Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, has, urged the Federal Government to institute a comprehensive reform of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to tackle the problem of mismanagement in the oil sector.

He also called for the scrapping of the Federal Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources and Health, saying the money being allocated to them should be transferred to the states and local government councils.

Aliyu made the call on Monday  in Minna at an advocacy workshop for the North Central Zone by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

He said that the reform was necessary to put an end to the inherent mismanagement of the country’s oil resources and the inability of the corporation to handle the investment needs of the sector.

“We need to reform our major oil agency, the NNPC, because it appears it is incapable of handling the investment and the complex economic issues involved in the oil industry.

“We must curb the rapid corruption in the oil industry for the development of the nation’s critical infrastructure for the improved well being of Nigerians.’’

The governor accused the corporation of fueling the friction between the 36 states and the Federal Government, due to its “illegal deduction from source, of monies accruing to the federation’’.

“The mismanagement is so bad that the NNPC management cannot give accurate account of the barrels of crude oil produced in the country nor give account of how much had accrued to the country.’’

On the call for the scrapping of the ministries, he argued that the states and the local governments were in a better position to handle their functions.

“Why should the Federal Government be involved in sinking boreholes? In spite of the resources channelled to the ministries over the years, they have yet to make any impact,’’ he queried.

Aliyu urged other governors to be steadfast in standing for the rights of the federating units on issues affecting them, including the sharing of money from the federation account.

The RMAFC Chairman, Mr Elias Mbam, called for the diversification of the nation’s economy to guarantee more revenue to the country.

“It is therefore imperative that we find other sustainable and dependable means of funding our national development. There is need therefore for the three tiers of government to focus on agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and solid minerals sectors.

“I wish to appeal to government at all levels to intensify efforts at economic diversification by providing the necessary legal, regulatory framework as well as enabling environment to attract local and foreign direct investments to boost revenue earning.”