The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has apologised to the state governors over his comment on the N30bn hardship allowance allegedly given to them.
Akpabio had, at a plenary sitting last Tuesday, during deliberation on the Ways and Means collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria by the previous administration, said an “unverified report” indicated that state governors received N30bn each from the Federation Account to cushion the effect of inflation and the high cost of food prices.
Last September, the Federal Government said N2bn was released to governors out of the N5bn loan it offered to each state as a palliative to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
In response to the Senate President, some governors, like Seyi Makinde of Oyo State refuted the claim.
Apologising to the governor on Monday evening, Akpabio in a statement by his media adviser, Eseme Eyiboh, said he held the governors in high esteem.
He said, “The Office of the President of the Senate has been drawn to various misconceptions in the public domain on the statement credited to the President of the Senate in the plenary of Wednesday, February 21, 2024, during the presentation of a report of the joint Committees on Finance, Agriculture/Food Sufficiency, Banking and Insurance.
“During the session, the President of the Senate commented on the payment of an unverified cumulative sum of about N30bn to the sub-national governments by the Federal Government for various interventions to ameliorate the food situation of our citizens at the sub-national governments.
“The unfortunate conjectures to take away the kernel in the material facts of FAAC payment are rather regretted. In considering the well-intended motive of urging state governments to collaborate with the Federal government of President Bola Tinubu to facilitate strategic interventions to mitigate the prevailing economic situation in the country remains the underpinning motivation in the comment.
“The President of the Senate is not oblivious to the fact that state governments are functional partners in all the efforts of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu and are also valuable stakeholders’ in the various legislative engagements of the legislature in creating the nexus between the legislature and the people.”
