Abdullahi Sule, governor of Nasarawa, says reforms initiated by President Bola Tinubu have freed up more resources for state governments across the country to execute projects that directly impact citizens’ lives.
Speaking on Saturday in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa,
while hosting journalists and the presidential media team inspecting federal
and state governments’ projects in the state, Sule said Tinubu “took bullets”
on behalf of the governors after removing the petrol subsidy.
The governor said before the subsidy removal, Nasarawa was
receiving between N3.8 billion and about N4.5 billion monthly from the federal
allocation, while the local governments were getting between N1.9 billion and
N2.5 billion monthly.
Sule added that the monthly allocation to the state has more
than doubled after the removal of the petrol subsidy.
The governor said his administration had initiated several
projects without borrowing, adding that the president should be credited with
creating the fiscal space that made them possible.
“All the projects we are doing in Nasarawa state today,
without borrowing from the bank, are as a result of president Bola and his
support,” he said.
“So, you must give him the credit for that. Without the
reforms, we would not have had the resources to do what we are doing. So, I
can’t take credit for those projects.
“The office of the SSG is better than my own office. And
there is nothing wrong with that because at the time they built my own office,
Tinubu was not there. We didn’t have the resources that we have today. So,
there is nothing wrong with me doing it better today because we are receiving
the resources better today.
“I came from the private sector, so for every contract, I
give the amount that we are spending on that contract so that people can make a
difference with the kind of money we are receiving. I can tell you for free.
“You are right when you say that president Tinubu took the
bullet on our behalf. In my first four years, everybody knows the federal
government was sharing between maybe N590 billion to about N620 billion a month
as the total FAAC allocation.
“For Nasarawa state, what we were getting was between maybe
N3.8 billion and about N4.5 billion for the state. For the local government, it
was between N1.9 billion and N2.5 billion every month.
“With the removal of the fuel subsidy, I can tell you for
free that Nasarawa state today is receiving an average of N14 to N16 billion a
month. But you have to go back and find out [about] our expenses. That is why
Onanuga said president Tinubu took the bullet on our behalf.
“That is why they accused me of being very straightforward
in criticising anything not right, arguing that I am no longer a
straightforward person now that I am commending the government. So, anytime I
tell the truth about the good thing happening, I am no longer a good person.”
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to
Tinubu, said the sub-nationals are enjoying the benefits of petrol subsidy
removal through landmark projects across states.
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