Buhari directs states to compile cost of affected facilities for G7

President Muham- madu Buhari has directed frontline states affected by the Boko Haram scourge to articulate assess- ments, cost and location of affected facilities for submis- sion and further verification by the G7 Group.

The frontline affected states – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa – are to compile the assessment on local government by local govern- ment basis.

The president gave the order while inaugurating the National Economic Coun- cil (NEC) at the chambers hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Monday.

“Following my invita- tion to Germany early this month by the G7 Nations who have shown concern about the insurgency and promised to intervene to restore the destroyed infra- structure, schools and hos- pitals, among others, I have directed the frontline states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to articulate realistic assess- ments, costs, locations on local government by local government of affected fa- cilities for submission to the president of the G7 for further verification,” he said.

Already, the require- ments of the military have been prepared by the service chiefs for the consideration of the G7 Nations, he said.

The NEC is the official economic platform for dia- logue among the 36 state governors, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and other co-opted mem- bers, chaired by the vice president, where issues and challenges facing the devel- opment of the country, at national and sub-national levels, are discussed with a view to develop and harmo- nise common strategies for addressing them.

The president in his speech also directed full compliance of the provisions of Sections 80 and 162 of the
Constitution, which provide for more accountability, transparency and integrity in the distribution of the Federation Account.

“All revenug generating agencies such as Nigerian National Petroleum Cor- poration (NNPC), Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), Federal Inland Revenue Ser- vices (FIRS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nige- ria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMA- SA), and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), among others, shall comply with stipulated Financial Regulations and Administrative Instructions in their remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund,” he said.

Noting that the task of ensuring growth, job cre- ation and equity, is quite enormous, the president said as a matter of urgency, it was time to kickstart the pro- cess by cultivating a culture of prudent management of resources at all levels of government.

“This will entail look- ing inwards to secure sus- tainable ways of increasing Internally Generated Rev- enue (IGR), and harnessing growth potentials of each state to supplement the Fed- eration Account allocation to states,” he noted.

He also encouraged the states to embark on projects that will meet the immedi- ate needs of the people, taking account of available resources.

“I therefore urge Council members to consider, as a matter of urgency, exploring efficient means of gradu- ally liquidating all unpaid salaries of staff, which have brought untold hardship to thousands of families,” he said.

He reminded the gover- nors of the need for neigh- bouring states to work closely on projects such as interstate and feeder roads, soil erosion, de- sertification and other de- velopmental programmes, noting that “our country is one and we who have the responsibility to run it should lead by example.

As far as is possible, there should be distance be- tween politics and devel- opment programmes.”