The Federal Government has stated its resolve to go after corrupt governors.
Speaking at the launch of the book “Reforming the unreformable, lessons from Nigeria” written by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Abuja yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan said the administration was going after governors “who committed various economic crimes and corrupt practices with impunity”.
He said: “Government is taking legal measures to ensure that those who defraud the government under the petroleum subsidy scheme are made to return the money and punished.”
Jonathan, who was represented by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, said: “We will continue to diversify the economy to create jobs and wealth.
“This administration is not only committed to reform but is also building on some of the reform measures initiated by its predecessors, specifically by consolidating the micro-economic reforms and going further on structural reforms to create jobs.”
Former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku called for a major restructuring of Nigeria’s governance architecture.
He said: “The present structure we have will arrest the destructive competition for the control of power at the centre, while we sustain the largely non-viable states which has become the custom and share the national cake from the centre.
“I don’t believe that we can succeed in reducing significantly the level of recurrent expenditure, which at the moment is averaging 74 per cent.
“When you look around the world and particularly, you look around developing countries that started at the same stage as we did, you will find that their recurrent expenditure is less than what we have been spending.
“ Because what we have been spending on recurrent budget has left us and continues to leave us with too little for capital development, which we need.”
“Given the required political space and the backing of the president and National Assembly, we will reap the benefit of reform and the lessons learnt from Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s book.”
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