Some governors have a ‘poor understanding’ of their roles

The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has accused some governors of abandoning their mandate in pursuit of “ventures that have no bearing on what they were elected to do”.

Joyce Adamu, executive director of the group, said this in a statement issued on Thursday.

Adamu said the trend had resulted in an “obvious failing of governance, worsened the economy of the country at large and has created the risk of a citizens’ uprising”.

“The centre believes that this trend came about because the governors, irrespective of party affiliations, have a poor understanding their roles,” the statement read.

“It is pertinent that they immediately retrace their steps if they want to regain relevance in the country.

“A situation where they persist in this no performance and  exploiting the poor understanding of the responsibilities of the three tiers of government on the part of the citizens to cover up for their failings cannot continue indefinitely. The fact that Nigerians blame either the federal or local government is no license to continue fooling the populace.

“The state governors have reduced themselves to fulfilling the roles that would have been expected of local government chairmen while leaving the issue of their people’s economic empowerment to the federal government knowing fully well that it is their responsibility.”

Advising governors to reduce their foreign trips, the groups said they do not have any tenable reason to owe workers.

“Their excuse that states are broke is untenable since they are still able to undertake expensive foreign trips at the expense of their respective states,” it said.

“The claim that the states are broke would be acceptable if they can prove that they are no longer able to fuel their convoys from their states’ capitals to Abuja. But to the extent that they can afford expensive flight tickets and extotic hotels abroad they must stop lying that their states are broke.

“We therefore challenge the governors to tell their citizens what cost cutting measures they have implemented since the recession was declared. They must also prove the result that such cost cutting measures have yielded.

“We make these demands because we know that not only have the governors been lazy in coming up with winning economic ideas to turn their states around, they have also been wasteful even in the management of funds designated as bailout intervention by the federal government.”