From Idu Jude, Abuja
Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Garus Gololo, has admonished those preparing to take to the streets over the economic hardship, stressing that state governors have failed those who elected them to office despite allocations.
Dr Gololo, who advised during an exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, stated that state governors, and not the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should answer questions about hardship in the country. According to Dr. Gololo, state governors since 1999 have not provided good accounts of all the federation allocations given to them since the return to democracy in 1999.
“The problem we have is that we forget easily. So this time around, we should be able to revisit our past to know where we got it wrong.
“How much have the state governors collected after the fuel subsidy removal? The president has released the funds to the state governors; what have they done with them? None of them will beat their chest to say that this is what they used the money for.”
He praised the Attorney General for taking the governors to court to recover the money. “The governors are our problem and not the president because the funds were released to them, and they could not distribute it to the local governments, making it difficult for a local government chairman to award a contract worth at least five million naira (N5m).
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“Now that the Supreme Court has delivered judgment on local government autonomy, you will see the difference. Most of them will not even want to contest again in 2027 because it will no longer be business as usual.
“In the last administration, Buhari initially signed it into law, but the then governor of Ekiti State took the government to court, and the court passed judgment to allow them to continue to control their resources.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Gololo has frowned upon governors who, on television, accused the Federal Government of not advising them on how to run their states. “But the question is, how much do you allocate to the local governments each month? Nigerians need to know, with backup documents for proof. All governors must provide details of their income and expenditure since the inception of this administration.
“I can tell you that the governors are responsible for hunger in the land, and not even the president,” he reiterated.
“I have the documents of how much each state has collected, including my state, and I am going to publish it so the masses will be aware of how much of their money is with these governors.”
While appealing to those who wish to take to the streets, he urged them to hold their governors responsible for the hardship and not the president. “Yes, the president is the head; Nigerians should hold the governors accountable.
“I am saying this because protests have brought down many countries. Look at Libya, which used to be the best country in Africa. This similar protest was what took place, and till today, do they have peace? Other countries like Somalia and Sudan had a piece of the cake, and recently that of Kenya.
“Protest is not the best now. The question is, how do we move forward? How do we fix Nigeria? That should be the right question.
“Do you recall the events of #EndSARS? What happened? Did it yield results? Our youth can do better, and they will become president one day. The leaders today, in their time, protested for good governance. Buhari protested and was president, Tinubu protested, and today he is president. They will also be leaders someday.
“I am happy groups have come out to say they are not part of the protest.
“I heard some other groups say they will join the protest; fine, if they do, let them do it peacefully. Let them submit their names, get to a specific area where they want to protest, call journalists, and express their anger. If they go beyond the standard and civil way of going about it, no government will fold their hands and allow them to take the law into their own hands. The last #EndSARS saw the youths take to the streets and engage with the police violently, and this formed part of the reasons that made it not yield any fruit.”