Posted by LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
President Umaru Yar'Adua has said never again will government accept a situation whereby empty treasuries are bequeathed by some governors to their successors, vowing this must not "happen again in future".
President Umaru Yar'Adua has said never again will government accept a situation whereby empty treasuries are bequeathed by some governors to their successors, vowing this must not "happen again in future".
He made this point in Abuja Tuesday at his maiden meeting with state governors where he set up a committee headed by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to examine the possibility of adopting a revenue sharing formula between the federal, states and local governments from the excess crude account.
"If what I have been hearing from some states are correct, it would seem some of you (governors) may spend the next four years managing debt. Such a situation is unacceptable.
"This must be the last time we will experience this ‘empty treasury' phenomenon. What some of you are now experiencing must not happen again.
"One of the things we have to address is this issue of Irrevocable Standard Payment Order (IPSO). The financial institutions who promote such bonds, sometimes for no cogent reasons, must be made to do so at their own risks. Since you (governors) have set up a sub-committee among yourselves, that is one of the issues you have to look into.
"We all have a responsibility to manage the economy and that means we have to show restraint in spending. For us to achieve macro-economic stability, we must have fiscal discipline. You must all realise that the action of the states impact on the national economy", he stated.
The chairman of the Governors' Forum and Kwara State governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki later told State House correspondents that the governors shared their experiences with the president particularly on the state of the finance of some states of the federation.
Governor Saraki said the governors had also set up a sub-committee to look at the principles on which to share the federal revenue.
"We want to review the modalities for sharing federal revenue according to the constitution, we are doing that and we are happy today that the president has set up a committee headed by the Vice President to review the process and come out with a formula that is acceptable to all tiers of government and acceptable to everybody," he added.