#30bn hardship allowance: Akpabio makes a U-turn, apologises to Govs

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has offered an apology to the state governors for his remarks regarding the reported N30 billion hardship allowance they were said to have received.

During a recent plenary session, Akpabio mentioned an “unconfirmed report” suggesting that state governors may have received N30 billion each from the Federation Account to help address the challenges of inflation and rising food prices.

He said, “The Office of the President of the Senate has been drawn to various misconceptions in the public domain on the statement credited to the President of the Senate in the plenary of Wednesday, February 21, 2024, during the presentation of a report of the joint Committees on Finance, Agriculture/Food Sufficiency, Banking and Insurance.

“During the session, the President of the Senate commented on the payment of an unverified cumulative sum of about N30bn to the sub-national governments by the Federal Government for various interventions to ameliorate the food situation of our citizens at the sub-national governments.

“The unfortunate conjectures to take away the kernel in the material facts of FAAC payment are rather regretted. In considering the well-intended motive of urging state governments to collaborate with the Federal government of President Bola Tinubu to facilitate strategic interventions to mitigate the prevailing economic situation in the country remains the underpinning motivation in the comment.

“The President of the Senate is not oblivious to the fact that state governments are functional partners in all the efforts of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu and are also valuable stakeholders’ in the various legislative engagements of the legislature in creating the nexus between the legislature and the people.”