The Presidency has blamed Nigeria’s long-standing financial issues on resource mismanagement instead of the federal arrangement of the country.
Vice President Kashim Shettima stated this on Tuesday at the 17th Annual LEADERSHIP Newspapers Conference and Awards, which took place in the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja. The occasion also doubled as the 20th anniversary of LEADERSHIP Newspapers and gathered top government, business, and civil society leaders on the theme: “The Challenges and Opportunities in Nigeria’s Fiscal Federalism.”
Presenting the keynote address via his Special Adviser on General Duties, Aliyu Modibbo Umar, Shettima insisted that Nigeria’s real problem is not revenue allocation but fiscal indiscipline across different levels of government.
The Nigerian problem is not so much with the form of our federalism but with the lack of our collective fiscal responsibility,” Shettima stated. “It’s not about how much each federating unit receives, but how efficiently the resources are utilized.”.
He commended LEADERSHIP Newspapers for providing a platform to build legacies through meaningful discourse and applauded the conference for addressing critical national issues.
Highlighting ongoing reforms in the Tinubu government, Shettima highlighted efforts at enhancing transparency, service delivery, and governance. Foremost among these reforms, he stated, are efforts at local government autonomy, which was recently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court and which he stated was a vital step towards deepening democratic governance.
This is how we make the federation work: by bringing the government to the people,” he said. Even while citing federal systems in other countries such as Canada, Germany, and Spain, the Vice President cautioned against blind borrowing of foreign models. He demanded a distinctively Nigerian solution to federalism one that is based on accountability, inclusiveness, and pragmatic development.
No federal system is ideal,” he stated. “We must be careful against imposed solutions that disregard our special cultural and demographic circumstances. What people are actually concerned about is not theory, but availability of such necessities as clean water, electricity, roads, schools, and hospitals.”. Shettima restated the government’s resolve to implement tough but essential reforms such as fuel subsidy removal and tax regime reform in a bid to entrench a fiscally disciplined and robust nation. He ended praising award winners at the conference as a privilege and an obligation. “Nigeria does not need policies it needs patriots. Citizens, leaders, and institutions prepared to stand tall when it matters most,” he ended.
