By Kingsley Kanayo
Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, has expressed optimism that Rivers and Akwa Ibom states would soon become APC states. Governor Abubakar stated this on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the meeting of the PGF at the Yankari Resort and Safari in Bauchi.
Speaking about the state of the economy, he noted that the declining state of the nation’s economy may degenerate, calling on his counterparts in the Progressive Governors Forum, consisting the All Progressives Congress governor, to be prepared for the unpalatable scenario.
The host governor said the allocation from the Federal Government for September was an indication that the days and months to come would be tough, urging the governors to increase their states’ Internally Generated Revenues to complement their federal allocation.
He said, “I will like to enjoin my colleagues to be wary of the development in the economy of the nation. We should not be caught napping. I think and I believe that things will get worse in the country before they get better.
“I am certain that quite a number of us have spoken with our Commissioners of Finance and our Accountants-General, who went for the Federal Allocation Committee meeting in Abuja. By now, I know we have no doubts in our hearts of what they are bringing home as revenue from the Federal Account.
“The solution to this, in my mind, is for us to look inwards by improving on our Internally Generated Revenues. Quite a number of us have started, but I will call on those who have not started doing so to start.”
According to Abubakar, improving on the IGR of the states remains the only solution to the impending problem.
He said Bauchi had started making a move to transform its economy by sending delegations to Lagos and Kano to learn from them how to improve on the economy of the state.
The governor commended the founders of the Progressive Governors Forum, which he believed would be a veritable vehicle that would engender peer review among the PGF governors and help them learn from one another.
While declaring the meeting open, the Chairman of the PGF and Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, said the PGF was carefully created by the APC governors, who were then in the minority.
Okorocha pointed out that the Forum was working towards creating an economic blueprint that the APC governors would follow in line with the Federal Government’s vision of improving the lives of the Nigerian masses.
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