By Gabriel Atumeyi
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum has said that the Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki merely offered genuine and patriotic counsel to the federal government as regards the printing of money to support allocations from the Federation account as it does not augur well for the country.
The forum said their counterparts in the Progressives Governors Forum tooks purely partisan position on the issue without considering the merits of the position opined by the Edo state governor.
365Daily reported on April 10 that the governor said the federal government printed N60 billion as part of federal allocation for March, adding that the economy is no longer what it used to be.
He expressed worry that the country has continued to borrow despite unclear means of refunding payments.
But in her reaction on Wednesday, the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said Mr Obaseki’s claim was very sad because it was “untrue”.
According to Mrs Ahmed, the FAAC allocation was sourced from revenues from different agencies of the federal government.
Similarly, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said the money was meant as loan from the apex bank.
And on Friday, the APC governors said Obaseki’s comment did not reflect the true state of things, describing his statement as unfortunate and inaccurate.
In a statement on Sunday by the Director General, Hon CID Maduabum, the forum said Governor Obaseki who by virtue of his pedigree was well informed on such subject and as such was doing the country a service by calling attention to aspects of the Federal government’s monetary policies that is unsustainable.
It said such action was putting inflationary pressure on the Naira and that his position has been corroborated by the CBN governor and the international rating agency FITCH. And that if the CBN is recalling loan to states based on the comments made by the governor then governance in the country has degenerated to an unprecedented level.
“The PDP Governors Forum is alarmed at the partisan slant a patriotic advise to the Federal Government by His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki , on its monetary policies has assumed.
“2 It is unhelpful for the Progressive Governors Forum to join the fray in the manner it did by its recent statement attacking the bona fides of Governor Obaseki who merely warned the monetary authorities about the danger of uncontrolled use of Ways and Means, that is, the printing of Naira, to support government’s expenditure.
“3. Governor Obaseki has a background in economics and finance and is a very responsible Governor who talks in a measured way . His advise, which by the way has been corroborated by none other than the Governor of the CBN himself, and the international ratings agency FITCH , should be heeded rather than being crucified for sounding a note of caution.
“4. No doubt the Federal government has been supporting the States in the area of agriculture, budget, refund of Federal Government executed projects by States and a few other areas of intervention. Is CBN trying to be vindictive and vengeful by recalling its loans to the States because of an informed advise by a Governor?. It is unfortunate that governance has plummeted to this level.
“5. The Federal government should plug financial leakages in the system and curb wasteful expenditure of billions of Naira on projects that can be executed by the private sector and save a lot of money in the process, thereby relying less on Ways and Means by the CBN , which brings pressure on the Naira with its inflationary consequences. Inflation in Nigeria is currently at 18.2 % , the highest in recent years. We should all be concerned to find ways of steming the tide.
“6. We are all involved in the urgent task of rescuing the economy of Nigeria and nobody should indeed play the OSTRICH .