..stop cheap politics that won’t serve good purpose – FG
The federal government has said that leaders at all levels of government should cooperatively bind together to make life better for Nigerians instead of playing cheap politics that would not serve any good purpose.
The declaration was made on Thursday by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris, against the backdrop of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s criticism of fuel subsidy and foreign exchange market reforms by the federal government.
The minister said the time for politics and politicking was over, pointing out that it was time for the serious business of governance to build a stronger, more viable, socially cohesive and more prosperous Nigeria.
He warned that rather than criticize government policy unnecessarily, the Edo State governor should focus on how his government would be using available resources to drive impactful projects that would genuinely uplift the people of the state.
“Nationally, decisions led by President Tinubu are based on foresight, with the primary aim of engineering a resilient and sustainable economy. This vision is consistently echoed within the National Economic Council, where significant economic decisions are made,” the minister said.
He said Edo State, alongside other 35 States plus FCT, could access more FAAC revenue, due only to the bold and courageous economic decisions taken by President Bola Tinubu since he assumed office.
While stating that the decisions of the federal government had been applauded by all, the minister said the federal government was still at a loss on what could be the trigger for Governor Obaseki “to issue such blatantly false accusations against the Federal Government.”
He said constitutionally, “Governor Obaseki is a member of the National Economic Council (NEC) where far-reaching decisions were taken on the issues he talked about, in his media address by his colleagues, while sitting in-Council with the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima.”
According to him, even as Governor Obaseki would have an explanation to make to the people of his state on why he was absent at the two NEC meetings under the current administration, his colleagues praised President Tinubu for finding the courage to remove the ghost of fuel subsidy which crippled the finances of the 3 tiers of government for decades.
“It would be helpful if Governor Obaseki participated in these meetings to provide insights and align with the collective vision.
“At the last NEC meeting which took place last week, the council took far-reaching decisions on many interventions to help households, contrary to the wrong impression being created by Governor Obaseki.
“One of the decisions was an approval for the immediate disbursement of N5 billion to each of the states to procure food items for onward distribution to families, while the states are working to clean up the social registers for cash transfers that will benefit up to 20 million of the most vulnerable Nigerians.
“The NEC also constituted a committee to negotiate a new national minimum wage with the Labour Unions and the general upward review of salary for public sector workers as part of plans to address the rising cost of living and help working people to maintain a decent living standard.
“This is apart from ongoing plans to provide 11,500 CNG powered mass transit vehicles for affordable public transportation, supply of fertilizers to farmers, and support for farmers to cultivate 500,000 hectares of arable land to plant staple crops for consumption and industrial use,” the minister explained.
He said the federal government understood the current difficulties Nigerians were facing and was working very hard with the states and local governments to bring succour to our people.
He said President Tinubu was guiding the country through very challenging times and there was the confidence that “we will soon turn the corner into a prosperous future.”
(Frontpage)