Buhari To Governors: Days of Impunity, Fiscal Recklessness Over, Vows To Recover Stolen Funds Too

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015

By Ayo Balogun- President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday vowed that funds stolen by government officials who abused their offices in the recent past will be recovered and blocked leakages in the system.

Speaking at a meeting with the Governors in the Presidential Villa, President Buhari also assured the governors that the days of impunity, lack of accountability, and fiscal recklessness in the management of national resources are over in Nigeria.

“There are financial and administrative instructions in every government parastatal and agency. But all these were thrown to the dogs in the past. Honestly, our problems are great, but we will do our best to surmount them.

“The next three months may be hard, but billions of dollars can be recovered, and we will do our best.

“We will try and put the system back into the right position. What happened in the 2nd Republic has apparently happened again, and even worse, but we will restore sanity to the system,” President Buhari assured the Governors.

Expressing surprise that the governors had tolerated the atrocities allegedly committed with the Excess Crude Account since 2011, President Buhari promised to tackle the issue decisively.

A statement issued by the President’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina added that the President declared that the payment of national revenue into any account other than the Federation Account was an abuse of the constitution, adding that what he had heard was going on in many agencies and corporations, particularly the NNPC, was clearly illegal.

According to the statement, the president also said that a comprehensive statement on the economic and financial situation inherited by his administration will be made to the nation within the next four weeks.

On an immediate lifeline for states that owe salaries running into many months, President Buhari said that a committee headed by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, will look at the Excess Crude Account and see what can be shared immediately.

The governors, led by Chairman of the Governors Forum, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, had presented a wish list to the President that included:

“Obedience of extant Supreme Court ruling that all monies go into the Consolidated Federation Account; An order from the President that all revenue generating agencies must pay into the Consolidated Federation Account; Review of the Revenue Allocation Formula; Refund of the monies expended by states on federal projects; A special consideration for the three states of the North East under Boko Haram infestation; Full details of the amounts that accrued into the Excess Crude Account from 2011, and how the money miraculously shrank without official sharing.”