The Governors of Ekiti and Zamfara, Ayodele Fayose and Abdulaziz Yari on Tuesday, openly disagreed over the reported approval of $1 billion by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), to be used in the fight against insurgency in the North East.

• The disagreement occurred at the old banquet hall of the Presidential Villa after a meeting of the governors and speakers of States Houses of Assembly.
• Fayose said governors never discussed the approval of the money, which was announced after a meeting of the National Economic Council, last week.
• Yari, however, insisted the matter was discussed and agreed upon collectively.
• The Ekiti governor told reporters before he left that he has already “approached a court today to challenge the approval.”

What we think: Governor Fayose was absent at the previous meeting and his decision to appear to disagree with the decision has some political undertone.

Fayose had already said security all over the country needed to be improved and using the said money for only a section of the country is a step in the wrong direction.

Although, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has already clarified that the money will be used to improve security in all parts of the country, where necessary and not just for Boko Haram but, Fayose does not want any of that clarification.

Even though the approval of the withdrawal of the fund has been greatly criticised, this disagreement might cause friction among the governors and Nigerians might begin to hear things like, “divide the money among the states, let’s fight security ourselves, just like this:

Just read FG's new position on the $1bn (N367bn) ECA fund that the fund is not only to fight Boko Haram, but for security issues in all the states.

Nigerians need a breakdown, state by state. Who is getting what and for what reason?

Most importantly, Ekiti wants its own share.

— Peter Ayodele Fayose (@GovAyoFayose) December 19, 2017

We already know that the money will be diverted afterwards.