The financial crisis facing the country has impeded governance at the state level, stalling efforts by governors to constitute their cabinets, just like President Muhammadu Buhari, 109 days after their inauguration. New Telegraph findings showed that 21 of the 36 states are yet to constitute their state executive councils.
The 21 states that are running without commissioners are: Abia, Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Imo, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos,Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Yobe,Taraba, Gombe and Zamfara. The states with functioning cabinets are: Anambra, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Delta, Ebonyi, Benue, Edo, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Ondo and Kano. Like at the federal level where the president is still searching for members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), permanent secretaries now run governments at the state level.
Some of the governors attributed this development to paucity of funds and dwindling revenue. But others hinged the delay on ongoing restructuring of ministries, clearing the mess of previous administrations and consultations. The ongoing hearing of governorship election petitions by tribunals has also slowed down the constitution of cabinets by the governors. Just last Thursday, Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, sent a list of commissioner-nominees to the state House of Assembly for approval.
His Sokoto State counterpart, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, did the same last Thursday as he sent 22 names to the Sokoto House of Assembly for screening. Except Lagos and a few others, most of the 36 states are facing financial difficulty with unpaid workers’ salaries, pension arrears, deductions and huge debts and many of them cannot meet their financial obligations. The recent stimulus package from the Federal Government has turned out a palliative for the states, most not enough to put their accounts back in black.
In most of the 21 states, the governors have only appointed Secretaries to the State Government (SSGs), Chiefs of Staff and a few aides. In some other states, the governors have constituted partial cabinets with Abia appointing only one commissioner and Rivers, four. However, some governors have refused to appoint either aides or other top government officials. Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo has not appointed any aide while his Gombe State counterpart, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, only appointed an SSG in acting capacity.
Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) have only SSG. Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, was categorical about his decision not to constitute his cabinet, citing the financial difficulty the state, like others, is facing. He said: “Ordinarily, as a second term governor under a smooth running system where you don’t have financial constraint, I would have appointed commissioners the next day I was sworn in. But you see, no matter how much plans you have in running government, first thing first, resources must be available.
“We are all aware that we are coming out of a huge financial deficit largely perpetrated by the last PDP-led federal administration which has brought us to a level where it was unbelievably difficult for states to meet up with their salaries. So, it would be very much out of place for me to come in and immediately appoint commissioners. Commissioners to do what? “If financial resources have not been a pressure, ordinarily we would have appointed commissioners the next day, but now it is tough even paying salaries.
And you want me to appoint commissioners and other advisers who would also put me under financial pressure for salaries and wages?” Like Ahmed, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, attributed the delay in the formation of his cabinet to two factors: restructuring of the 23 ministries and financial difficulty.
The governor stated that he would not appoint commissioners until he had cleared the backlog of salaries left by the Jonah Jang administration. Lalong plans to reduce the state ministries from 23 to 17 to reduce cost of governance. “I have not received salary since I was sworn in as governor and I don’t want to appoint anyone that will be complaining of nonpayment of salary. So, it is after I clear all the salaries of civil servants in the state before we will be talking of appointment of commis-advisers and other necessary appointments in government.
When I came in, I met over seven months’ backlog of salaries and now, I have cleared five months,” Lalong said. At different fora, Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State had stated that the delay in constituting his cabinet was to save money owing to dwindling revenue accruing to the state from the Federation Account.
In Osun State, Governor Rauf Aregbesola made no pretence about the state’s precarious financial situation. Just like it took him almost one year to appoint his commissioners in his first term, the governor has spent 10 months without a cabinet in his second term in office. Aregbesola attributed the delay to the cash crunch, saying he is conserving funds by not appointing commissioners. Like his colleagues, he only has the SSG, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; Chief of Staff, Chief Gboyega Oyetola and Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, as only political appointees.
Due to the financial realities, Aregbesola is using the services of some of his aides to carry out some state functions. “The governor had sought the understanding of those who worked with him before in his first term that they would need to assist in carrying out some assignments because of the financial realities and this he had done since the commencement of the second term in office,” Okanlawon told New Telegraph. Also, Ajimobi has become a one-man riot squad in Oyo State since he was sworn in for his second term on May 29. The only thing Ajimobi did was to sack his commissioners, special advisers and special assistants two weeks after inauguration.
Ajimobi was blunt about the delay in raising his team, which he attributed to dearth of funds, occasioned by dwindling revenue. According to the governor, the monthly allocation from the Federation Account has dropped from N5.6 billion to about N2.4 billion, whereas the wage bill gulps about N4.5 billion.
The gap, he added, has been responsible for unpaid workers’ salaries of up to five months. In Taraba, Governor Darius Ishaku is running the state with SSG, Chief of Staff, media aides, six advisers and chief protocol. Senior Special Adviser on Political Matters to the governor, Mr. Abubakar Bawa, told New Telegraph that the current financial challenges facing the state is one of the factors hindering the appointment of commissioners.
“The economic aspect is something to look at,” he added. The situation is the same in Ogun State where Amosun has only appointed the SSG, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa. The financial crunch is biting harder in Ogun State with unpaid cooperative deductions, pensions and other deductions of workers while the state struggles to pay workers’ salaries. Adeoluwa said the current economic reality in the country had hampered early cabinet formation. Abia State Governor, Chief Okezie Ikpeazu, is also contending with heavy debt and unpaid workers’ salaries, forcing him to scale down cost of governance by not raising a cabinet. Besides, New Telegraph learnt that the financial difficulty and ongoing election petition in the state informed the delay in the cabinet formation in Abia State. Ikpeazu has one commissioner, Chief of Staff and SSG.
He only appointed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Umeh Kalu. Governor Rochas Okorocha, who has unpaid salaries and pensions to contend with in Imo State, has also deferred the constitution of his cabinet. Imo, like many other states, is in a financial crisis and has been unable to meet its financial obligations. Okorocha has no cabinet in place and runs the government with his deputy, Prince Eze Madumere; the SSG, Sir Jude Ejiogu; the Chief of Staff, Chief Uche Nwosu and the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo.Commissioners and other key cabinet members who constitute the expanded executive council are yet to be appointed. In Bauchi, Governor Muhammad Abubakar has, so far, appointed SSG, Adviser on Civil Service and Deputy Chief of Staff for Government House.
Achieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Alhaji Sule Wada, said Abubakar “inherited a huge accumulated debt and the governor has to study it carefully before going into the business of constituting a cabinet. We cannot make any appointments now because the government has no sufficient funds.”
