A foundation member of the All Progressives Congress, APC,
and indigene of Enugu State, Mr Osita Okechukwu, on Sunday, cautioned Enugu
State Governor, Barr Peter Mba, to beware of the dangers of squeezing water out
of stone.
Okechukwu, who reminded the governor of the economic
hardship and suffering being encountered by the people, stressed that it would
be inhuman to subject them to extreme taxation.
He reminded the governor that the good people of Enugu
State, like most poor Nigerians, have for long been in dire economic straights,
where cost of food items, transportation, medication and sundry items have hit
the roof tops.
He maintained that the people do not need further disruption, adding:
“One personally admires the zeal, passion and ambition of
His Excellency, Peter Mba, to budget over five hundred billion Naira for the
2024 fiscal year.
“However, one has to caution him to beware of the dangers of
squeezing 1/2 trillion Naira out of stone.
“I shivered when I heard the governor mention the word
maximisation of internally generated revenue, and I imagined if it is not from
the same impoverished folks of which over 40% fall under multidimensional
poverty cadre.”
Okechukwu, who is the immediate past Director General of
Voice of Nigeria, DG, VON, spoke to journalists at the Akanu Ibiam
International Airport, Enugu, while reacting to the 2024 Enugu State budget
recently delivered by the governor, christened Budget of disruptive economic
growth.
When reminded that internal revenue generation drive is
universal in all the states of the federation and not restricted to only Enugu
State, the APC chieftain agreed, but singled out the multidimensional poverty
status of majority of the indigenes of Enugu State and the contradiction of
over taxation.
“I don’t know the current Nigeria Bureau of Statistics’
poverty ranking of my state, but the little one knows is that there is abject
poverty, gross unemployment and palpable insecurity which has driven a lot of
farmers out of their farms,” he said.
On his advice to the governor, Okechukwu advised him to rely
on the Federation Account Allocation Committee’s, FAAC, monthly revenue
accruals as his seed money and make sure it is transparently utilised.
“The problem is that most governors utilise FAAC monthly
allocation as pocket money and squander it for personal expenses instead of
tangible investment.
“Secondly, he should establish cordial relationship with the
Federal Government so as to benefit from projects like the Enugu Urban Water
scheme initiated by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Federal Ministry
of Agriculture and Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, programs among
others.
“And he should intensify collaboration with his colleagues
in the private sector so as to fund 1,000 mega watts, sulphur dioxide emission
controlled Coal-fired Power Plant. This will attract investors as experts
believe that power supply is fundamental to simulating investment and economic
growth,” he further stated.
Reminded that climate change advocates will frown at
Coal-fired-Power Plant, Okechukwu pointed at the existence of Flue Gas
Desulfurisation, FGD, an air pollution control device for sulphur dioxide
emissions, which he said takes care of climate change.
He regretted the crass hypocrisy of the developed countries,
where as of July, 2023, China has 1,142, India 282, USA 210, Japan 93, Germany
58 of Coal Fired Power Plants, respectively.
DAILY POST recalls that Governor Mbah last week presented a
N521.5 billion (N521,561,386,000) budget for the 2024 fiscal year before the
Enugu State House of Assembly.
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Mr Okechukwu Osita, your name sounds igbo and so i am not surprised at your opinion of Enugu state budget much as it is not APC state. Please, ask Tinubu if he was going to get water out of stone in federal government budget. This Igbo people something is wrong with you.
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