How governors are contributing to hardship in Nigeria – Minister

Nigeria’s Minister for Niger Delta Development, Abubakar Momoh, has said poor performances of some governors were contributing to economic hardship in the country.

Mr Momoh made the remark on Tuesday when he appeared as a guest on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief.

The minister, who was reacting to the ongoing protest against economic hardship in Nigeria, argued that some governors failed to work effectively in their states despite improved monthly allocations.

“I listened to those, particularly the youths, who have been saying that this (federal) government is not doing enough (to end bad governance) and want things to be done differently.

“But let me make it clear. I think in Nigeria today, with the withdrawal of (petrol) subsidy, people should know that, of course, money is being made available to different tiers of government, both the state and local governments. And such monies are expected to translate to good governance,” he said.

Mr Momoh argued that the federal government was doing enough to end economic hardship in the country.

He cited the recent removal of import taxes on food items and the distribution of trucks of rice to various states.

The minister, who defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, claimed that some state governors were sabotaging federal government efforts to end hunger in Nigeria.

Giving an instance of the alleged sabotage, he claimed that Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State hoarded 20 trucks of rice which the federal government delivered to every state to cushion the impacts of economic hardship in the country.

Mr Momoh, an indigene of Edo State, said he watched on television how protesters broke into some warehouses and looted bags of rice which some state governors refused to share to the masses.

Although Mr Momoh did not mention the affected states, protesters recently looted bags of rice in a warehouse in Edo.

The minister expressed anger that Mr Obaseki, while addressing protesters recently, reportedly said he would take their message to President Bola Tinubu.

“The impression he (Obaseki) was giving was that the bad governance is at the doorstep of the federal government, whereas the resources of this country are being shared among the three tiers of government.

“We should expect such a person to address the problem we have in Edo State. How many roads has he been able to tar? How many erosion problems has he been able to solve?” he stated.

Mr Momoh accused Mr Obaseki of frequently re-bagging food items from the federal government to give the impression that the Edo State Government sponsored such relief materials for the people of the state.

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“What he (Obaseki) does is that if the government brings relief materials, he would re-bag them and put his name. We also saw it during the COVID-19 era and that’s the same thing that is happening today,” he said.

The minister, however, singled out Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State for praise, saying he watched the governor on television directing that no government official would benefit from the relief materials.

Obaseki silent

Crusoe Osagie, a media aide to Governor Obaseki, did not respond to several calls from PREMIUM TIMES seeking his comments.

Mr Osagie was also yet to respond to a text message, several hours later.