Nigerians must demand accountability from governors — APC chieftain

Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, Chief Ayiri Emami, has advised Nigerians to take more than a passing interest in what the 36 state governors do with the monthly disbursement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

He gave the admonition at the weekend in Abuja while speaking with journalists.

Checks revealed that FAAC disbursed a total sum of N1.818 trillion as June 2025 Federation Account revenue to the Federal, State, and Local Government Councils.

Chief Emami, who noted that subnational governments have since experienced a surge in their revenue profile following the removal of petrol subsidy, maintained that Nigerians must demand accountability from their governors to know what they are doing with the huge resources, rather than heaping the blame on the central government for perceived poor governance and failed expectations.

He said: “A lot of these governors, I don’t think they are helping situation, so that puts a lot of pressure on the federal government.
“If the federal government has taken off subsidy and the money is being paid to the state government, the states are supposed to look at what are the needs of people in each of the states, but I think the state governors don’t care, so everybody now focuses on the federal government.

“But I would suggest that the President puts an eye on what is going on in each of the states, since the allocation is being adequately sent back home to the state government. I don’t think the state government are doing enough. It’s not by doing bridges and everything you can do, all the bridges and everything on the road.

“But without welfare, there will be hunger, so how do I ply the road, and that’s exactly what’s going on. Now, everybody will be shouting Tinubu. So the governors come, they do advertisement I’ve done this road. I’ve done this thing, they don’t care how people feel. So most of this blame is supposed to be channeled to the state government.”

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While he acknowledged efforts by the federal government to mitigate the hardship triggered by the sudden removal of fuel subsidy, he, however, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider a cabinet reshuffle, noting that some of his ministers have failed to meet the high expectations of Nigerians.

He said: “If he can fix our roads, which I think the Minister for Works is trying his best. And I also think that he has to reshuffle his cabinet so that he can have some vibrant people that will go and do the job. Because it’s not Tinubu that will go everywhere to do the job, it is the people you assign your portfolio to. A lot of people are sluggish, weak, and I don’t think they’re even thinking well. Not more than four, five, ministers are very active. Sometimes, it is not all about the president.”

He further appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the present administration and moderate their expectations, submitting that the past administration failed to implement policies capable of stimulating economic growth.

“To me, I don’t believe that anybody can fix Nigeria in four years with what we have on ground, but I think there’s going to be a lot of changes in the next two years.”

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