Daniel Bwala, a critic turned supporter of the Bola Tinubu administration, has urged state governors to display fear of God by using increased federal allocations to tackle hunger and poverty in their respective states.
Bwala, who was a spokesman of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign in 2023, made the appeal in an X post on Saturday.
A report by The Punch indicated that statutory federal allocations to state governments would increase by 69 per cent to N5.54 trillion in 2024.
In an apparent reaction, Bwala said, “I want to appeal to the Nigerian governors (sadly they come from all major political parties) to fear God and remember life hereafter and make use of the increased Federation Allocation to deal with hunger and poverty in their respective states.
“Since the removal of fuel subsidy, states are now receiving almost three times their previous earnings and it appears nothing visible or tangible is seen across states of the federation.
“Someone alleged that each time FAAC is received the value of dollar goes up; whether it’s true or not I don’t know, but governors honestly need to fear God and deliver governance to their people.”
Bwala said some of the pressures being mounted on President Tinubu were purely the responsibilities of governors who have abandoned their states to the federal government.
He urged the president to direct the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso to publish allocations to states in the national dailies for the Nigerian people to use and hold their governors to account.
“I remember in the past, similar pressures were mounted on either President Jonathan or Obasanjo, until Okonjo Iweala was asked to publish allocations, then governors started sitting up,” he said.