Date Published: 07/15/09

Sir,

Re: Why Governors abandon States

In the Saturday Tribune of 4 July 2009, page 6 was a news analysis entitled “Why Governors Abandon States for Abuja, Lagos and Abroad”. The report had it that the aftermath of economic meltdown was responsible for the situation. While I agree with the report to a certain extent, but it should have completed the good work by naming the governors.

In the report, it stated that an aide to one of the South-South State Governors told it “that his boss sat down one day and calculated the amount of money he had spent on public relations in one month and discovered he had committed nothing less than N1.2billion, and that since he made such a discovery, he had learnt the trick of sneaking out of the State”. The newspaper’s survey reported that “National Assembly members, officials of the anti-corruption agencies, top party members from either the states or Abuja, journalists, presidential aides, constitute a huge drain pipe for the governors, most of who are said to be desperate in cutting down their expenses drastically”. The report insinuated that some media house operators (as journalists) may have been receiving bribes from governors in order to publish only things that favour them. Disturbing also is the confirmation that governors bribe officials of anti-corruption agencies.

It may not be the economic meltdowns that make the governors run out of the seats in their respective States and spend the resources under their controls recklessly. It is just that we have wrong persons selected for the governorship positions in Nigeria today. Just tell me about the one that spends N1.2billion (i.e. N14.4billion a year) on public relations to journalists, presidential aides, national assembly members, etc; such a governor (and Tribune knows but refused to name) from the south-south should abdicate the seat. 

Alhaji Musa Salem,

Aguiyi Ironsi Street,

Abuja

musasalem68@yahoo.com