Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has promised that if elected president of Nigeria come 2019, he would ensure a periodic review of the revenue sharing formula with a view to giving more money to the states to provide services to the people.
In doing this, Tambuwal said, his administration would look into the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure more transparency and accountability in the operations of the corporation which, according to him, have remained shrouded in secrecy.
Tambuwal, who is aspiring for the presidential ticket of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), made this known on Saturday, while addressing national delegates and party members in Edo, Enugu and Cross River states.
He lamented that in spite of its touted war against corruption, the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration under President Muhammadu Buhari, had allowed the NNPC to continue to hold the nation to ransom, by failing to properly account for, and remit accounts for timely sharing of revenue accruing to the Federation account.
This situation, according to the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has continued to hamper the efforts of the various states, to provide dividends of democracy to the people.
He said it was a big shame that the government, through the NNPC, was not in a position to know or state clearly how much oil Nigeria produces and how much the nation earns, as it continues to depend on the white man that digs oil under our feet who always tell us that our production is 2.4 million barrels.
While promising the people of Enugu state that his administration would ensure a downward review and reduction in the interest rates charged by banks on lending, Tambuwal assured that the federal government under his presidency, would facilitate work on the deep sea port in Bakassi and the super highway projects initiated by Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River state.
He made the pledge in response to an appeal by Governor Ayade that if elected president, Tambuwal should use presidential approval to expedite work on the proposed deep sea project, which he believed, would open the Atlantic Ocean to Northern Nigeria.
Mammoth crowds of party supporters welcomed Governor Tambuwal in Benin City, Enugu and Calabar, where he visited to solicit support from delegate expected to choose the PDP presidential flag bearer on October 6.