GOVERNOR WIKE ADVOCATES THE NEED FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW INDIVIDUAL FEDERATING STATES TO DEVELOP THEIR MINERAL RESOURCES AND PAY TAX ON THEM.

Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has advocated the need for the Federal Government to allow individual federating states to develop their mineral resources and pay tax on them.

This, he said, is the best measure to adopt to fully harness the abundant and untapped mineral resources in the country.

Governor Wike made the suggestion when the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Port Harcourt.

The Governor said with politics injected into every policy, programme and relationship, it had become difficult to foster collaboration among states and the federal government in developing the country apolitically, emphasizing that government should be concerned about the life of the citizenry, harness prevailing potentials and develop the country holistically.

He said because the federal government is directly involved in many issues and sectors, there is slow development in virtually every area of national life, pointing out that it is time for the federal government to relinquish such powers to states so that they can harness the mineral resources in the country while it formulates the policies and laws. 

Governor Wike also faulted the claim by the Minister of State that the Federal Government has sufficiently developed the agricultural sector, pointing out that there is no food sufficiency, because more food is imported into the country and there is thirty-three percent unemployment rate which the sector would have absolved if it was developed as claimed.

In his remarks, Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah said his ministry is desirous to collaborate with states as it develops the abundant mineral resources across the country to create jobs and generate revenue for the federal government