“I inherited a Nigeria in which the trains were not working, and handed over a Nigeria in which citizens can safely travel by trains again. I inherited a Nigeria that was a net importer of cement, and handed over a Nigeria that is a net exporter of cement. In 2009 the richest Nigerian was the 5th richest man in Africa, but I handed over a Nigeria that produced the richest man in Africa.”
These were the words of the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan when he spoke with Friends of Africa Coalition at the Mayor’s office in New Jersey, the United States of America.
Jonathan continued: “I am proud to say that while I took over a Nigeria that was the second largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $270.5 billion in 2009, I handed over a Nigeria that had grown to become the largest economy in Africa and the 24th largest economy in the World with a GDP of $574 billion.
The former President went on to explain his reasons for handing over to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after he lost the 2015 Presidential election, stressing that he respected the will of the people.
“Even in the 2015 general elections in my country, Nigeria, there was potential for major crisis if I was not a President duly elected by the will of the people.
“The campaigns leading to the elections almost polarized the country into Christian v Muslims and North v South divide. Most World leaders were worried that our elections will result into major crisis. Some pundits even from here in the United States said that those elections would spell the end of Nigeria and that we would cease to exist as a nation because of the polls.
“That is where the leadership question comes into play. As a leader that was duly elected by the people, I considered the people’s interest first. How do I manage my people to avoid killings and destruction of properties? With the interest of the people propelling all the decisions I took, we were able to sail through.
“Indeed, we sail through because I refused to interfere with the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, having appointed a man I had never met in my life to run it. My philosophy was simple. For elections to be credible, I as a leader, must value the process more than the product of the process. And the citizens must have confidence in the electoral body.
“These are but a few of the parameters that illustrate some of the economic transformations we engineered during my term in office. This was made possible by the fact that there was a stable political leadership in Nigeria that did not have to pander to any other constituency except the electorate who brought me to power. And these actions have a contagious effect.” [myad]
The monthly Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting was held the other day in Abuja, with the representatives of state governments again cap in hand, asking for their share of federal revenue – read: oil revenue, or better still, national cake, or our money. A paragraph in the report by the online newspaper, Premium Times, caught my attention and here it is: “But at the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting, representatives of the 36 state governments went home SAD (emphasis mine), as they were handed parlous shares from a total N299.75 billion statutory allocation for the month, the lowest allocations in more than five years.” For the month of March 2016, the states shared N55.34 billion, compared to N64.52 billion in February 2016. I have deliberately emphasized the word sad, because the day may well come when after the sharing of national revenue, we may be told that some Commissioners of Finance left the meeting crying, or wailing.
To prevent that happening this time, the Federal Government chose to suspend deductions of salary repayment loans owed by the states. When such deductions were made in February 2016, at least one state, Osun, went back home with a paltry N6 million only. The truth is that most of the 36 states are in dire straits, worst hit by the economic crisis that the country faces. About 27 out of the 36 states of the Federation are effectively insolvent, if not bankrupt. In July 2015, the Federal Government not only bailed out the states financially, the Central Bank of Nigeria further extended the repayment period for bank loans taken by the states from a period of seven years to 20 years. So far the affected states have collected salary assistance loans from the CBN to the tune of N689.5 billion, with an additional N310 billion as loans backed by the Excess Crude Account.
Across the country, these states are owing staff salaries, in some cases up to seven months. Pensioners have not been paid their arrears. Civil servants are angry because their allowances are being withheld. Most of the states (24) have not been able to improve on their internally generated revenue. The people are angry, wondering what this change has brought to their doorsteps. In January 2015, former CBN Governor, Charles Soludo, had sounded a cautionary note of warning in a piece titled “Buhari vs. Jonathan: Beyond the Election” wherein he argued that under President Jonathan, economic prosperity (oil boom) rather than generate wealth and opportunities resulted in greater pressures and the handing over of the economy to “self-conflicted traders and businessmen.”
He warned that the future of the Nigerian economy appeared bleak in the event of a slide in the spot price of crude oil. In November 2015, Soludo wrote a post-election piece titled “Can a New Buharinomics save Nigeria?” in which he slightly revised his trenchant attack on the Jonathan administration and argued that President Muhammadu Buhari had in fact inherited strong economic indicators and that in spite of the dwindling oil prices, he had an opportunity to further strengthen the Nigerian economy, given the right choices. The economist called for a debate on the subject, made his own recommendations and asked for the immediate setting up of a WAR ROOM on the economy.
Between January 2015 and March 2016, Soludo has been proven right in many respects; if you discount the politics of his January 2015 piece, that is, and focus on the analytical prescience of his contributions, you would easily agree that whatever may be happening in the economy today is foreseeable, foretold, and perhaps preventable. There is no challenge more urgent in Nigeria today than the economy. The health of the economy is linked to the well-being of the people. A recursive economy brings hardship and perhaps the last time Nigeria found itself in similar circumstances was truly between 1981 and 1985; the mismanagement of that challenge then, rather than improve our situation resulted in an uncontrollable decline, the effect of which has had Octopal implications for the well-being of the entire society. The concern of the concerned intelligentsia is that things should not get worse than they are now.
Because things are not really looking good, right now, President Goodluck Jonathan, for example, has had the great opportunity of engaging in an inevitable chest-beating-if-nobody-praises-me-I-will-praise-myself presentation in Newark, United States a few days ago. What he didn’t spell out is in the sub-text of his commentary. The current indication is that Nigeria’s GDP growth has dropped to below 3% in 2016 from about 7% in 2014. Income levels have similarly dropped. Inflation has jumped from single digit to a frightening double-digit range (12.11%). The manufacturing sector, which was on the rebound as at 2014, is now below 3% of GDP, which is as bad as saying there is no manufacturing going on at all and that the real sector is prostrate. The country’s reserves have been drained. Government deficit is rising. Unemployment has risen, even if one West African country is nonetheless asking Nigeria to come and help it solve its unemployment problem – I hope we will not again go and give what we do not have at home! Fuel queues are back as a feature of national life. Many Nigerians have not had an hour of electricity supply in the last four months. The people are angry and hungry.
In his November 2015 article, Soludo asked for a War Room. In March 2016, the Federal Government organized a Talk Shop in the form of a 2-day retreat of the National Economic Council (NEC) which came up with 71 proposals to revive the economy. 71 proposals! Sadly, there is nothing new in those proposals. Soludo called for a debate and pro-active measures. The administration is obviously not interested in what he has to say. Instead, there has been a lot of blame-this-blame-that going on. My take is that we cannot leave economics to the economists. Economists are fundamentalists; between the market fundamentalists and the state capitalists they only manage to produce problems, and that is perhaps why the idea of a War Room may be the wrong idiom. I also don’t consider the blame game helpful. Whatever is wrong with the Nigerian economy is an open secret that does not require any prolonged movement of the mandibular.
We are, to say the truth, paying the price for the failure of the Nigerian leadership elite to diversify the Nigerian economy and expand the country’s revenue base. We found oil in 1958, and since then we have been as a country, a victim of the curse of oil. The curse of oil in our context has meant indolence, the emergence of a rentier class, a squandering of riches and the alienation of the poor by the rich. Every country afflicted by the curse of oil has found it difficult to escape from the curse. In our case, it is worse. Crude oil accounts for 90% of Nigeria’s exports, 70% of Federal revenue and about 15% of GDP. The point has been made for years that without oil, or with great falls in the spot price of the Brent crude, Nigeria will be in trouble. Every scholar has spoken about the need for diversification, but oil money is so cheap, it does not allow our ruling elite to think. I wrote the foreword two months ago to a book tilted Memories of Yesteryears written by Akpandem James, formerly of the Independent Newspaper and in one of the chapters he reminisces about a long list of plantations across the South Southern part of the country, but those plantations are no longer there, either in the South South or the North or the East or West, because over the years, Nigerians got used to the easy money that comes with oil.
Oil, everyone said, is a wasting asset. But our leaders never listened. Instead, they argue that we have more gas than oil and that if nobody buys our oil, shale oil or no shale oil, Nigeria will sell gas. A country built on a philosophy of wealth without work or sense, commits a grievous sin. We have confronted the curse of oil on so many occasions. It caused the civil war of 1967-70. It resulted in the desperation of the North to seize Federal power and get a bigger share of the national cake by all means. It led to the agitations in the Niger Delta, the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight, pipeline vandalism, Niger Delta insurgency, environmental degradation and the potent threat of a resurgent militancy in the Niger Delta, which is bound to cripple the Nigerian economy finally and tragically. The curse of oil is the source of a national cake mentality that has turned public service into an arena for primate accumulation. It is the root of corruption in Nigeria.
It is not a Buhari vs. Jonathan apotheosis therefore. To reduce it to that level is to ignobly avoid the messages of history. If anyone must be blamed, it must be all Nigerian leaders from independence at all levels. They have focused more on the fundamentals of ethnic, religious, regional and personal benefits, more than the fundamentals of national benefit. The leaders at the state levels are no better than gluttonous beggars. Elsewhere, states are centres of productive, economic activities. In Nigeria, every Governor is interested in what comes from the easy monthly allocation from Abuja. For IGR, they tax the people, multiple, punitive taxes. They create the impression that government exists to punish the people. Not every problem is Abuja-sourced. We need Governors who can think creatively economically and turn their states into economic units, not cowboys who spend more time in Abuja doing eye service. Truth is: some Governors are so cheap when they go to the Villa, they even expect to be given transport fare!
There are other issues: enhanced financial transparency will help, fraud has to be checked; there should be greater oversight scrutiny by civil society and the legislature; too many lawmakers are too busy trying to get their own bite of the national cake – can they please keep their rumbling and insatiable stomachs in check? And finally, the cost of governance must be reduced: Lawmakers who proudly ride vehicles worth N36.5 million are bandits not servants of the people. Governors who live ostentatiously and claim that there is not enough money to pay salaries are wrong. President Buhari is fighting corruption: he should allow states being run corruptly to sink if they must. [myad]
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has blown a whistle on how some state governments diverted and or mismanaged the recent bailout funds released to them by the Federal Government, strictly to pay the backlog of their workers’ salaries.
Report of the Commission indicated that while some state governments mismanaged the funds, others diverted it to other uses, even as others claimed to have used it for the payment of salaries but still owe workers salaries. The funds were disbursed by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It was learnt that the funds have so far been disbursed to 27 States based on the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari. report said that in Imo and Zamfara States, the bailout fund was said to have been utilized for other purposes, saying that Imo State applied for and received bailout funds of ₦26,806,430,000.00 from the CBN. However, it was discovered that rather than paying workers, some transfers were made into certain Imo State Government accounts, which are not related to salaries and emoluments. The transfers included N2 billion into a Government House Account, N2 billion into an Imo State Project Account, N2 billion transferred to a Micro-Finance Bank and a management fee of N21,017,810.00 was paid into an unspecified account. Zamfara State was said to have requested for N32,512,495,183.27 bailout fund. It received N10,020,952,964.51. But it was discovered that the State was not owing Civil Servants and Pensioners any arrears as at the time the Federal Government released the bailout funds. The State Government, in order to utilize the funds, reportedly made overture to the Zamfara State House of Assembly requesting to use the funds to settle some liabilities amounting to N10,020,751,072.98. The money was then used as outstanding of payment to 14 local government areas of the State, amounting to N4,262,560,629.83; outstanding payment of fertilizer for the 2014 farming season, N3,056,300,000.00; outstanding Certificate for Construction of Bungudu-Nahuche Kyabarawa Road, which is 22.6km, coming up to N265,256,342.76; and outstanding Certificate of Hostel Block at Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, T/Mafara: ₦55,000,000.00 among others. Below is the full report:
Introduction: As part of the Federal Government’s effort to end the lingering crisis of unpaid worker’s salary in most States of the Federation, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a comprehensive relief package designed to salvage the situation through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Special Intervention Fund which offered affected States soft loans solely for the purpose of paying the backlog of salaries.
Benefitting States: Whereas the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to officially confirm this to the Commission, the twenty-seven benefitting states from the open sources are: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara State.
Findings: Following strident allegations of diversion of these bail-out funds and to avoid industrial unrest, ICPC in collaboration with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), decided to monitor the disbursement of the bailout funds in the 27 benefitting States. However, relying on available resources we could only cover twenty-three States as follows:
Adamawa State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments was ₦9, 578,369,000.000. The State received ₦9,578,360,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦2,378,360,000.00 with a balance of ₦7,200,000,000.00. The reason for the slow process of off-setting the debt was not provided as at the time of this report. However, the State claimed not to owe outstanding salaries as at September, 2015.
Bauchi State – total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments was ₦14,820,775,109.50. The State received ₦8,609,100,000.00 as bail-out fund and disbursed ₦8,414,088,383.26 with a balance of ₦195,011,616.74. The State claimed not to owe salaries as at September, 2015.
Benue State – a total debt accrued from staff salaries and emoluments amounted to ₦12,503,439,787.48. The State received ₦12,503,439,787.48 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦10,852,536,702.96 with a balance of ₦1, 650,903,084.52. Analysis of the documents submitted revealed a double payment of ₦37,760,000.00 in favour of Office of the Deputy Governor. This double payment is presently being investigated.
Cross River State is yet to submit her actual debt profile. The State received ₦7,856,400,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦3,140,883,040.77 with a balance of ₦4,715,516,959,23. However the State claimed not to have outstanding salaries to workers as at 19/11/2015.
Ekiti State – a total debt accrued from staff salaries and emoluments of ₦3,000,266,146,64. The State received ₦9,604,340,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦9,213,816,252.44 with a balance of ₦390,613,747,56. The State owed one month salary as at 28th October, 2015.
Katsina State – a total debt accrued from staff salaries and emoluments of ₦11,086,630,000.00. The State received 11,086,630,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦2,512,214,530.71 with a balance of ₦8,574,415,469,29. The state claimed to have cleared all outstanding salaries as at 18th February, 2016.
Gombe State has a total accrued from salaries and Staff emoluments of ₦9,222,432,872.67. A total of ₦11,000,000,000.00 was granted to the State as bailout and disbursed ₦6,321,684,423.67 with a balance of ₦4,679,315,576.33. The State claimed they do not owe salaries as at September, 2015.
Kogi State claimed not to have received bailout funds approved for the State by the Federal Government as at 8th August, 2015.
Nasarawa State received ₦8,317,167,368.87 in two tranches of ₦3,956,047,519.60 and ₦4,361,119,848.27 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦3,956,047,519.60 with a balance of ₦4,361,119,848.27. The State claimed not to have paid Local Government Workers’ salaries due to an on-going verification exercise.
Niger State received ₦4,396,810,000.00 as bailout fund and the entire amount was claimed to have been expended in off-setting salary debts.
Ondo State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments was put at ₦23,151,324,517.39. The State received 9,443,059,226.92 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦7,905,484,176.60 with a balance of ₦1,537,575,050.32. The State owes one-month salary and several months arrears of gratuity/pension as at 30th September, 2015.
Osun State received ₦34,988,990,000.00 as bailout fund. ₦18,677,224,582.20 was disbursed leaving a balance of ₦16,311,765,418 billion as at November, 2015. The Commission is verifying allegations that Osun State Public Servants have only been paid salaries up to July, 2015.
Ogun State received ₦18,916,208,664.86 as bailout fund. The State claimed to have expended the entire sum for salary arrears and does not owe workers as at 9th October, 2015.
Plateau State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments of ₦5,090,251,996.39. The State received ₦5, 357,570,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦5,330,589,061.15 with a balance of ₦26,980,938.85. The State owes two-months salaries as at 30th September, 2015.
Sokoto State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments including pension, severance and gratuity of ₦3,488,11,165.77. The State was granted ₦10,093,370,000.00 as bailout fund and was yet to disburse as at the 19th October, 2015.
Kwara State received the sum of ₦4,320,950,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦4,291,087,985.08 for staff salaries and emoluments with a balance of ₦29,862,014.92. The State claimed to have cleared all outstanding salaries as at 20th October, 2015.
Bayelsa State applied for the sum of ₦1,285,000,000.00 and had concluded disbursement formalities but the Central Bank of Nigeria was yet to release the said fund to the State as at 18th December, 2015.
Imo State applied for and received bailout funds of ₦26,806,430,000.00 from Central Bank of Nigeria which were domiciled with two commercial banks namely Fidelity and Zenith Banks. In the course of analysis, it was discovered that some transfers were made into certain Imo State Government account which are not related to salaries and emoluments as follow:
₦2 Billion into a Government House Account • ₦2 Billion into an Imo State Project Account • ₦2 Billion transferred to a Micro-Finance Bank • A management fee of ₦21,017,810.00 was paid to unspecified account.
Zamfara State requested for the sum of ₦32,512,495,183.27 bail-out funds and received the Sum of ₦10,020,952,964.51. After careful analysis of the documents provided and interaction with the Nigerian Labour Leaders in Zamfara State by ICPC staff, it was revealed that the State was not owing Civil Servants and Pensioners any arrears as at the time the Federal Government released the bail-out funds. The State Government in order to utilize the funds, made overture to the Zamfara State House of Assembly requesting to use the funds to settle some liabilities amounting to ₦10,020,751,072.98 as follows:
Outstanding of payment to 14 LGS of the State: ₦4,262,560,629.83 • Outstanding payment of fertilizer for 2014 farming season: ₦3,056,300,000.00 • Outstanding Certificate for Construction of Bungudu-Nahuche Kyabarawa Road 22.6Km: ₦265,256,342.76 • Outstanding Certificate of Hostel Block at Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, T/Mafara: ₦55,000,000.00 • Payment of outstanding cost of Vehicles supplied to State: ₦319,430,000.00 • Outstanding Certificate of Construction work at K/Namoda Juma’ at Mosque: ₦20,479,100.39 • Outstanding Certificate of Construction work at Emir’s Palace, Gusau: ₦6,020,000.00 • Share of 14 Local Government Councils Bailout: ₦2,035,705,000.00 The Zamfara State House of Assembly passed a resolution for the utilization of the funds on the above items which was communicated to the Secretary to the State Government vide letter ZMHA/LEG/089/V.1/13 dated 31st August, 2015. • Enugu State has a total debt value accrued from Staff Salaries and emoluments of ₦13,764,622,723.38 and ₦23,279,099,157.58 as domestic debt. The State was granted ₦10,174,238,681.19 as bailout fund as at 16th November, 2015. Analysis of the documents submitted reveal that the State disbursed ₦5,967,238,681.19 from the bailout fund to settle domestic debts and claimed that funds for the payment of Staff salaries and emoluments was not yet assessed. • Oyo State total debt value accrued from Staff salaries and emoluments is ₦26,606,944,831.03. The State was granted ₦26,606,944,831.03 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦25,495,292,422.63 with a balance of ₦1,111,652,408.40. The State owes four Months salaries as at 7th April, 2016. • Delta State has a total debt value accrued from Staff salaries and emoluments of ₦36,417,217,601.53. The State was granted ₦10,936,799,299.36 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦8,129,888,279.86 with a balance of ₦2,806,911,019.50. However, the State claimed not to owe salaries as at 24th November, 2015. • Kebbi State’s total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments is ₦8,778,594,714.78. The State received ₦7,080,000,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦2,617,152,577.20 with a balance of ₦4,463,975,420.27. The State claimed to have cleared all outstanding arrears on salaries as at September, 2015. NOTE: • The Report indicate findings at the dates indicated above for each State. Subsequent changes may have taken place thereafter which the various States and Nigerian Labour Congress are at liberty to bring to our notice for verification and further comments as the need arises. • This Report has been published to assist all parties eliminate unsubstantiated allegations and promote peaceful negotiations and understanding in the management of government processes. • This Report comes under ICPC Prevention mandate and States are welcome to use this initiative. [myad]
Infrastructure is central to every aspect of our national life. Improving infrastructure is not only critical for economic growth, but essential in ensuring the improved wellbeing of our people. Empirical research over the years has shown that there exist a strong link between infrastructural development and increased productivity. Productivity in Nigeria is low. No thanks to our confounding infrastructural deficit. Reports from World Bank revealed that from now through 2030, at least $57 trillion will need to be expended to build infrastructures ranging from ports, power plants, rails, roads, telecommunications, water systems, and other litany of facilities that the global economy needs. For developed nations of the world, the priority is to renew waning infrastructure; for emerging ones such as Nigeria, the focus is to build the infrastructures required to support growth. This is apparent in the deterioration of our state-owned roads and federal highways, the dearth of our public transportation systems, under investment in affordable housing and social infrastructure, and the skyrocketing of environmental menace. Making a case to invest in infrastructure is long overdue. The positive economic benefits of stronger infrastructure spending can never be overemphasized. It supports jobs and businesses, leading to lower levels of unemployment and increased economic growth. Also in the long run, competitiveness of private businesses will be enhanced, thereby leading to wealth creation and higher standard of living. Furthermore, increased investment in infrastructure will not only impact directly on the economy but will also spread through the economy through a chain of multiplier effects like curbing rural-urban drift. Pertinent to also state that infrastructure spending generates a positive economic return before projects are even completed, as the construction stage alone generates enough economic activity to almost justify the expense, even though the real economic benefit of public infrastructure is the long-term effect it has on productivity and business competitiveness – key mechanisms of a developing economy for which Nigeria is one. Improved infrastructure would lower the cost of doing business in Nigeria thereby allowing for higher rates of private investment and ensuring that Nnamdi’s company in Onitsha, Adekunle’s firm in Lagos and Tanimu’s establishment in Kano can grow, and overtime, becomes competitive on the global stage. The sad news however is that Nigeria would require about $8 billion annually to bridge her huge gap in public infrastructure. It is quite obvious that the country is at the precipice. Some reports have it that only 18 percent of the nation’s 197,000 kilometres of federal roads network which conveys 90 percent of persons across the country is paved. The situation in power generation and supply is still abysmal. Low cost Mass Housing schemes are rather derisory. In recent past, we have seen a steady decline in capital expenditure of both federal and state governments whilst recurrent expenditure has been on the rise. This simply translates into paucity of funds for building and maintenance of public infrastructure. The next big question now is, where do we turn to for solution to our current infrastructure financing challenges? The answer lies at the door step of The Infrastructure Bank Plc. A new-look, rebranded and dedicated infrastructure bank, providing financial solutions to support key long term infrastructure projects, including transportation infrastructure, municipal common services, mass housing, solid waste management and water provision, power and renewable energy projects.
At a time when other finance institutions are hesitant to provide resources for the huge but critical infrastructure investment required in Nigeria and Africa at large, The Infrastructure Bank is open to funding commercially viable projects that have significant developmental impact for both public institutions and private sector companies through the provision of specially designed and competitively priced loans which have medium to long term tenors. This game-changing institution being managed by a retinue of personnel with time-tested financial grandeur and economic finesse do not only advance financial loans as it is evident that the challenge facing Government and a coterie of private sector institutions is not only that of finance but also that of capacity. Capacity constraints are evident across the country. The Bank funds support programmes that provide technical assistance, capacity building and other value-added services towards strengthening institutional and delivery capacities. Not also leaving out fund management, propriety equity and offering of bespoke advisory services. Nigeria is at a unique moment that requires macroeconomic stimulus in the mode of investment in public infrastructure. This challenge, although grim, represents a refreshing prospect for the government. The economic benefits of investing in public infrastructure are countless. It provides the obviously needed stimulant in the short-term whilst contributing to higher productivity and a more competitive economy in the long run. Our infrastructural conundrum presents both crisis and opportunity. We either collectively leverage the opportunities The Infrastructure Bank Plc. offers or keep floundering in crisis.
Elvis Ogah, an Economist and International Affairs analyst wrote in from Abuja. elvisogah01@gmail.com. [myad]
Embattled Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has made it clear that he never struck any deal with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the upper chamber of the legislative arm of government before he was elected its President last year.
He said that what happened was that some members of All Progressives Congress (APC) decided to be absent at the election and so he simply walked over them. He asked: if a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match and was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame the team that turned up and claimed victory? I believe those that made it possible for PDP to claim the DSP position were those who decided to hold a meeting with APC senators elsewhere at the time they ought to be in the chambers. What the PDP Senators did was to take advantage of their numerical strength at the material time.
Dr. Saraki who responded to some points raised by a media commentator and analyst, Dele Momodu in his column in This Day newspaper, stressed that he did not do any deal with the PDP.
“I did not have to because even before the PDP Senators as a group took the decision to support my candidature on the eve of the inauguration of the 8th Senate, 22 PDP Senators had already written a letter supporting me. What I did not envisage was a situation where some members of my party would not be in the chambers that day, especially when the clerk had already received a proclamation from the President authorizing the inauguration of the Senate.”
He said that the PDP Senators simply lined up behind Senator Ike Ikweremadu while those of them from APC voted for Senator Ali Ndume, adding that it was a game of numbers, “and we were hopelessly outnumbered. If the PDP had nominated their own candidate for the Senate Presidency position that day, they would have won. It was as simple as that.
“Secondly, I don’t know if you were aware that in the build up to Senate inauguration, the National Working Committee of the APC sent two signals. The first signal specified how leadership positions in the National Assembly have been zoned. While we were trying to give effect to this decision, the second signal came, which contained names of people to which these zoned position had been allocated.
“What was not acknowledged was that the President of the Senate is not an executive president. He is primarily one of 109 senators. Therefore, I cannot decide by myself who gets what in the Senate. Therefore, when they said I defied party directive in the choice of principal officers, they are invariably ascribing to me the power that I did not have.”
The full text of Senator Saraki’s statement goes thus:
My dear brother Dele, let me thank you most sincerely for your article last weekend, “My Candid Letter to Saraki.” I take everything you said in that article to heart and I must commend you for your candidness indeed and the sincerity of your intentions.
As you said in your article, you are someone I have known more by reputation than by any personal relationship, until recently when we struck up some personal acquaintance based on our shared political interests, especially during the last presidential election. However, I understand why you had to sound so defensive for knowing me at all and had to publicly map the boundaries of our relationship.
We have got to that point in our country when we no longer believe that anyone could stand for anything based on principles and convictions alone. Moreover, in the growing culture of media crucifixion and presumed guilt; it is rare to find a voice like yours that calls for fairness and justice.
I would have simply sent you a text message or call you up for your candid advice to me, which I take seriously. But I feel the need to make some clarifications on some of the issues you raised. One of them was that in seeking to be Senate President, I struck a deal with the PDP and made it possible for one of them to be the Deputy Senate President. I know this is the dominant narrative out there, but it is far from the truth.
I did not do any deal with the PDP. I did not have to because even before the PDP Senators as a group took the decision to support my candidature on the eve of the inauguration of the 8th Senate, 22 PDP Senators had already written a letter supporting me. What I did not envisage was a situation where some members of my party would not be in the chambers that day, especially when the clerk had already received a proclamation from the President authorizing the inauguration of the Senate.
Pray, if a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match and was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame the team that turned up and claimed victory? I believe those that made it possible for PDP to claim the DSP position were those who decided to hold a meeting with APC senators elsewhere at the time they ought to be in the chambers. What the PDP Senators did was to take advantage of their numerical strength at the material time.
They simply lined up behind Senator Ike Ikweremadu while those of us from APC voted for Senator Ali Ndume. It was a game of numbers, and we were hopelessly outnumbered. If the PDP had nominated their own candidate for the Senate Presidency position that day, they would have won. It was as simple as that.
Secondly, I don’t know if you were aware that in the build up to Senate inauguration, the National Working Committee of the APC sent two signals. The first signal specified how leadership positions in the National Assembly have been zoned. While we were trying to give effect to this decision, the second signal came, which contained names of people to which these zoned position had been allocated.
What was not acknowledged was that the President of the Senate is not an executive president. He is primarily one of 109 senators. Therefore, I cannot decide by myself who gets what in the Senate. Therefore, when they said I defied party directive in the choice of principal officers, they are invariably ascribing to me the power that I did not have.
My dear brother, most people talk about the Senate Presidency position, but this was not my only offence. I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some people’s opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate. But I have no problem with anybody.
My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I doubt if we would have won the election if we had done this, especially after the PDP had successfully framed us a Muslim party. I felt we were no longer in 1993. Perhaps, more than ever before, Nigerians are more sensitive to issues of religious balancing.
This, my brother, was my original sin. What they say to themselves, among other things, was that if he could conspire against our ambition, then he must not realize his own ambition as well. For me however, I have no regrets about this. I only stood for what I believed was in the best interest of the party and in the best interest of Nigeria.
Now to the substantive issue of my trial. As you rightly noted, this trial is not about corruption. And I am happy that since my trial started, people who have followed the proceedings have now understood better what the whole thing is about. I have had opportunity to declare my assets four times since 2003. Over those years, the Code of Conduct Bureau had examined my claims.
There was no time that they raised any issues with me on any item contained in my declarations over those twelve years. This is why you should be surprised that while I am being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the witness and the evidence supplied against me were all from EFCC.
Like you, I have an abiding faith in the judiciary. May God forbid the day that we would give up on our judicial system. However, the onus is not on me to prove that I have confidence in the judiciary; the burden is on my prosecutors to prove to the world that justice is done in my case. If the process of fighting corruption is itself corrupt, then whatever victory is recorded would remain tainted and puerile!
Some people have wondered, why has Saraki been “jumping” from one court to another instead of facing his trial? To those people, I would say that I have only gone to those courts in search of justice. Strange things have happened, and they are still happening. For example, Section 3(d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act states that the Bureau shall refer any breach or non-compliance to the Tribunal. However, where the person concerned makes a written admission of the breach, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary.
It was on this basis that the case against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was dismissed in 2011, by this same judge in this same Tribunal on the grounds that he was not given an opportunity to deny or admit to any breach before he was brought before the tribunal. This was the ruling that I relied on in making my case. But what did the judge say? That he had judged in error in 2011 and he had since realized his error and departed from it.
My question is whether a Tribunal of first instance has the power to reverse itself. I should expect that everyone would be worried if justice is applied differently to different people. However, in spite of my fears, I remain hopeful. Why? Because the judiciary does not end with this Tribunal.
Do you know the genesis of my real problems with President Goodluck Jonathan? I have had a touchy relationship with him, but the turning point was in September 2011 when I moved a motion on the floor of the Senate that exposed the N2.3 trillion fuel subsidy racket. I remain proud that I was the Senator that blew the lid on the most elaborate corruption scheme ever in this country.
But after that I became a marked man. My security was withdrawn. I was invited and re-invited by the EFCC and the Special Fraud Unit. I was even declared wanted at a point. I believe I am still one of the most investigated former governors in this country. I have no doubt that if the Jonathan government was able to find anything against me, they would not have allowed me to go unpunished.
Let me make this point clearly. I do not expect to be shielded from prosecution because of my contribution to APC, if there was genuine basis for such action to be taken against me. But I have every reason to expect not to be persecuted by the party that I contributed so much to build. The New PDP may not have given APC victory in 2015, but it was an important factor in the dynamics that produced that victory.
And with all sense of modesty, I was an important factor in the formation of New PDP; in leading that group to the APC; in ensuring our group’s support for the candidate during the primaries and in mobilizing substantial resources for the election. For these, I have not expected any special compensation. Rather, I only expect to be treated like every loyal party member and accorded the right to freely aspire!
Some people have complained that I have been taken Senators with me to my trial. But I did not force them to follow me. The Senators have freely accompanied me to the Tribunal not because they are loyal to me as Abubakar Bukola Saraki, but because they are committed to the principle that produced me as the President of the Senate. The same principle that produced Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President and produced Ali Ndume as Majority Leader.
They see all of us in the Senate leadership as manifestation of their jealously guarded right to freely choose their own leaders. Because they know they made us their leaders without any external interference; they are confident that they retain the power to remove us whenever they so wish. They also know what this trial is all about. They believe I am being victimized because they have expressed their right to choose their own leadership.
This is why I am not in any way perturbed by my absence in the chambers during this trial. Because I was not imposed on the Senate, I feel confident that the Senate will protect its own choice whether I am present or not. It is never about me. It is about the independence of the legislature. It has always been so since 1999. It is so today and it would be so in 2019, it would be so in 2023, and as long as we practice a democracy that operates on the principle of separation of powers.
My dear brother, let me end by observing that I am not alone in this trial. On trial with me in this process is the entire judicial system. On trial with me are our entire anti-corruption institutions and our avowed commitment to honestly fight corruption. On trial with me is our party’s promise to depart from the ways of the past, a promise that Nigerians voted for.
And I dare say, on trial with me is our media; and their ethical commitment to report fairly and objectively. In the end, it is my earnest hope that whatever we do will ultimately ennoble our country. [myad]
Sixty countries, including Nigeria, are set to converge on the United Kingdom in May this year to sign agreement on the sanctions to be imposed on corrupt political and public office holders.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami who spoke exclusively to the Nation listed sanctions that is likely to be imposed on treasury looters in members countries to include:
travel restriction or denial of entry visa into the 60 countries
rejection of request for political asylum by corrupt political and public office holders
likely loss of citizenship
no more approval of naturalization for any corrupt person
no establishment of shell companies abroad
the corrupt will not be allowed to operate foreign accounts in any of the 60 nations.
He said the agreement will make it difficult for those stealing public funds in the country to escape abroad or operate slush accounts to stash cash away.
“The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping up the fight against corruption. I am happy to bring to your notice that Nigeria and 59 other countries will enter into an agreement in May on the imposition of international sanctions against corrupt political and public office holders. This will take place at the 2016 international summit on anti-corruption in the UK.
“At the May summit, these 60 countries will agree on some sanctions against those who steal public funds or launder money.
“Some of these measures are travel restriction or denial of entry into the 60 countries; rejection of request for political asylum by corrupt political and public officers; no more approval of application for naturalization by any corrupt person; and the corrupt will not be allowed to operate foreign accounts in any of the signatory nation to the pact among others.
“The affected countries will also design ways of sharing intelligence on corrupt officers and money launderers. We will all key into this understanding as part of the global action against corruption.
“With this development, there is no hiding place for any public office holder who steals funds in this country.
“The President will deliver a keynote address at the May summit. It all borders on the international appreciation of the anti-corruption agenda of this administration.
“In fact, Nigeria is being considered as the 2017 host of the international summit on anti-corruption.”
Former Aviation Minister and spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2015 electioneering campaign, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has told the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to go to hell for freezing his account.
The EFCC announced the freezing of Fani Kayode’s account as it steps up investigation into the alleged N4billion campaign bazaar cash received from ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 elections. The funds were allegedly withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and shared to 10 other directors, directorates, zonal directors and state directors of the Presidential Campaign Organization of Jonathan. Fani-Kayode declared yesterday that he knew nothing about the withdrawal of the cash from the CBN or funding of the campaign by the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. But he admitted that campaign funds were paid into the account of a company linked with a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, from where it was shared to him and others. He then dared the EFCC to “do their worse” in a statement in Abuja entitled “The Money Transfers and the Truth about the Presidential Campaign Funds.” The beneficiaries may be arrested for questioning by the anti-graft agency. Details of the largesse sharing are as follows: Fani-Kayode (N840million); Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million); Nenadi Usman (N140million); and Okey Ezenwa (N100million). Giving his own side of the story,Fani-Kayode said he received the funds from ex-President Jonathan and he is accountable only to the former leader and not the EFCC. He said the funds disbursed were not from public coffers and these were routed through a private company. “Our funds were given to us by the President who was the leader of our party through the Director of Finance of the PCO and we were not in a position to inquire into the sources of funding of the party’s campaign. Indeed, it was not our responsibility to do so. “Once I got these clarifications and confirmations, I agreed to receive the funds into my bank account and use them for their stated purpose. “The transfers were made and I used the funds to carry out all our operations during the course of the presidential campaign. “It was an aggressive and well-run campaign and we gave our opponents a very hard time indeed. It was also very expensive and we barely had the resources that we really needed, but we did an effective job with the little we were given. “The whole nation, including our friends and our enemies, can bear witness to that and they saw the excellent quality of our work. Hardly anyone can dispute this, yet some fail to appreciate the fact that such a strong showing costs a lot of money. Media and publicity campaigns cannot be run on goodwill alone. You need cash and plenty of it. “During the course of the election and after its conclusion, I submitted detailed accounts of our expenses and evidence of our work to the Director of Finance of the PCO for onward transmission to the Director-General of the PCO and ultimately President Jonathan himself about how the money was spent and they were satisfied. “Given the fact that these were not public funds, the only legal body that can inquire into our expenditure of campaign funds is President Goodluck Jonathan who set up the PCO.” Continuing, he said: “I cannot sit by silently as my name is dragged through the mud in this way and I am convicted in the court of public opinion. This has happened to me once before and it took me seven years to clear my name. It will not happen to me again. “Consequently I am constrained to take this opportunity to state the facts of this matter, set the record straight and await my traducers and accusers to make their next move. It is indeed time to challenge those that are making these allegations and to kill the lie. “Given this, it is important that all the relevant facts are put before the world before I am subjected to the Dasuki treatment, put away indefinitely and not given the opportunity to defend myself before the public. Meanwhile, in their usual manner, after this is done, the EFCC will then flood the media with all manner of lies about my so-called atrocities which only exist in the figment of their imagination. “The allegation of fraud and the receipt of public funds from the National Security Adviser’s Office and Central Bank into my bank account are false. “These allegations are baseless, wicked, shameful and irresponsible. It is not true that any money was paid into my account by or from the National Security Adviser’s Office, the Central Bank of Nigeria or any other government agency or institution last year or at any other time.” He said the funds were wired into his account and others through a company associated with ex-Minister Nenadi Usman. ”As the Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan Presidential Campaign Organization, I was asked to submit a budget for my Directorate by Chief Tony Anenih, the Presidential Adviser to the Presidential Campaign Organization and Mrs. Nenadi Usman, the Director of Finance. “My team and I prepared the budget and it was approved. “Rather than collect cash, for security reasons and the purposes of accountability, I was advised by the Director of Finance to open a bank account for this purpose, which I did. “The funds were paid into that account in instalments at the beginning of last year by the Director of Finance and each deposit was authorized and approved by the Presi dential Adviser to the PCO, Chief Tony Anenih. “The account that they used to transfer the money to me was a private company account which was owned or under the control of the Director of Finance. “It was the same company account that was used to send money to all the other Directors of the PCO and the Zonal Directors, State Directors and all our PDP governorship and legislative candidates during the various campaigns. “ When I asked about the sources of the funds, I was told by the Director of Finance that the funds were sourced from private individuals and private companies who opted to support and fund President Jonathan’s campaign. She told me that no money was paid into her company from any government official, account or agency. This she told me in the presence of witnesses and I believed her. “ I was told that there was a fundraising event held by our party (PDP) which took place in early January 2015 in which billions of naira were raised specifically for the Presidential campaign. I believed this to be true and I had no reason to doubt it.” The ex-Minister said the slush funds were shared to 10 other directors, directorates, zonal directors and state directors of the Presidential Campaign Organization of Jonathan.” He wondered why he has been the subject of “absurd and outlandish headline stories in various newspapers which have accused me of being a fraudster and which have claimed that funds were transferred into my bank account by the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.” Such stories, he claimed , portrayed him as having used public funds for the campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan. He branded such stories as petty, shameful, nauseating and “ also a reflection of the desperation of those that seek to pull me down and destroy me simply because my opposition to this government has been unrelenting.” “ In January 2015, I was appointed as the Director of Media and Publicity for the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization by President Goodluck Jonathan. The Director-General of the Campaign Organization was Senator Ahmadu Alli and the Deputy Director-Generals were Alhaji Ibrahim Turaki SAN (North) and Governor Peter Obi (South). Chief Tony Anenih, an elder statesman and one of the most distinguished and revered leaders in our country, was the Presidential Adviser to the campaign organization. “There were at least 10 other directors and directorates apart from me and mine including the Directorate of Mobilization which was led by the respected Professor Jerry Gana and the Directorate of Administration which was led by Alhaji Aliyu Modibbo. There were also zonal and state directors of the Presidential Campaign Organization in all the zones and states of the country. “All these names that I have mentioned including all the other directors whose names I have not mentioned are, as far as I am aware, men and women of immense integrity and good character and they have mostly been either ministers of the Federal Republic or state governors at one time or the other in our history. It was an honour to serve alongside such people and I have absolutely no regrets about doing so. “Yet given the fact that I was not the only director in the campaign organization and in view of the fact that all the directors and zonal and state directors got their funds from the same source and account as I did, one wonders why only I and three others should be singled out for this reprehensible treatment and these false allegations. “ I chose to remain silent on the issue until now simply because the allegations have not been officially made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or anyone else, but the newspapers keep citing their sources “inside the EFCC” as their basis for these shameful allegations. Mr. Josef Goebbels, Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s information minister, when Germany was in the terrible grip of the Nazi party, said that once a lie is repeated enough times, it becomes truth to those who are continuously subjected to it. This is especially so if it goes unchallenged.” Fani-Kayode, who took swipes at the EFCC and The Nation in his statement, asked the anti-graft agency to “do the worst.” He said: “Yet if this is an attempt to intimidate, silence or distract me, they shall fail because I am not a coward and I do not fear them or those that sent them to torment me. “As long as Jesus is on the throne and our hands are clean, no matter how long it takes, we shall prevail and ultimately they will pay a heavy price for their malice, injustice and wickedness. “These are facts and readers can be rest assured that I will say nothing different from this if and when I am formally asked by anyone or any agency. “When the EFCC begins to leak their falsehood and salacious allegations to their agents in the media, kindly take note of the fact that, as usual, they will be telling tall tales and they will be lying. “Now I challenge them to do their worse. I have no fear of them or of those who have sent them to do this dirty job. May God judge them all and may He reward them for their wickedness. “The suggestion that the money was some kind of “cash bonanza” or “bazaar” as has been reported by the leading pro-government newspaper in the country today is childish and absurd. “If that had been the case, I doubt that I would have been foolish enough to open a bank account to receive government funds or “bazaar funds” as this would have been easily traced. “If I had anything to hide or if I was doing anything wrong, I would have insisted on collecting cash for my operations which would have been far easier to conceal. “The fact that the EFCC gained access to my bank account and leaked details of it to the media, including my inflows, is not only a gross violation of my privacy, but it is also unlawful.” [myad]
An Osun High Court in llesha has sentenced a traditional ruler, Moses Adeniyi, to seven years imprisonment for raping two minors, aged 13 and 14. Adeniyi who is Loja Araromi Otokobo of Ilesha, was accused of raping the two girls in his hotel in the town. The Prosecutor, Tijani Adekilekun had told the court that the offence of rape contravened Sections 358 and 360 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 vol.11 Laws of Osun State. Adekilekun said the convict raped the minors at his hotel in Ilesa in May, 2010, after giving them a ride on their way back from school. “The minor accepted the offer because one of the girls’ parents was once a neigbhour to the convict. But rather than the convict dropping the girls at their homes, he took them to his hotel, Prince Way Hotel, Ilesha. “He ushered the girls into one of the rooms in the hotel and told them not to shout, warning them that if they do, they will die. “The convict thereafter raped the minors in turns after which he wiped their vagina with a white handkerchief and warned them not to tell anyone otherwise they will die,’’ Adekilekun told the court. He further told the court that the secret became opened when one of the girls’ mother was informed by another student that a man gave the two girls a ride on their way home from school the previous day. Adekilekun said the woman then went to the school to inquire from the teachers. “The girls were afraid to reveal the identity of their rapist because they were told they will die if they told anyone. It was after much assurance that the girls will not die before they narrated the whole story to their parents.’’ Adeniyi, who was first arraigned on March 28, 2011, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Judge, Justice Kudirat Akano, in her ruling, said the prosecuting counsel had proved his case beyond reasonable doubt. Akano said the convict was guilty of the charge and consequently sentenced him to seven years imprisonment. The defence counsel, Sokoya Ayodeji, said he would appeal against the judgment. [myad]
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve all former governors in his cabinet of their duties and appoint technocrats to run his change agenda if he wants to succeed in attracting foreign investment into the country.
Ex-Governors in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet include Babatunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi as well as Kayode Fayemi.
CNPP gave the advice in a statement issued in Abuja, which was signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu.
According to the CNPP, unless the former governors serving in his cabinet were removed, the image of the regime will remain tainted with corruption, his anti graft war notwithstanding.
CNPP recalled that some of the former state executives left their states with empty treasury, leading to the bailout loan by the Buhari administration just to enable them pay salary arrears of their workforce.
“For President Muhammadu Bujhari to succeed in his change agenda, all former governors in his cabinet must be sacked to create room for technocrats to run his government if he must succeed.
“Some former governors serving in this government not only left their respective states with empty treasury but also in heavy debts such that it took Mr President’s bailout fund for salary arrears of state workers to be paid.
“The states were so indebted that fillers from the state indicate that the bailout fund was not enough to clear salary arrears in some states.
“It is imperative that Mr President relieves the former governors of their positions and appoint technocrats to give the administration a fresh face as their presence in the government has left it tainted with corruption.”
The statement also reminded President Buhari that foreign investors he was labouring to attract will not come as most of them had the records of some of the former governors that ran their states aground.
“It will amount to effort in futility for the President to be labouring to attract investors as they will not entrust their hard-earned resources to well known bad managers.
“This is the reason the Buhari government will be one year next month, yet the regime has nothing to show for it except hardship and more hardship across the country despite the change mantra,” the statement read. [myad]
The Nigeria Women Football League will resume 2015/2016 season on May 21, according to the Chairman of the League ad hoc Committee, Babagana Kalli.
He made the disclosure in Abuja at the league’s annual congress held on Friday.
The ad hoc committee was set up by the Nigeria Football Federation to oversee the affairs of the league in February.
Kalli called on members to support the committee in the interest of the game, saying that 18 teams were grouped into two and would be participating in the Nigeria Women Premier league. Osun Babes FC, Tokas Queens FC, Nasarawa Amazons alongside Bayelsa Queens FC, Edo Queens FC, Abia Queens FC, Ibom Angels, COD United Ladies FC and Pelican stars are in Group A.
In Group B are FC Robo, Adamawa Queens, Sunshine Queens FC, Martin White Dove FC, Capital City Dove FC, Confluence Queens FC, Rivers Angels FC, FC Taraba Queens and Delta Queens will be participating. [myad]
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“I inherited a Nigeria in which the trains were not working, and handed over a Nigeria in which citizens can safely travel by trains again. I inherited a Nigeria that was a net importer of cement, and handed over a Nigeria that is a net exporter of cement. In 2009 the richest Nigerian was the 5th richest man in Africa, but I handed over a Nigeria that produced the richest man in Africa.”
