State governors under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) have expressed strong support for President Bola Tinubu\u2019s decision to end fuel subsidy payments in the country and other early policy initiatives of the administration.
\nThe governors expressed their support to Tinubu during the first meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.
\nThe state chief executives, who took turns to speak at the meeting were led by the NGF Chairman and governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who expressed happiness with the President\u2019s subsidy-removal decision, all-inclusive leadership and statesmanship.
\nThey congratulated Tinubu for tackling the fuel subsidy behemoth, promising to work with him to ameliorate the short-term impact of the decision.
\nTinubu had earlier called on the governors to collaborate with the Federal Government in tackling the menace of poverty in the country, saying the level of impoverishment was unacceptable.
\nThe President advised the political leaders to downplay their differences and jointly focus on alleviating the sufferings and pains of the people.
\n\u201cWe can see the effects of poverty on the faces of our people. Poverty is not hereditary, it is from the society. Our position is to eliminate poverty. Set aside partisan politics, we are here to deliberate about Nigeria and nation-building,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nTinubu stated that the nation should be seen as one big family.
\n\u201cWe are a family occupying one house, and sleeping in different rooms. If we see it that way and push forward, we will get our people out of poverty. A determined mind is a fertile ground for delivering on results,\u2019\u2019 he added.
\nThe President said good governance would safeguard the future of democracy.
\n\u201cPresent in this room is our diversity in culture and politics, but we are one nation. The unity and stability of the country rest upon us.
\n\u201cWe are in a democracy and we have to nurture the democracy. It is a hard-earned system and not easy to manage. If anyone thinks it is easy, look at other nations that are over a hundred years in democracy.
\n\u201cWe have managed ourselves very well to have a democracy. We have campaigned and arrived at our present destination. We must work for our people\u201d, Tinubu told the governors while assuring them that he would maintain an open-door policy.
\nThe President said he was prepared to share ideas, strengthen institutions, and create bottom-up frameworks that will improve the livelihood of Nigerians.
\n\u201cWhat do we do in the face of crushing poverty? What do we do with our development goals? We took the bull by the horns by removing the elephant in the room before the nation sinks.
\n\u201cWe need synergy to fight other vices like corruption. We are trying to get smugglers out of the way. How do we work together to galvanize the economy, and put resources in place? We must think and perform.
\n\u201cAfter removing subsidy, there must be savings accruing to the Federation Account,\u2019\u2019 he noted.
\nTinubu said the education sector must be improved as part of efforts to reduce poverty and penury.
\n\u201cHow do we address the unacceptable level of poverty? How much are we investing in education, which is the only tool against poverty? I am ready to collaborate with you\u201d, he said.
\nThe President also drew attention to the security problems in some states, admonishing the governors that all efforts should be put in place to tackle the security situation, without thinking it\u2019s only for those facing it.
\nThe Chairman of the NGF and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRasaq, thanked the President for the invitation to deliberate on the challenges of poverty and security, promising that the governors would support the Federal Government in meeting the targets of human development.
\n\u201cThe NGF will follow the tradition of working constitutionally and harmoniously with you,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nThe meeting, which was attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima and new Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, had 22 governors and two deputy governors from Edo and Niger States, in attendance.
\nThe governors made suggestions highlighting the plight of citizens in their states, assuring the President of their support in proffering solutions through the National Economic Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
State governors under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) have expressed strong support for President Bola Tinubu\u2019s decision to end fuel subsidy payments in the country and other early policy initiatives of the administration. The governors expressed their support to Tinubu during the first meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[688],"class_list":["post-318370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-front-pix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=318370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318377,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318370\/revisions\/318377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/318237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=318370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=318370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=318370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}