Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday explained the recent approval by state governors for the withdrawal of $1billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was a fallout of the security summit recently organized by the National Economic Council (NEC).
Speaking at the opening of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Secretaries to State Governments’ retreat at the Conference Center of the presidential villa, Abuja, he said the money was not just for the North East but for the security architecture of the entire country as was agreed on by governors across party lines.
He said: “It was after a national security summit of the National Economic Council that Governors at their forum decided to approve some money for national security,” he said.
Osinbajo remarked that the summit in which the idea was conceived was “crucial in understanding and dimensioning the security problems of the country and the weaknesses of our security architecture.”
He recalled that the security summit examined issues of kidnapping, small arms trafficking, terrorist activities of Boko Haram in the northeast, clashes between herdsmen and farmers and cattle rustling.
He added: “It was on account of the security summit that the governors at the Governors’ Forum subsequently decided that they would vote a certain sum of money, which has become somewhat controversial, the $1billion, to assist the security architecture of the country.
“It was to assist all of the issues in the states, including policing in the states, community policing, all of the different security challenges that we have.
“It was after the security summit that the Governors’ Forum met across party lines, again, I must add, in order to approve and to accept that this is what needed to be done to shore up our security architecture.”
The Vice President stressed the need for the relevant state government agencies to work with the federal government to achieve the country’s developmental objectives.
Osinbajo explained the role of the secretaries to the state governments “is clearly central to cascading the action points and conclusions of the MDAs in their states.”
While noting that all policies of the government of the federation in agriculture are programmes of the states since lands belong to the states, he added: “So, the agricultural policy of the federation is actually the agricultural policy of all of the states.”
He said policies of the federal government on fertilizer and the Anchors’ Borrowers Programme would not he be successful without the states being part of them.
According to him, engagements between the SGF’s office and the SSGs would lead to better understanding of the management of the Ecological Funds and the National Emergency Management Agency both of which are hosted by the office of the SGF.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said the retreat was aimed at providing a forum where balance could be achieved to allow for the full, effective and efficient function of the state structure.
He explained that the office of the SSG is an important part of the executive arm of government at the states, which “plays the role of clearing and forwarding house of all government decisions, policies and general administration.”
“It is therefore imperative that we strive to achieve synergy at this level of governance between the federal, state and local government structures,” he said.
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