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Reuben Abati reacts as FG blames state governors for rise in poverty
Amid the ongoing public debate surrounding the recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that 133 million Nigerians have been thrown into abject poverty, renowned political analyst, and veteran broadcaster, Dr. Reuben Abati has reacted to the Federal Government’s decision to place the blame at the feet of state governors.
For those who are not aware, while addressing State House Correspondents on Wednesday, the Minister of State for National Budget and Planning, Clem Agba accused governors of not complimenting the efforts of the Buhari administration in lifting millions of Nigerians out of abject poverty. According to the junior minister, the governors are often focused on building monumental projects such as airports and flyovers in the cities and state capitals instead of working to better the lives of citizens in the villages and hamlets in their domain.
However, Reacting to Agba’s comments during a session of ARISE TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Thursday, Dr. Abati slammed the Buhari regime for attempting to pass the buck on state governors rather than taking responsibility for the rising case of abject poverty the country. According to him, there is no difference between the Federal Government and state governors because it is still Buhari’s regime that is in charge.
He said; “This blame game doesn’t make sense. Whether it is the federal government or it is the state government, the question the average Nigerian will ask himself or herself is; ” am I better off today in 2022 than I was in 2015 when the APC government came to power?” As we move toward the 2023 general elections, there will be a lot of revisionism, there will be spokespersons for government trying to write their own narratives and that is exactly what Clement Agba was trying to do here.
However, one point that he made saying that yes, Nigerians tend to focus more on the federal government, whereas responsibility and accountability are also required at the state level. And I share his view that many of these state governors don’t even know what they are doing. Some of them don’t even know why they are governors, okay? But to generalize that all the state governors are not doing anything is most unfair. Because there are states where you can see specific performance and efforts not just now but since 1999.”