This is the continuation of our
public information, which was first issued on 20th of October,
2013 and titled: “Intersociety Fights For Igbo Cause & Good Governance In Nigeria:
APC’s Attacks On Our Leadership Another War Against Igbo Gods & A Boarding
Pass Off Anambra 2013(part one)”.
On
23rd of October, 2013, the second part was issued and it was titled:
“Separating Igbo Cause, Democracy &
Good Governance In Nigeria (Egalitarian Partisanship) From Pecuniary Politicking
(Libertarian Partisanship): Putting The Records Straight”. The issuance of the Public Information under reference is in response to
coordinated attacks launched against us from several angles by the All
Progressives Congress using its key members, branches, malicious elements in
the media and some conformists in the rights community.
We wish to reassure our teeming followers and
supporters all over the world that the leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law is
equal to these challenges and unprovoked attacks. It is also our assurance that
we will ensure at all times that our armpits are not hairy in order to be
competently positioned to set and defend parameters of modern rights activism,
good governance and accountability in public governance anywhere in Nigeria and
its beyond.
It is sad that many Nigerian NGOs are still
peopled and led by military confrontationists who still live in the past. These
sets of NGOs’ leaders are not different
from “BBC(born before computer) academicians” that are killing the Nigerian
higher education because of their insistence on keeping the country’s higher
education on “typewriter” path, or the present Nigeria Police Force that still
promotes “homicidal policing” in place of modern “electronic and preventive
policing”.
Focus On APC’s Epicenter Of Political Governance In Nigeria:
Lagos State is the epicenter of
the APC’s political governance in Nigeria. APC’s forefather is the Action Group
of the 40s. The AG later begat UPN (Unity Party of Nigeria) in the late 70s,
which gave birth to AD (Alliance for Democracy) in late 90s. Though AD claims
that it still exists till date, but its bones are off leaving it boneless. The mainstream AD begat AC/N (Action
Congress; plus “of Nigeria”) in the 2000s and this led to the recent birth of
the All Progressives Congress.
Like its forefather, AG, the APC is southwest
and northern Muslims’ dominated. Its leadership is presently dominated by its
politicians of the Southwest orientation. Lagos has served as the epicenter of
“opposition politics” in Nigeria since 1999. The Southwest “opposition
politics” collapsed in 2003 and resurfaced in 2007 and 2008. The collapse was
owing to the emergence of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as a second term President in
2003. It was then calculated that since Chief Olusengun Obasanjo came from the
Southwest, continuing an opposition politics might rob the zone of “its
national cake” and mainstream political inroad into the center.
Modern Lagos:
Lagos is Nigeria’s most populated
State with over 15 million residents and has 20 constitutionally recognized
LGAs. The State is one of the smallest in terms of land mass, measuring 3,577
square kilometers, out of which 787 is occupied by lagoons and creeks. It is
also Nigeria’s richest State in terms of internally generated revenues hitting
between N288Billion and N348Billion yearly. Its 2013 budget is N499.105Billion
with a capital expenditure of N269, 376Billion and recurrent of N229.777Billion.
The State has a monthly wage bill of under N7Billion and has served as the
capital of Nigeria between 1861 when its illiterate Oba Desomu ceded it and by
extension, other “Niger Area” social entities to the British colonialists
through the “Treaty of Cession”, and December 1991 when Nigeria’s capital was
moved to Abuja. Lagos has lesser land mass than Anambra, which measures 4, 416
square kilometers. Kano is more than two and a half larger than Lagos,
measuring 9,398 square kilometers of land mass.
Lagos Huge Foreign &
Domestic Debts Of N330Billion:
Recently, Lagos State was in the
news in a section of the Nigerian media as the “most indebted State” in Nigeria.
Having successfully silenced larger section of the Nigerian media and many of
the rights groups particularly those headquartered in the State, pens, voices
and tongues were turned in glorification of its attainment of “this wonderful
feat” by becoming “Nigeria’s most sustainable loans’ borrower”. The Lagos media
and silenced rights groups joined in the “celebration” by making repeatedly a
reference by the DMO (Debts Management Office)’s DG to the effect that “owing
to Lagos fat revenues accruals”, its loans are “sustainable”. By implication,
it has been licensed to borrow with utmost alacrity. Questions such as: “since
Lagos is a sustainable or maintenance governance economy with huge revenues’
receipts, why the huge borrowings and for what purposes?” are kept in the
cooler.
According to the official releases
from the Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, Lagos State is the most indebted State
in Nigeria both domestically and externally, with N193Billon (Dr. Abraham
Nwankwo, DG-DMO: 2013) as at September 2013 and $857.53Million ( about N137Billion as at June 2013). The State’s total domestic debt as at December
2011 was N157.53Billion. In other words, Lagos State presently owes total local
and foreign debts of N330Billion or about $2.07Billion. The Nigerian Senate
recently approved another $200Million (N32Billion) for the State to be borrowed
from the World Bank in the incoming 2014 fiscal year. The total loan approved
for the State by the World Bank in the 2010 Borrowing Plan is $600Million, out
of which, first tranche was secured in 2011. With this, Lagos debts by 2014
fiscal year will be N362Billion or about $2.25Billion.
States’ Local & Foreign Debts By Geopolitical Zones:
In the area of geopolitical zone,
South-south is the most indebted zone in terms of domestic debt with a total of
N508, 692Billion, followed by Southwest with N305.9Billion. The North-central
zone and the FCT is the third most indebted zone in Nigeria in terms of local
debt with N214.7Billion, followed by Southeast with N107.1Billion. The
Northeast zone is the fifth most indebted zone with N72.7Billion and the least
indebted zone is the Northwest with N69.8Billion. In the area of foreign debts, Southwest zone
is the most indebted with $1,18Billion, followed by Northwest with
$540Million. Nigeria’s third most
indebted zone in foreign loans is South-south zone with $302.2Million, followed
by the North-central and the FCT with $230.6Million. The Southeast zone comes
fifth with $217.1Million, while the Northeast is the least most indebted zone
in terms of foreign loans with $198.6Million.
15 Most Indebted States:
The fifteen most indebted States
in Nigeria both domestically and externally for 2013 are: Lagos N330Billion,
Bayelsa N167Billion, Cross River N107Billion, Delta 93Billion, the FCT
N91Billion, Rivers N89Billion, Kaduna N75Billion, Ondo 56Billion, Akwa Ibom
N50Billion, Ogun N47Billion, Ebonyi N46Billion, Edo N45Billion, Kogi
N39Billion, Imo N34Billion and Adamawa N30Billion. Anambra State is one of the
least indebted States in Nigeria with a total debt of N10.7Billion, which is
made up of a local debt of N6.4Billion and a foreign debt of $27.3Million or
about N4.27Billion. The source of the foregoing debts and their statistical
breakdown was obtained from the official website of the Debt Management Office
of the Federation. While the available DMO information concerning foreign debts
is updated to June 2013 that of domestic debts is of December 2011. This
clearly shows that the States’ official domestic debts records are most likely
to be under-reported.
States’ Domestic Debts Statistics May Be Inaccurate:
While the local debt statistics
of Lagos both domestic and foreign, looks officially updated because of a
recent statement credited to the DG of the DMO by the media to the effect that
“Lagos internal debt as at September 2013 stood at N193Billion”. A further
enquiry by the leadership of Intersociety
reveals that the States’ internal debts records obtained and used by the DMO
may not have represented accurately what most of the States actually owe domestically.
The DMO had in 2012 reported that it was having hitches compiling the States’
local debts. Pieces of information supplied to the DMO statisticians by some,
if not many States, may have been half-baked especially when some States like
Lagos and Imo are said to have reached “debt ceiling”. Yet the DMO official records still put Imo’s
domestic and foreign debts to “N25.4Billion” and “$51.2Million” respectively.
It appears that some, if not many States particularly those engrossed in huge
domestic debts, are hiding the truth as regards their actual domestic loans
figures.
Part Four In Making:
In part four of the subject under
reference, we shall x-ray the APC and
its policy of “loan governance in
Nigeria” with Lagos State as a case study.
We shall soon return to regional and international levels to take a stock of
dictators and tyrants still holding sway in public offices in their respective
countries, who continue to bring calamities and hardships to their peoples by
their sit-tight
Bottling APC Flies & Their Ranting:
Lastly, we are not unaware of
“flies” hired by our detractors to come and implant hairs in our armpits with a
view to blackening us and dampening our spirits locally, nationally, regionally
and internationally. We shall bottle them together with their empty noises and
put them to shames as we have done to several others in recent past. We urge
our teeming followers and supporters not to be distracted one bit. Anambra
Governorship poll will come and go and we shall remain. Once the wind of the
important poll settles our jungle and paid attackers and other jungle rights
activists running riot on us will roost and wait for another poll year.
Refusing To Be Distracted & Matching On:
Just two days ago, our gallant field officers
led by Comrades Justus Ijeoma and Alex Ijeoma freed 42 residents of Iyiowa
Odekpe in Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State, who were mass-arrested by a unit of
deadly Anambra NPF’s SARS (Special Anti Robbery Squad) in their various
residences and streets between 7:30pm and 8:20pm on 29th October,
2013. Among them were pregnant women, husbands and wives. On prompt
intervention of our crack team the next morning, all of them were freed and two
of them who have paid N10, 000 each as “bail fees” before the arrival of our
crack team were refunded after the extorted sums were recovered from the SARS
extortionists. The SARS guys later apologized to our crack team with a bottle
of “Henkel Wine” and begged us to offer prayers for them with it. Some of the
arrested citizens were tortured with gun buts and other lethal objects.
Signed:
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chairman of the Board
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
08033601078, 08180103912
Comrade Justus Ijeoma, Head, Publicity Desk
08037114869
juijeoma@yahoo.com
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