Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has criticised governors who depend on the monthly Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), insisting that no state in Nigeria is poor.
Wike who spoke during a lecture of the Executive Management Course 14 in Abuja, wondered why governors are always fond of lamenting that there is no money in their states yet seek a second term in office.
He believes that development can thrive if every governor is able to explore the advantages of the State for the benefit of the state and its people.
‘No state is poor in this country, it is this over-dependence on the Federal Government,’ Wike said. ‘At the end of every month, they send their Accountant-General/Commissioner of Finance for FAAC.’
‘Any state that tells you we are poor and they deceive you by saying their state is poor. I keep on telling them ‘if your state is poor, why do you want to be governor? Your state is poor; you want to run the second term.’
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He, therefore, charged governors to make good use of the opportunities at their disposal and stop relying solely on the Federal Government for survival.
On the issue of the Value Added Tax, the governor criticised the Federal Government for collecting VATs from states, insisting that “I looked at it and saw that what the Federal Government was collecting is not their own.”
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK
