A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Jonathan Vatsa, has urged President Bola Tinubu to stop sending what he described as “excess money” to state governors, accusing them of diverting resources meant for development and worsening the hardship faced by Nigerians.
Vatsa, a former Niger State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, said the country’s economic pain was not due to lack of funds but because many governors had failed to use increased federal allocations to improve the lives of their people.
He stated this on Saturday in Minna while reacting to President Tinubu’s recent warning to governors against spending public funds on flyovers in areas with little traffic instead of prioritising projects that directly impact citizens.
Vatsa explained that the President’s comments showed he was beginning to recognise that many governors had become “the biggest problem” confronting both his administration and the ruling APC.
According to him, ” These are agents of underdevelopment. The President should stop giving them excess money because the people don’t feel the impact”.
The APC chieftain argued that despite receiving significantly higher monthly allocations since the removal of fuel subsidy, many states had little to show for the increased revenue, with poverty and hardship continuing to deepen.
Without mentioning Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago by name, Vatsa noted that Niger State has several flyovers under construction in Minna, none of which has been completed nearly three years after work began.
He alleged that such projects had become avenues for wasteful spending and borrowing rather than genuine
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