Wike at Chatam house, campaign for increased allocation to states

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has has taken the pressure by Nigerian State Governors for  increased allocation to states from the Federation accounts to the  Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), London.

The  Governor who on Monday delivered a lecture on the topic: “Defining Development for Rivers State and Steps to Sustainable Implementation” lamented  that despite the fact that states bear greater development burden than the Federal Government, under the flawed revenue allocation regime, the Federal Government alone retains 53% of national revenue and allocates only 22% to the entire 36 States of the federation.

“Obviously, when 22% percent of national revenue is disaggregated among 36 States, what comes to each State is not more than 0.6 per cent on the average per annum, which by any stretch of imagination is incapable of funding serious developmental programmes for any State” Wike stated.

He said  the country is in serious political and economic decline, pointing out that Nigeria  is presently caught up in a serious existential crisis, which is self-evident.

He declared that there is an urgent need for the international community to save Nigeria’s democracy  from imminent collapse by mounting sufficient pressures on the APC Federal Government to uphold the rule of law and guarantee the integrity of the electoral system.
The governor also stated that the current flawed revenue sharing formula in the country has made development difficult in states as the Federal Government carts away 53percent of national revenue, while the 36 states share a meagre 22 percent.

Wike said: “There is need for the international community to save the country and its democracy from imminent collapse by putting sufficient pressures on the Federal Government to uphold the rule of law, guarantee the integrity of the electoral system and do socio-economic justice to all segments of the Nigerian society

According to Governor Wike: “The politicization and active involvement of key national institutions, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Police in the rigging of the re-run elections in Rivers State was not only an affront to democracy, such acts constitute a serious invitation to chaos with destructive consequences of unknown dimensions”.

The governor explained to the International Community  that despite generating a huge percentage  of the nation’s resources, Rivers State has suffered untold neglect and deprivation by the Federal Government  over the years.

He said: “As an integral part of the country Rivers State is entitled to development support from the federal government through the direct provision of projects and programmes in the State. This is even more so considering the State’s Emenike contributions to the national revenue bowl. Unfortunately, this is not the case as the Federal Government continues to neglect and marginalize the State in the provision of development projects.

“For instance, the Federal Government has not undertaken any new development project in the State for the last two decades. Even the existing ones, such as the Port Harcourt international airport, the two seaports and the East – West highway have severely degenerated without attention for years. These are important economic projects that needed to function maximally to drive the socio-economic development of the State, yet the Federal Government continues to turn a blind eyes to them with impunity”.

Governor Wike lamented the developmental challenges that have bedevilled Rivers State, despite her enormous resources.  He said though previous administrations have played key roles in developing the state, the immediate past Amaechi administration stagnated development through unbridled theft of state funds during an era of resource  boom.

He said: “We picked up this challenge as a matter of urgent priority by launching the “operation zero pothole programme” on our first day in office, which has successfully repaired and cleared most of our streets and roads of potholes.

“Thereafter, we dedicated an unprecedented 65% of the State’s capital expenditure to the provision of infrastructure. As at today, we have committed over 170 billion naira to construct, upgrade and expand several roads, bridges and jetties and linking up communities and settlements across the entire State”.

Governor Wike declared: “I want to assure you that our resolve is strong, our commitment to Rivers State and our people remain unchanged and unchangeable. We shall continue to do our best within the limits of available resources to deliver on our development priorities to the State on sustainable bases and enhance the wellbeing of our people.”

Chair of the presentation , Sir Richard Gozney KCMG CVO, Lieutenant Governor, Isle of Man; British High Commissioner to Nigeria (2004-07) noted that Rivers State is important to the development of Nigeria and plays a significant role in regional affairs.

Incumbent British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Awkright who attended Governor Wike’s presentation urged him to continue to work for the improvement of security in the state for the increase in foreign direct investments.