Hardship: Caution your appointees to stop blackmailing us with palliatives distribution, PDP Govs tell Tinubu
Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have called on President Bola Tinubu to prevail on his appointees to stop blackmailing them (the governors) with the federal government interventions in their respective states.
The governors’ position is contained in a communiqué issued on Friday after a meeting in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba state.
The federal government has been distributing palliatives to states to address the economic hardship in the country.
The governors asked President Tinubu to caution his appointees against “mentioning” the interventions provided by the federal government to states to make them “look bad”.
“The Forum laments that rather than undertake a review of macro-economic and social policies with a view to giving them a human face, the federal government has resorted to blackmail,” the communiqué reads.
“We call on Mr. President to show statesmanship by restraining his officials from blame games that make the sub-nationals look bad by mentioning piecemeal interventions that cannot solve the problem.
“We remain unshaken in our firm resolve to stand with the suffering Nigerian masses and to take all legitimate steps to ameliorate their plight.”
On the forthcoming governorship election in Edo, the forum alleged that there are attempts to “compromise” the poll in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that security operatives are intimidating PDP supporters in the state.
The governors also urged the federal government to ensure a fair and speedy trial of those who were arrested over the #EndBadGovernance protest.
“The governors noted with a sigh of relief the end of the #EndBadGovernance protest, which was edging to a major national crisis,” the governors said.
“We salute the dexterity of the governors, especially of the PDP extraction, in handling the situation in their respective states with maturity, thereby restraining hoodlums and other unscrupulous elements from hijacking the protests.
“The Forum reiterates that peaceful protests are the inalienable rights of the citizens through which they vent their genuine grievances.
“The Forum commiserates with the families of those innocent souls that were lost and calls on the Federal Government to ensure a fair and speedy trial of those who were arrested.”
