Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State declared on Wednesday that the categorisation of the state as insolvent also suggest that the Federal Government was bankrupt .

Diri spoke when he hosted a delegation from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission at the Government House , Yenagoa .

Last week , the chairman of RMAFC , Mr Elias Mbam, had grouped Bayelsa with the four states of Borno, Kebbi, Katsina and Taraba as states that had become insolvent.

But Diri contended that Bayelsa , as an oil and gas-producing state, could not be declared insolvent in isolation of Nigeria which had also been rendered bankrupt by the existing abnormalities in the country.

According to him , the time had come to change the revenue formula to reflect the principles of “ true federalism which promotes equity and justice . ”

The governor, who renewed his call on multinationals to relocate their headquarters to Bayelsa , said , “We cannot be doing things the same way and expect a different result. A state where a good percentage of the revenue that Nigeria shares (is generated) , is said to be bankrupt . How does that happen in any normal society ? It tells us that there is an abnormality in this country . Should Bayelsa be bankrupt , then Nigeria should also be declared bankrupt . ”

Source: Punch news