N43.4bn – The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday said Governor Udom Emmanuel’s poor leadership was responsible for the state’s failure to benefit from the N43.4bn World Bank grant obtained by the Federal Government.
The chapter of the People’s Democratic Party however dismissed this claim.
In a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Nkereuwem Enyongekere, the APC said, “It is saddening and very disappointing that at this period of austerity and economic uncertainty, Akwa Ibom State has been left out from amongst 24 states of the federation that benefited from the N43.4 bn lifeline; a Federal Government largesse under the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability
“Along with Akwa Ibom are eleven other states that have been left out for failure to meet the basic transparency standards in public spending and funds management.
“By implication, the Government of Akwa Ibom State has been assessed and adjudged below par in transparency index, public spending and management of resources.
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“This is more than a knock on the integrity of Governor Udom Emmanuel and the often-touted transparency of his government particularly regarding management of ‘lean resources’ frequently spoken about by the governor.”
In response, the PDP in a statement signed by its Media Relations Officer, Blessing Menin, said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the state meets every other requirement except the timely passage of the budget which was hindered by the defection of three PDP’s lawmakers to the APC wherein they sought to change the leadership of the Assembly.
The Plateau State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has said the exclusion of Plateau state from the list of beneficiaries of the N43.4bn Word Bank grant shared among Nigerian states has vindicated its claim that Governor Simon Lalong has been running a corrupt and incompetent administration.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had in a statement by the Ministry’s spokesman, Hassan Dodo, named 24 states as beneficiaries of the World Bank grant.
The 24 benefiting states are: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe.
Source – https://punchng.com/
