Govs express concern over postponement of NEC meeting

A faction of the Nigeria Governors Forum under the leadership of Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi  has again  expressed concern over the postponement of the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC). The meeting, which was expected to hold yesterday was  cancelled by the Presidency.

Rising at the end of its meeting on Wednesday night, the governors, in a communique signed by Rotimi Amaechi, noted that the meeting has been cancelled for five consecutive months. “As co-managers of the Nigerian economy, the forum expresses deep disappointment at yet another postponement of the National Economic Council meeting.

The forum is concerned that a pattern is emerging where the National Economic Council meeting has been postponed for five consecutive months. It has become disturbing that governors are invited to Abuja for National Economic Council meetings only to be told of its cancellation usually on the eve of the meeting after the arrival of the governors without any reason; yet there are issues of urgent and utmost national importance that ought to have been addressed at the meeting.

Consequently, we have a 2014 national budget without input from the states resulting in a lack of sense of ownership of the budget process.”

The governors further claimed that the Presidency has been frustrating the NEC meeting from holding in order to deny the governors an avenue to formally ventilate their position on the  $49.8 billion, which the governor of the Central Bank had alleged was not remitted into the Federation Account by the NNPC.

“The forum reiterates that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Ministry of Finance are obliged to brief the governors formally on the non-remittance of 49.8 billion dollars into the Federation Account.

In the absence of the National Economic Council meetings, the platform for resolving these issues becomes non-existent,” the governors’ statment said.