Ibadan, July 12, 2024 -Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has called on states to focus more on productive activities that can boost internally generated revenues.
Makinde, made the call while reacting to the Supreme Court judgment that granted financial autonomy to local governments.
The governor, while receiving the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Dr Chris Iziguzo, in his office at the secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, said the Supreme Court judgment has nothing to do with Oyo State.
“Because since I came in, we have conducted local government election twice, and for one day after we held the first election, there’s been no caretaker anywhere.
“We planned and gave allowance for election process to go on smoothly. So, it’s not a big problem for us,” he said.
“We should go back to those things that will allow us to bring confidence back to our people and to ensure that this country is back on the path of growth and economic progress,” he said
He said that the issue Nigeria had “is that we’re not producing enough, we’re not productive. Whatever it is that we’re sharing in Abuja, which is what this FAAC is all about, you want to have value for it, but our real problem is productivity.”
The governor, who lamented the inability of many of the local government areas to generate revenue outside of the federal allocation, said the focus of the country should be on how to increase productivity.
“We should go back to those things that will allow us to bring confidence back to our people and to ensure that this country is back on the path of growth and economic progress,” he said
