural productiveness and foreign money stability.
Expressing his dedication to native authorities improvement and autonomy, the president pressured its significance for grassroots improvement and dispelled rumours of disagreement with the governors.
“We won’t struggle inside us. I’ll drive the change. You management your native governments. You may restore hope by successfully fulfilling what the folks count on on the grassroots stage.
“There have been gossips that we had disagreements on native authorities autonomy. No. Simply drive improvement on the native authorities. No one needs to take them away from you, however we want collaboration. Let’s do it collectively and guarantee Nigeria is best off for it.”
Tinubu urged governors to prioritise agricultural development as a pathway to financial stability.
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“We’ve got to work tougher, develop extra, and make sure the state of affairs of our foreign money improves. Nigeria will see prosperity, nevertheless it requires constant effort from all of us,” he mentioned.
He additionally urged the governors to take pleasure of their efforts and acknowledged their progress throughout the states.
“There isn’t a state we can not go to and be happy with its improvement. We’ve got higher allocations now. Let me take the abuse; you’re taking the privileges. Collectively, we are going to construct a nation we’re all happy with,” he mentioned.
Reflecting on his management journey within the final 19 months, the president expressed confidence in Nigeria’s capability to thrive given the resilience and management demonstrated by the administration.
“I’m glad I requested for this job, and Nigerians gave me the mandate. We’ll be on this voyage collectively. I thank all of you for the place we’re right now and the place we’re heading,” he mentioned.
The president additionally introduced that he can be visiting Enugu State on January 4 as a part of his deliberate visits to some states of the federation.
Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, chairman of the Nigeria Governors Discussion board and Governor of Kwara State, mentioned, “The insurance policies are working. In agriculture, I used to be in Jigawa. The criticism in Jigawa was that there was bumper harvest, however due to the power of our foreign money, merchants exported the harvest.
“So, most of us are encouraging ourselves to purchase bumper shares into our silos, retailer them for the wet day. So, when it comes to agriculture, the coverage is working. We’ll proceed to deepen that and guarantee we’re 100% sustained in meals safety and feed the entire of West Africa,” he mentioned.
The governor urged the president to go to varied states to see the continuing transformations and progress firsthand.
He assured the president of the steadfast help of the governors, notably in contributing to native safety structure to additional improve the nation’s safety
“I need to confess that I’ve not carried out two years on this administration, however I’ve carried out extra initiatives in two years than within the 4 years of my first time period”, Governor Abdulrazak mentioned.
“We’re getting extra funding as a result of restructuring of the economic system. Sure, there may be inflation, however we’re overriding it,” the governor mentioned.