A LIFELINE WITH STRICT WARNINGS FOR COMPLIANCE : Buhari okays lifeline for states, names Osinbajo to head committee ... Tribune News

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, met with governors of the states of the federation over the crippling financial situation in the country, vowing to recover money that may have been stolen by officials of the immediate past administration.
The president has also set up a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to look at the Excess Crude Account and see what can be shared as immediate lifeline for states.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, at the end of the meeting held at the Presidential Villa, the money would be recovered and systematic leakages blocked.
He also assured that the days of impunity, lack of accountability, and fiscal recklessness in the management of national resources were over in the country.
The statement quoted the president as saying that funds stolen by government officials who abused their offices in the recent past will be recovered and systemic leakages stopped."
Buhari added: "There are financial and administrative instructions in every government parastatal and agency. But all these were thrown to the dogs in the past. Honestly, our problems are great, but we will do our best to surmount them.
"The next three months may be hard, but billions of dollars can be recovered, and we will do our best."
The president expressed surprise that the governors had tolerated the atrocities allegedly committed with the Excess Crude Account since 2011 and promised to tackle the issue decisively.
The president declared that the payment of national revenue into any  account other than the Federation Account was an abuse of the constitution, adding that what he had heard was going on in many agencies and corporations, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was clearly illegal.
Buhari assured the governors that money spent by states on federal projects would be refunded after due process had been followed.
He also said that a comprehensive statement on the economic and financial situation inherited by his administration would be made to the nation within the next four weeks.
"We will try and put the system back into the right position. What happened in the Second Republic has apparently happened again, and even worse, but we will restore sanity to the system," he added.
The president also promised special assistance for the three North Eastern states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency
Following the request by the governors, the president has set up a committee headed by Osinbajo to look at the Excess Crude Account and see what can be shared as immediate lifeline for states.
The governors, led by Chairman of the Governors Forum (NGF), Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, had presented a wish list to the president that  included: Obedience of extant Supreme Court ruling that all money go into the Consolidated Federation Account and an order from the president that all revenue generating agencies must pay into the Consolidated Federation Account.
The governors also asked for review of the revenue allocation formula;
refund of the money expended by states on federal projects; a special consideration for the three states of the North East under Boko Haram attacks and full details of the amounts that accrued into the Excess Crude Account from 2011 and how the money miraculously shrank.
The governors had argued that it was unconstitutional to keep Excess Crude Account or the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) when there exists the Consolidated Revenue Account to which all Federal Government revenue must go before being allocated to the various tiers of government.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, Yari, joined by his Abia and Bauchi states counterparts, Okezie Ikpeazu and Mohammed Abubakar, respectively, expressed the hope that something positive would happen in the next few days.
The NGF chairman, who did not give details on the committee or its terms of reference, said the governors did not discuss the issue of just a possible bailout with the president as had been reported in the media, but about the way forward on the critical financial situation facing both the federal and state governments.
He said the governors shared knowledge with the president from what he had gleaned from the report of the Transition Committee and "what is on ground."
Noting that Buhari was aware that states were finding it difficult to run their affairs because of dwindling finances, he said they resolved that something had to be done.
He said: "We both appreciate that something had to be done and we are going to move forward and ensure that our outstanding salaries that are not paid shall be seen on ground in the next couple of days."
Yari revealed that the governors also expressed reservation about the withdrawal of soldiers from road blocks which they said was ill-timed.
But he added that the president explained certain occurrences at the checkpoints which necessitated their withdrawal while they would however continue to man checkpoints in some essential areas.
Present at the meeting were all the governors except those of Plateau and Bayelsa states who were represented by their deputy governors