President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday night met behind closed doors with the 36 state governors at the State House, Abuja.Our correspondent learnt that the meeting deliberated on the vexed issue of the operation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund and the botched revenue sharing from the Federation Account by all tiers of government, among others.The Federation Account Allocation Committee had on October 19 suspended the sharing of the September revenue...among the three tiers of government following disagreements over subsidy deductions by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency.On arrival, some of the governors, on sighting the projector placed in the hall, expressed surprise that there was going to be a PowerPoint presentation.The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Austen Oniwon, and his team were also at the meeting, giving an indication that the corporation would make a presentation.As at 8.40pm when the meeting started, those who were at the meeting included governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Peter Obi (Anambra), Patrick Yakowa (Kaduna) and Danbaba Suntai (Taraba).Others were Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti).The deputy governors of Lagos, Adamawa, Yobe, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Benue and Plateau states also stood in for their principals.The operation of the SWF has attracted strident criticisms from the governors, who maintained that it was illegal to use savings from crude oil sales to fund it.Only on Monday, the Niger State governor explained that he and his colleagues were not at anytime opposed to the operation of the fund.Aliyu, who spoke in Abuja during a programme to commemorate 50 years of capital market regulation in Nigeria, however, noted that what the governors were against was the manner in which the fund would be invested in key sectors of the economy.He said, No matter how good our economic policies may look, if they dont translate into the good of majority of Nigerians, then they are only theories.I must say on behalf of my colleagues that none of us is against the SWF, if we are, it wouldnt have passed the National Economic Council. But we are concerned with what will happen to the investment and that is the only the area of departure.However, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, who is the brain behind the SWF, insisted that the fund still remained a potent investment pool of capital that could fast-track economic growth and development in the country.He said, The Sovereign Wealth Fund is a potent pool of investment capital that will fast-track economic growth and development.When I assumed office as the Minister of Trade and Investment, I declared that we would gear efforts towards attracting private capital to enable us attain the rate of growth this government aspires.A former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who spoke with reporters at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on Monday, said improper perception of the concept of the fund was responsible for the criticisms and opposition to its establishment.I think the SWF is good; no amount is too small; it will take time to build it up, every year, some money will accrue to it, he said.The former governor, who is a serving senator, advised the Federal Government to find a middle ground pending when constitutional review is carried out.
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