State governments have said funding some Federal Government
agencies has been affecting them.
They appealed to the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Boss Mustapha, on Monday to intervene.
The Secretary to the Kaduna State Government, Balarabe Lawal,
said these in Abuja while speaking on behalf of his colleagues
during the inauguration of the Permanent Standing Committee on
Inter-Governmental Affairs chaired by Mustapha.
Lawal said, “I am sure that most of my colleagues will agree
with me on this. When you go back to our states, we shoulder a lot
of Federal Government programmes.
“In the area of security and other services, you will find out
that funding from the Federal Government is usually very low.
“So, we have tried to find out what is happening. They have a
bigger budget but you find out that all the agencies of the FG
normally come to the states asking for one thing or another.”
According to him, states spend a lot of money on the Nigeria
Police Force, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy and the Nigeria Security
and Civil Defence Corps.
Lawal added, “They (the security agencies) will tell us that
their overhead is N60,000 a month which we think is impossible to
carry them along.
“The police, apart from salaries, come to us for almost
everything they need. This committee is important. I think you need
to listen to us because we are carrying the burden of the Federal
Government and it is now telling on our infrastructure
development.
“The money meant to build roads, schools, hospitals is now being
diverted to fund and support Federal Government’s institutions. I
think it is important for us to sit down and look at these
issues.”
While inaugurating the committee in his office, Mustapha said
the committee was not new as it existed under the defunct Ministry
of Special Duties and lnter-Governmental Affairs before the present
government scrapped it in 2015.