The Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, has said that the Federal Government can only begin to develop once the states and Local Government Areas (LGAs) develop.
He argued that it was time for the Federal Government to allocate some powers to the states and LGAs for real growth to be experienced.
Okowa said this in Asaba on Thursday at the two-day event of the Investment Committee of Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) themed, ‘Repositioning Federation Investment for Enhanced Revenue Performance.’
He said “We believe that the level of funding of the states and the LGAs is not enough. If the states and the LGAs are developed, then the Federal Government is developed.
“Then, the Federal Government can relinquish some of the things it does for the states and LGAs. There are many things the Federal Government ought to begin to shed.
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“We are facing insecurity now; we should be thinking of how states can help to check insecurity in their areas by providing state police to complement the Federal Police.”
Speaking on the access of the RMAFC, Okowa said that adjustments needed to be made to the constitution to ensure that the commission presented its proposals directly to the National Assembly without interference from the president.
He said, “The commission has to send its proposals first to the table of Mr. President who in turn will send them to National Assembly.
“I am aware that on some occasions, the board has laid some proposals before the presidency, but those proposals were never laid before the National Assembly since 1999.
“We think that there is a need to amend that section of the constitution to empower the commission to send proposals directly to the National Assembly to give greater independence to it and guarantee fairness that we expect as sub-national governments.”
