The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has said that his statement claiming that governors received N30 billion from the Federal Government to cushion the effects of hardship was misconstrued.
Recall that the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde had said that there was no truth to the senate president claims, insisting that he and other governors never received such amount from the federal government.
However, speaking via a statement by his spokesman, Eseme Eyiboh, in Abuja on Monday, Akpabio insisted that he holds the state governors in high esteem.
Akpabio insisted that his statement was aimed at pushing the governors to collaborate with President Bola Tinubu and come up with interventions to mitigate the economic situation in the country.
He urged the governors not to be distracted by any misunderstanding of the context and true meaning of the statement.
The statement reads: “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.
“The President of the Senate has always demonstrated commitment to team building and shall not do less in the circumstance.
“He, therefore, urges the sub-national governments not to be distracted by any misunderstanding of the context and true meaning of the statement.
“The President of the Senate recognizes and appreciates the current efforts of the governors at ameliorating the adverse effects of the current inclement socio-economic environment and therefore invites more hands on the plow to complement the renewed hope agenda.”
