Governor Okowa warns FG to desist from dictating to states over Paris loan refund

- President Buhari's government recently asked the state governors to ensure they paid salaries and pensions with the Paris loan refund

- Some of the governors are currently enmeshed in allegations of squandering their states' share of the fund

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state has warned the federal government against dictating how states should spend their own share of the Paris-London Club loan refund.

According to the governor, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the federal government’s position on how states should spend their share of the fund remains unconstitutional.

There have been controversies surrounding how governors have spent shares accruing to their states. Some are even alleged to have misappropriated parts of the funds which the federal government asked them to spend on payment of salaries and pensions for the already suffering workers.

The governor, who responded through his chief press secretary, Charles Aniagu, to inquiries into how the state government spent its share of the refund, reminded the Buhari’s government that the fund is not a bailout that should have conditions attached to it.

According to him, the states do not owe the federal government any explanation concerning how the fund was appropriated.

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Aniagu said the state government had justifiably used its share to meet critical needs of the state as directed by the 1999 constitution.

He noted that the state had priorities that are different from other states.

“The Paris refund, I hope you know that the money belongs to the states, it wasn’t a dash and not a bail out. It wasn’t a gift, it was what rightfully belongs to the states and the local governments and I know you know that we are running a tier of government that is independent and whose powers and responsibilities are guaranteed by the 1999 constitution, as amended.

“This idea of media houses helping some persons to spread ignorance that somebody can be in Abuja and tell you how to spend your money is not how democracy works.

“If you are giving me a bailout, you can set the conditions that these are the conditions on which I’ll give you this bailout; you must use this money this way, in which way you can set the rules because you are the one giving. But when you are allocating my money to me, our priorities are different.

“Let us assume in Delta state we are not owing anybody salaries, are you going to say we keep the money until we begin to owe so that we can use it?

“What we have done is to make very judicious and transparent use of the monies that were refunded to us. We addressed, in part, the plight of pensioners, assisted the local governments too to be able to solve some problems, in addition to giving them part of their money, to reduce the wage burden.

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“We did not also lose sight of the promises we have made to make life better for Deltans, after all, Section 14, subsection 2, paragraph B of the 1999 constitution states clearly that the primary purpose of government is the security and welfare of the people.

“So the availability of that fund enabled us to give vent to that particular provision of the constitution,” he said.

Watch this Nigerian speak about the state of the nation as led by President Buhari:

Source: Legit.ng