When last did the Governor of your state call a press conference to give an account of the situation of the state, beyond occasional appearances, for example, to address the insecurity situation or launch a project? Has your Governor ever disclosed how much money came into the state treasury from Federal allocations and Internally Generated Revenue the previous month, quarter, or year? In short, how accountable has your state Governor been to the people he was elected to serve?
There are many factors responsible for the Governors’ lack of accountability. They include (a) lack of an effective system of accountability; (b) illiteracy; and (c) poverty.
There is no standardised system of evaluating state governments or otherwise hold them accountable. In the absence of such a system, the electorate use elections as a system of evaluation. Those who look promising are voted in, while those who performed are reelected. Not in Nigeria, though, because such evaluation is mitigated by other factors. Governors exploit this lacuna to maximum advantage through deception and other mischievous exploits.
Take, for example, the case of Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau (2015-2023), who claimed that he bought 400 tractors for N5.6 billion for farmers in his state as part of the state’s agricultural production scheme, even after each participating farmer paid a deposit of N1.5 million to the state for the equipment. However, upon investigation by Premium Times, it was discovered that only about 90 tractors were bought and fewer (just 40) were displayed when President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the project in 2018. Yet, the unknowing electorate was recruited to sing and dance on the occasion in praise of the Governor (see The true story of ‘400 tractors’ ex-Gov. Lalong claimed his govt bought for Plateau, Premium Times, July 4, 2024).
Illiteracy prevent the public from pressing for accountability. I use the term illiteracy here in two senses: One, in the sense of stark illiteracy, that is, inability to read and write, which applies to about 40 percent of the Nigerian population, much more so in the North than in the South, and the other in the sense of political illiteracy, despite the dual ability to read and write. Many literate Nigerians are politically illiterate in this sense. Some of them may know that Governors should be accountable, but they will not hold the Governors to account either because they are “eating” or because they hope to “eat” from the Governors’ government or they don’t care at all. Both groups of illiterates take part in singing and dancing in praise of Governors for doing their duty, such as tarring a road or building a public facility, such as a school, hospital, or clinic. This practice has the inverse effect of making the Governors feel they have achieved, and they use the praise singing as a surrogate for accountability.
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Poverty also prevents voters from holding their Governors to account. is poverty, which makes them satisfied with tokens, such as rural roads, boreholes, or a poverty alleviation measure, such as N5,000 or a scoop of rice. Many of them have no idea that whatever they get from their state government is their right and that it is the Governor’s duty to provide them. Unfortunately, the illiterate and poor electorate have been led to believe that whatever problems they have are from Abuja, and that their enemy is the federal government and not their Governor or state government. That’s why protests are directed at the Federal Government instead of state governments.
It is the dual scourge of illiteracy and poverty that makes vote-buying central to our electoral practice. Save for occasional investigative journalism and a few civil society organisations, which demand accountability, sometimes by going to court to demand some records, little or nothing is heard about the performance of state governments.
Any wonder then that corruption is rampant in the states, and it takes various forms, including bribery, inflated contracts (to disguise cutbacks), and outright embezzlement of public funds, often through diversion into private or business accounts associated with politicians, political appointees, civil servants, and/or their surrogates. To be sure, corruption is not unique to Nigeria. It is everywhere across the globe. What is peculiar about corruption in Nigeria is twofold, namely, the impunity with which corrupt practices thrive and the degree to which the practices are condoned, especially by the respective local communities of the politicians, political appointees, and civil servants in question.
Most state Governors are corrupt. Once elected, they are either looking for campaign funds for reelection or for running for Senate or for supporting a Presidential candidate for expected reward, such as a Vice-Presidential pick or ministerial nomination. Some even accumulate funds to run for President. For incumbents, the state treasury is often the starting point, using various methods, including the so-called security vote, which, in some states, is as high as N1 billion a month, which the Governor is not bound to account for.
Some of them may also want to retire from active politics once they feel that they have accumulated enough money to sustain them and their family for the rest of their lives. Remember that, besides their savings, they are treated to a fat severance package and monthly pension, which varies from state to state. In addition, they keep several vehicles, drivers, police escort, kitchen staff, and other assistants for which their states or the relevant government agency, such as the police, allegedly continues to pay.
It is against the above backgrounds that the Governors’ performances since May 29, 2023, should be assessed. It is pertinent to emphasise that since fuel subsidy was removed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the inception of his administration, state allocations have more than doubled. Yet, there have been no corresponding improvements in people’s lives, despite the distribution of funds and other resources for palliatives, including cash distribution, agricultural development, transport facility, and infrastructural development.
How will the Governors be made accountable? The answer lies with residents of each state as the Federal Government has no power under the constitution to interfere in the affairs of the states. True, the EFCC and the ICPC are under federal control, but neither institution can act in the absence of credible petitions or prompted enquiries. It is time for citizen action, not necessarily to go to the streets but to seek alternative ways, including litigation, to make their Governors accountable.
