Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for promoting complete independence of local governments from the state government.
Naija News reports that the Federal Government has secured a Supreme Court ruling granting financial independence to local governments.
Speaking to Daily Trust on the powers of the governor, Bala Mohammed said that the powers of the governor are significantly less than that of the President of Nigeria.
He said governors are the chief executive of each state, but their powers have been curtailed by President Tinubu.
He said unlike previous governors, he is not putting similar pressure on the office of president.
He said: “For example, when Mr. Tinubu was governor, he established local governments and had full governing powers. Now he is telling local governments not to interfere or cooperate with them. , how is that possible? The state cannot function effectively without coordination with both local government and the office of the president. reports only to Abuja. How can security and good governance be ensured without joint efforts and resource sharing?
“People overestimate the power of governors. The federal government controls the resources. It takes the lion’s share and they do what they want while we remain silent. They claim that giving more money to states will cause inflation, yet they are signing inflated contracts, not roads, for example. Railroads are being contracted for unnecessary projects.
“Governors are not as powerful as people think. Once you become governor, you realize that challenge is more important than power. Resources are limited, especially for a small company like us without a manufacturing base. In a state of size, everyone wants solutions. We respect the president, and he should respect us and not intimidate us.”
