Ita Enang Ignorant Of Difference Between Federation & FG —Ak Finance Commissioner

The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Finance Mr Nsikak Linus Nkan has advised Senator Ita Enang to desist from deceiving Akwa Ibom people and to make utterances in a way expected of a lawyer and former lawmaker.

He said it was shameful that “Ita Enang as a lawyer does not know the difference between the federal government and the Federation.”

Reacting to Ita Enang’s comments that Governor Emmanuel has performed so well because of the funds given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Nkan dismissed such insinuations as mere expression of ignorance by an individual who is in a position to know the truth.

“How can he say the federal government gives Akwa Ibom State money,  is it not the money from oil that belongs to Akwa Ibom State that goes into the federation account?”

Mr Nkan explained that the federation purse that feeds the three tiers of government in Nigeria, swells from oil revenue generated from Akwa Ibom State.

The Finance Commissioner said that the State just like other states of the federation, gets its statutory allocation from the federation account, and the federal government and local government get theirs from the same account.

He reminded the former lawmaker that the allocation to the state, the federal and local governments are not donations from the President  or the federal government.

“Why are we paid derivation, because the resources are derived from Akwa Ibom State. God deposited them in the land and water of Akwa Ibom state. At the moment they have not succeeded to make the entire water mass to belong to the federal government.”

Nsikan Nkan was of the opinion that if the revenue in the federation account comes from Akwa Ibom natural resources, then it is Akwa Ibom that is feeding the entire country.

“Where does the federal government generate money to give to Akwa Ibom, is it not the state that generates money and gives to the federal government?”

The Commissioner for Finance also frowned at the comment  that Akwa Ibom is not generating any revenue internally, saying even the local governments have internally generated revenue.

“We operate a transparent government in the state, when we prepare our budget we specify the sources of funding to execute the budget, both from allocations from  the federation account and the internally generated revenue.”

Every year we publish our account to show what came from Internally Generated Revenue in the published financial statement of Akwa Ibom State. It is not hidden. We make records available to all agencies of the federal government that require to know how much we realize from internally generated revenue.

He directed the Senator Ita Enang to visit the State Board of Internal Revenue and the office of the Accountant General of the State to get a copy of the state’s financial statement to avoid further false assumptions.

Senator Enang on a radio interview programme in Uyo had recently  admitted that the governor has performed well, but however said that the governor was using funds received from President to develop the state.

“It is President Buhari’s money that has made the Akwa Ibom State Government to succeed,” said Enang.

The senator added that, “all the monies His Excellency, my Governor, Deacon Udom Emmanuel, is using to construct all the roads, used in the new syringe industry …all the money is from the federal government, none comes from the internally generated revenue.