Sunday, 25 May 2014

CRS Governor Liyel Imoke decries high cost of presidential system

Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke has decried the high cost of running the presidential system of government in Nigeria.

He said the system costs billions of naira to run, stressing there were other ways to run the system and spend less.

Imoke, who spoke on Friday during an interactive session with journalists in Calabar, also decried the continued inclusion of solid minerals in the exclusive list.

Although he did not explain how else to run a presidential system with lesser fund, Imoke said elected officials could devise means of managing funds.

He said, "One thing I have against the presidential is that it is too expensive. Our democracy costs billions. We are spending a lot of money in the name of democracy. There are other ways we can spend less. I expect that people should get into office without spending much."

Meanwhile Imoke has called on the Federal Government to remove solid minerals from the exclusive list because it has not attracted investors to develop the sector.

According to him, while the quantity of oil reserves in the nine oil-producing states are known, the commercial viability of the numerous solid mineral deposits in virtually all the states were still largely unknown.

Using Cross River State as an instance, Imoke said the commercial quantity of Barite, a solid mineral deposit in the state, is not known, adding that it is difficult to have investors in the solid mineral sector because of lack of established reserves.

"There is no private company that will come to Cross River until they know the known reserve. It is a huge cost item. If they come and the reserve is not enough, they have lost money.

"We have no capacity as a state to determine the quantity or reserve of barite. It is the Federal Government's responsibility to determine the reserve. So, it is very difficult to have investment in solid mineral in Nigeria because of no reserve determination."

"So we have said take it off the exclusive list. But so long as it is on exclusive list and we continue to rely on oil, not much can be achieved. Oil is in only nine states but solid minerals are in all the states. This is something that can bring rapid growth and development if we take it off the exclusive list and encourage private investors to come."

He also lamented the environmental degradation suffered by the people of Akamkpa Local Government Area of the state as a result of activities of investors who only having dealings with the ministry in Abuja.


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