Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has made it clear that his boss did not mean to hurt state Governors against the background of his recent comment on N30 Billion federal allocation to them.
In a statement today, February 26, Eyiboh described the development as “misconceptions” of the true intention of the Senate President in the public domain.
Referring to the statement credited to the President of the Senate 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, the spokesperson recalled that during the session, the President of the Senate commented on the payment of an unverified cumulative sum of about N30 Billion to the sub-national governments by the Federal Government for various interventions, to ameliorate the food situation of the citizens at the sub-national governments.
“The unfortunate conjectures to take away the kernel in the material facts of FAAC payment are rather regretted. In considering 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.”
Eyiboh stressed that Senator Akpabio is not oblivious to the fact that State governments are functional partners in all the efforts of the current administration of President Tinubu and are also valuable Stakeholders’ in the various legislative engagements of the legislature in creating the nexus between the legislature and the people.
According to him, the Senate President has always demonstrated commitment to team building and would not do less in the circumstance.
“He therefore urges the sub-national governments not to be distracted by any misunderstanding of the context and true meaning of the statement.
“The President of the Senate recognizes and appreciates the current efforts of the governors at ameliorating the adverse effects of the current inclement socio-economic environment and therefore invites more hands on the plow to complement the renewed hope agenda.”
