The Peoples Democratic Party governors have vowed to present action plans that will improve the nation’s situation if the All Progressives Congress led Federal Government agrees to implement them.
This was the message of the Oyo State governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, and his Enugu State counterpart, Dr Peter Mbah, who spoke at the inauguration of a 12.5 kilometres road in Ibadan on Friday. The road was renamed Theophilus Akinyele road by Makinde.
Makinde said the PDP governors were more concerned about the welfare of Nigerians than politics, and assured them that the current hard times will soon end. He said the PDP will propose solutions that will work for the country in the coming weeks and months.
He also criticized the federal government for being lazy and shifting the blame for the economic crisis on the states and local governments. He said the federal allocation account (FAAC) was not enough to meet the growing responsibilities of governance.
He said Oyo State was not among the PDP states that were owing salaries and pensions, as he had been paying workers and pensioners on time, as well as giving them wage awards. He announced that he would extend the wage awards for another six months until the minimum wage negotiation was concluded.
Makinde said: “I read claims that FAAC had doubled for states and local government areas. I think this is just a lazy way to situation things. We must be talking about baking bigger cake than talking about FAAC. Why are we all going to Abuja every month to share FAAC? Were they doing that in the first republic? Yes, FAAC has moved up from roughly N6 billion per month to about N8 billion but so also are responsibilities of government.
“I also read the claim that PDP governors are owing salaries and pensions. Here in Oyo State, we continue to meet out obligations to our workers and pensioners. We have been paying salaries and pensions without failing on the 25th of every month, since this administration came into office. And for every year since 2019, we have been paying 13th month salary.
“When this economic crisis started, we gave wage award to the workers. We started since October and I gave them for six months. I wanted that time to be able to sort out between government and workers what the minimum wage should be. I have not been able to achieve that. So I announce today that that wage award will be extended for another six months to give us time to close out on the minimum wage discussion and negotiation.
“We all know the reality of the time no matter how anyone tries to paint it. And in the weeks and months to come, our dear party will propose action plans that we believe will work for our nation when adopted. In doing this, we again demonstrate that we care more about the progress of our people than we do about politics. To make Nigeria great is our collective responsibility and we all must work together to get Nigeria working again. I repeat, this would be the focus of myself and all the governors of the PDP in the weeks and months to come. So, I urge our people to remain hopeful. The tough times will soon be over.”
Mbah, who inaugurated the road, commended Makinde for his achievements and said the PDP governors were aware that depending on FAAC for development was not feasible. He said the PDP governors were working hard to generate more revenue and create more opportunities for their people.
He said governors identified the imperative to seek alternative financing models and seek private sector funding to be able to execute projects.
Mbah said: “Our dear party represents thinking about the people, knowing that governance is all about our people not about narrow interests but about the collective interest of the people. There have been some statements about FAAC in the media. The truth is that reliance on FAAC as a way of economic growth is no longer sustainable. It is hardly able to intervene in the critical sectors of any state which means that as governor, your thinking must be outside the box.
“We must create alternative financing models to be able to execute projects. The truth is that we can only grow our economy as states by attracting private sector investments. And that is what the road I am to commission represents because one of the key indicators of ease of doing business is the position of infrastructure, making it easy for people to move from one point to the other.”
In his remarks, the state commissioner for Public Works and Transport, Professor Dahud Sangodoyin noted that the government of the late Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala started the road in August 2008 but it was neglected by the administration of the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi only for the Makinde administration to pick up and complete the road project.
The event saw the Works Commissioner state that the Makinde administration had so far fixed 220.62 kilometres of roads comprising 144.37 kilometres during the government’s first term and 76.25 kilometres since May 29, 2023.
Present at the ceremony were stalwarts of the PDP, traditional rulers, members of the executive, legislature, judiciary, representatives of KOPEK Construction Company and others.