Foundation member of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has cautioned Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State to beware of the dangers of squeezing water out of stone in his 2024 Budget projections.
Okechukwu, who ws the immediate past Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), gave the warning while speaking to journalists in Enugu.
He spoke on the possible impact of the 2024 Enugu State Budget proposal of ₦521.6 billion, recently delivered by the governor, christened: “Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth” to the Enugu State House of Assembly.
Okechukwu, who reminded the governor of the economic hardship and suffering being encountered by the people of the state, stressed that it would be inhuman to subject them to extreme taxation.
He reminded the governor that the good people of Enugu State, like most poor Nigerians, had for long been in dire economic straits, where cost of food items, transportation, medication and sundry items have hit the roof tops.
The APC chieftain maintained that the people do not need further disruption, adding: “One personally admires the zeal, passion and ambition of His Excellency, Dr Peter Mbah, to budget half a trillion naira for the 2024 fiscal year.
Okechukwu, who is an elder statesman in Enugu State, said: “However, one has to caution him to beware of the dangers of squeezing N1/4 trillion (N250 million) out of stone.
“I shivered when I heard the governor mention the word maximisation of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and I imagined if it is not from the same impoverished folks of which over 40 per cent fall under multidimensional poverty cadre.
“And my question is this N250 million, Gov. Mbah’s disruption on the move?”
Reminded that IGR drive is universal in all the states of the Federation and not restricted to only Enugu State; the APC chieftain agreed, but singled out the multidimensional poverty status of majority of the indigenes of Enugu State and the contradiction of over taxation.
“I do not know the current National Bureau of Statistics poverty ranking of my state, but the little one knows is that there is abject poverty, gross unemployment and palpable insecurity which have driven a lot of farmers out of their farms,” he said.
On his advice to Gov. Mbah; Okechukwu advised him to rely on the Federation Account Allocation Committee’s (FAAC) monthly revenue accruals as his seed money and make sure it is transparently utilised.
“The problem is that most governors utilise FAAC monthly allocation as pocket money and squander it for personal expenses instead of tangible investment.
“Secondly, he should establish cordial relationships with the Federal Government so as to benefit from projects like the Enugu Urban Water scheme initiated by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources; other programmes in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) among others.
“And, thirdly, he should intensify collaboration with his colleagues in the private sector so as to fund 1,000 megawatts; sulphur dioxide emission controlled Coal-Fired Power Plant.
“This will attract investors as experts believe that power supply is fundamental to simulating investment and economic growth,” he advised.
Reminded that climate change advocates will frown at Coal-Fired-Power Plant; Okechukwu pointed at the existence of Flue Gas Desulfurisation (FGD), which are air pollution control devices for sulphur dioxide emissions, that take care of climate change.
He regretted the crass hypocrisy of the developed countries, where as of July, 2023, China has 1,142, India 282, USA 210, Japan 93, Germany 58 of Coal-Fired-Power-Plants respectively.
