States, LGs and management of federal allocations

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By Our Reporter on June 9, 2014 · Editorial

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, recently challenged Nigerians to hold states and local governments accountable on how they manage the funds allocated to them from the Federation Account. Speaking at the convocation ceremony of Babcock University in Ilisan, Ogun State, the minister said it was high time the citizens began to ask questions about the roles and responsibilities of the states and local governments in the nation’s development matrix. According to her, it is not only the federal government that should be accountable to the people, all other tiers should also be.
The minister’s charge came with the revelation of the ten states that received the highest allocations from the Federation Account in 2013. They are: Akwa Ibom (N260 billion), Rivers (N230bn), Delta (N209bn), Bayelsa (N173bn) and Lagos (N168bn). The other states, based on figures from the Federal Ministry of Finance, are Kano (140bn), Katsina (N103bn), Oyo (N100bn), Kaduna (N97bn) and Borno (N94bn). Based on these allocations, the finance minister urged Nigerians to demand for an investigation of the financial management of the states and local government areas, in relation to their level of development. In her words: “it is clear that we should be expecting more from the states and local governments”.
The financial data released by Federal Ministry of Finance excludes Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) of the states, which are quite significant in states like Lagos and Rivers. Also, the per capita incomes of some of the top ten recipient states such as Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Delta States, which stand at   N84,500, N55,600, and N42,000 per annum, respectively, are better than that of neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Benin Republic, Liberia and The Gambia.
We share the concerns expressed by the Finance Minister. At the root of her worry is the level of development in the states and the apparent disinterest of the citizens in holding the governors and local government administrators to account on the financial resources entrusted in their care. Although some of the top ten recipient states have done well in terms of development of their states, and improved the welfare of their citizens, a number of them and many of the local government administrations are profligate in their spending, accumulating personal wealth at the expense of their states and the people on whose mandate they are in government.
For our democracy to succeed, those in leadership positions should see their jobs as a sacred responsibility. It is a public service that should centre on people and development efforts that will improve lives. Sadly, millions of Nigerians, including those from the “rich” states have not felt the impact of the huge financial resources that accrue to their states monthly. Across the states, people are feeling the pinch of poor governance despite the revenue allocations to the three tiers of government.
There is an urgent need for our leaders to appreciate the essence of governance, which is the deployment of human and financial resources to improve the lot of the people and the country. In many states, governors and council bosses have turned the allocations meant for development purposes   into their personal property.
Our country’s poor governance ranking will not end anytime soon, if our leaders at all levels do not change their attitude to public service, from the present perspective of self-aggrandizement, to selfless service for the good of the people and the nation. As the Finance Minister correctly stated, while a few states have done relatively well with their federal allocations, many of them have not put in place any sustainable measures to drive the economic development of their states.
Undoubtedly, one of the challenges of our democracy is how to enforce a social contract between our leaders and the electorate. At present, many political office holders are accountable to no one but themselves. Therefore,   we need a social contract in which the people will agree and insist on some standard deliverables from the government to the governed. For this to work, and to check corruption, both government and governed need to be acutely aware of their rights and responsibilities.
We agree with the Finance Minister that Nigerians need to be more demanding of their leaders to guard against mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds. At the moment, most Nigerians are reluctant to ask questions about how they are governed. Some have been compromised to keep quiet. This laid-back attitude needs to change especially at the sub-national level where the bulk of government spending takes place.  In all, we expect the state and local governments, and all Nigerians, to take the Okonjo-Iweala challenge seriously. Let the leaders at these two tiers of government use federal  allocations judiciously for the good of their people, while the people, also, should not relent in demanding financial accountability from their governors and local council leaders.

Source: sunnewsonline
Posted By Crescent University, Editorial Department (400 PT)  Oguntayo Ezekiel