It
is heartbreaking that Nigeria, which is a land naturally flowing with milk and
honey has been turned into a land flowing with blood and tears, despair, anguish
and torture courtesy of governance insanity, naivety and mercantilism;
chronically inflicted on it by its 17, 500-member criminal governing
council. The Team Buhari that just come on board with anti corruption parroting
voice as its governance agenda remains the highest assemblage of
doyens of corruption in the history of Nigeria dominated by the country’s
five leading cartels; and as such, it has earned a new indelible name-All
Progressives in Corruption (APC). By this new name, anybody that joins the team
becomes a progressive in corruption. In totality, Nigerian governance is a
government of corruption for the corrupt people and by the corrupt
people”-Emeka Umeagbalasi and Chiugo Onwuatuegwu, Board Chair & Head,
Democracy & Good Governance of International Society for Civil Liberties
& the Rule of Law.
It
is a truism that economic prosperity is the engine house of
national identity and belongingness as opposed to poverty and despair, which
engineer ethno-religious identity and belongingness and primordialism. By
dividing Nigerians along ethno-religious lines, the country’s ruling class has
kept succeeding in pelting their faces with sachets of corruption and massive
looting of their commonwealth; but as the saying goes-you cannot cheat or
deceive a people all the time; Nigeria’s social oddities have reached a
crescendo of tolerance. The Nigerian thieving civilian ruling class has also
gotten to a stage where they must purge themselves or be radically purged. On
the part of Intersociety, rebuilding the battered and
mutilated Nigeria is too important a social advocacy project; which is why we
resolved irrevocably to open the eyes of 170 million Nigerians within and
beyond to see the inside of the country’s governance and its
accompanying rot. In this concluding part, more facts on how public
office holders in the country milk the country’s collective purse dry using
codification and scientification; are incontrovertibly provided.
It is also important to remind that putting Team Buhari on its toes
is one of our cardinal aims to make Nigeria and Nigerians great and happy.
More
Facts On Ex Governors’ Criminal Life Pensions: According to the Public Office Holders (Payment of
Pension) Law of Lagos State 2007, approved by former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu
in 2007, there is a provision for a multi-million naira severance payment for
the out-gone governor and his deputy. Specifically, out-gone Governor
Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, will enjoy the following benefits for life:
two houses in places of his choice in Lagos and Abuja (Property & Estate
Management experts have noted that a house in Lagos will cost N500 million and
Abuja N700 million) (source: Daily Trust). The Lagos State’s out-gone Deputy
Governor is also entitled to a house in any place of his choice in Lagos
(possibly Ikoyi or Victoria Island or Lekki). The out-gone governor of Lagos
State and his deputy likewise their counterparts in other States, by the
provisions of the Consolidated Top Public Office Holders Salaries &
Allowances Act of 2008 (formerly Salaries & Allowances for Top Public
Office Holders Act of 2002), are entitled to 300% of their annual basic
salaries as severance gratuities or N6.7 million and N6.3 million respectively.
Other stipulated entitlements for
the out-gone Lagos State Governor are six brand new cars replaceable every
three years; furniture allowance of 300% of annual salary to be paid every two
years, a sum of N2.5 million as pension translating to N30 million pension
annually. He will also enjoy security detail (i.e. eight mobile policemen,
three SSS operatives, etc), free medicals including members of his immediate
families, 10% house maintenance, 30% car maintenance, 10% entertainment, 20%
utility, several domestic staff, among others.
In Akwa Ibom State, according to its
Life Pension for the out-gone governor and his deputy, a sum of N200 million
annual pay for ex Governor Goodswill Akpabio is provided. Others are a new
official car and a utility vehicle every four years; one personal aide and
provision of adequate security; a cook, chauffeurs and security guards for the
governor at a sum not exceeding N5 million per month and N2.5 million for the
deputy governor, free medical services for governor and spouse at an amount not
exceeding N100 million for the governor per annum and N50 million for the
deputy governor. Two five-bedroom mansions in Abuja and Akwa Ibom State,
furniture allowance of 300 percent of annual basic salary every four years in
addition to severance gratuity of N6.7 million and N6.3 million for the ex
governor and his deputy respectively(sources: Daily Trust).
Other
Scandalous Spending: The
Federation of Nigeria also lost in seven days a staggering sum of N16billion in
the hands of its 20 out-gone Governors and their Deputies in the form of “May
2015 security votes”; on average of N800 million each. To get 20 new
Governors and their Deputies on gubernatorial board; Nigeria lost at least N3
billion or N150 million each with their new official vehicles taken the lion’s
share or N110 million for eight jeeps (five for governor and three for his
deputy) at N14million each (Prado Jeep). To get 20 new Governors and their
Deputies inaugurated on 29th May 2015, Nigeria lost at least N2
billion or N100 million each and to get the new President and his Vice inaugurated
same day, Nigeria lost at least N300 million including catering for dozens of
invited foreign dignitaries.
These
give a grand total of N105.8 billion or $528 million as total public sums
squandered in seven days on 6,806 public office holders at the Federal and
State levels. This excludes over 1,200 Special Assistants who have come on
board to work for the Presidency, Federal lawmakers, State Governors and their
Deputies as well as Ministers, State lawmakers and leaderships of Federal and
State legislatures. By the Consolidated Top Public Office Holders Salaries
& Allowances Act of 2008, 75% of the annual basic salaries of their
employers or bosses are earmarked for their remunerations.
Our
Grouse Against Scandalous Spending Of Public Funds On Few Nigerians: We hold nothing against payment of certain severance
entitlements to selected public office holders on completion of their statutory
assignments or provision of certain comforts of office to newly elected or
appointed ones; but we hold a lot against the criminalization of the process. A
situation where the chunk resources of the Federation traditionally created to
cater for the entire population; are now steadily deployed to service 17,500
citizens who constitute less than 0.2% of the population, is out-rightly
condemned and frowned at, at all times. Apart from abominable situation in many
States where civil servants and pensioners are owed several months of
remunerations, public projects like roads have long been abandoned before the
2015 polls.
Our
irrevocable position is that all public office holders and public service
allowances in the country must be reviewed downwards and cut by half; likewise
the bloated overheads spending particularly the so called monthly
security votes. Until this ugly trend is radically reversed, Nigeria
will spend next four years in futility. Like we have severally observed,
the country’s social sickness stems from the fact that funds needed to turn the
country and its people around through provision and maintenance of key and
world class public infrastructures as well as provision and delivery of social
services like health, good food and water, education, unemployment
and sick benefits, etc, are dried up and channeled into criminal
allowances and criminal overheads; resulting in the loss of over 70%
revenues for capital projects. For Nigeria to make meaningful impact on
economic growth and development, the trend must be radically reversed.
Government’s
Reactions To Our Anti Criminal Borrowing & Spending Campaigns: The out-gone Presidency’s recent reaction clearly showed
its belated realization of the fact that debts and other reckless borrowings
are not good for Nigeria and Nigerians; and that the serial borrowing policy
under reference is a major minus in the achievement (if any) of the
out-gone federal administration. Its official revelation that out of the
country’s total official debts of $63.5 billion, it accounted for
$35.5 billion under six years with the remaining $28 billion belonging to
the 36 States and previous Federal administrations ( States- $11 billion and
previous administrations- $17 billion (N1.8 trillion local & $3.5 billion
external); is a dark or gloomy record of unprecedented proportion. Shocking
too, is the out-gone Presidency’s revelation that a judgment debt
of $1 billion (N200 billion) incurred by previous federal administrations was
recently discovered.
This has lent credence to our recent
call for the establishment of the Public Debts Management Commission
for the purpose of congregation and aggregation of all public debts in Nigeria
including judgment and public service remuneration debts as well as debts
arising from executed or completed and commissioned public projects. It remains
our position that serial borrowing is no longer fashionable for a country like
Nigeria with abundant human and material resources. The archaic policy is now
replaced and sidelined by robust private sector involvement as well as
public-private-partnership or counterpart funding.
At the State level, out-gone Governor
Babatunde Raji Fashola’s recent appeal to Lagosians and Nigerians to forget
about his huge debts of N418 billion ($2.09 billion) and concentrate on his
achievements in office; is very laughable. Mr. Fashola also played on
the collective intelligence of Lagosians and Nigerians by that singular public
utterance. The out-gone Governor must be reminded at all times that he
cannot bit a child and ask him/her not to cry. By Mr. Fashola’s
account, out of official public debts of the State totaling N518 billion
($2.9 billion), only N100 billion or $5 million is saved in the State’s debts
service account. This leaves the State with a remainder of N418 billion
excluding local debts possibly accumulated in 2014 and part of 2015 fiscal
seasons; which the Debts Management Office is yet to capture and report
publicly. The huge debts profile of Lagos State literary means that the future
of the State has been mortgaged and stampeded. And no amount of public defense
and World Bank analytical jargons can remove the stark fact that
the State is debt sunk and futuristically gloomy.
By saving only N100 billion for
debts servicing in eight years, it clearly shows that Lagos State grossly lacks
the capacity to borrow and pay. The out-gone Governor even revealed further
that the just sworn-in Governor will continue the criminal borrowing policy.
This is absurd, callous and impeachable. We have always maintained that States
like Lagos, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers have no single reason to go
borrowing. Lagos State, for instance, is a N380 billion to N400 billion non
loan economy; meaning it generates N240 billion to N270 billion annually from
its IGRs and receives N132 billion from the Federation Account per annum (N11
billion monthly). This has also been confirmed publicly by the out-gone
Government of the State.
Assuming, but not conceding that
Lagos State’s monthly wage bill is N10 billion, it is still left with N250
billion to N280 billion to execute capital projects and provide other social
services to the people of the State. The State has steadily come first in
Nigeria over the years as the largest revenue earner and a major federally
collectible revenue recipient. It remains our irrevocable position that
whatever out-gone Governor Babatunde Fashola thinks he achieved in office has
been swallowed or overshadowed by the huge public debts he left for the State
including a staggering sum of N316 billion deficit incurred under his eight
years administration. The four other States of Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Akwa
Ibom ought not to borrow a dime publicly. This is because they are super oil
revenue recipients with tens of billions of naira monthly accruals each. The
five referenced States including Lagos are supposed to be Nigeria’s biggest
bonds sellers or lenders, not serial borrowers.
Ex
Governor Amaechi’s Lies Over Rivers State’s Public Debts: Out-gone Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s public disclosure that
he left Rivers State as one of the least indebted States in Nigeria with “N17.7
billion debts ( N15.7 billion from ADB and N2billion from CBN)”, is
officially and independently challenged or rebutted. Officially, according to
the Debt Management Office records of May 2015, Rivers State owes a total of
N138.4 billion comprising foreign debts of $44.7 million or N8.9 billion and
local debts of N129.5 billion. This literary makes the State the third most
indebted State in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano States, officially speaking. The
two official loan categories disclosed by DMO possibly did not include the
controversial “Water & Sanitation Loans of $280 million” or
N56 billion secured by the State from the African Development Bank and the
World Bank in 2012 and approved by the Federal Government in 2014. The 2014 and
2015 versions of the State’s domestic debts were also not captured. The DMO
says their compilation and updates are in progress. The new Governor Wike
administration is called upon to make public without malicious or witch-hunting
intents the true state of public debts and finances of Rivers State under
out-gone Governor Amaechi administration.
Ex Governor Rotimi Amaechi should
have borrowed from the likes of ex Governor Ramala Yero of Kaduna State who
presented his State’s debts profile not only as contained in the DMO
records, but also with addition of other debts such as contractors and gratuity
arrears totaling N73.9 billion as at 28th May 2015. The ex Governor
also revealed that he inherited N28.6 billion debts in 2012; meaning that he
cumulatively incurred N45.2 billion in three years. Ex Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa
State also gave detailed account of his N105.4 billion loans including
contractors’ arrears of N91.6 billion.
Former Governor Amaechi of Rivers
State also refused to render publicly the account of his stewardship. It is
possible that his refusal was owing to the fact that he emerged through
judicial coronation as the Governor of Rivers State and felt he did not get his
mandate from the people of the State and did not owe them any obligation as per
governance accountability.
The new Governor of Kano State’s
recent revelation that the out-gone Rabiu Kwakwanso administration left the
State in a debts mess of N300 billion is not only shocking, but also a
vindication of our recent finding that DMO’s public details of States’
local debts are far from their actual debts stocks or what they actually owe. The
new Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje confirmed recently that the out-gone
Governor left a total debt of N300 billion. But the DMO’s details of local and
foreign debts owed by Kano State as at 31st March 2015 said it owed
N32.2 billion locally and $59.7 million or N11.9 billion, totaling N44.1
billion.
Governor
el-Rufai’s Misleading Promise Of Cutting 50% Of His Basic Salaries: The recent public disclosure and promise by new
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State to cut 50% of his annual basic
salary and that of his aides for the purpose of cutting governance
costs; is deceitful and misleading. It is very important to state here
and now that cutting the cost of governance does not lie on cutting the annual
basic salary of a governor, which N2, 233 million or $11,100; but it lies
hugely on cutting down a basketful of allowances accrued to the governor as
provided in the relevant Federal and State laws. It further lies on
cutting down the bloated overheads particularly the so called monthly
security votes as well as the number of persons appointed into the State
cabinet. It is therefore frowned at and condemned for the new Kaduna
Governor to apply psychology of politics with intent to mislead
and deceive the people of Kaduna State and Nigerians for the purpose of taking
a false glory as Nigeria’s newest Mr. Probity.
Signed:
Emeka Umeagbalasi, B.Sc. (Hons) Criminology & Security
Studies
Board Chairman, International Society for Civil Liberties
& the Rule of Law
+2348174090052(office)
Uzochukwu Oguejiofor, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Campaign &
Publicity Department
Chiugo Onwuatuegwu, Esq., (LLB, BL), Head, Democracy &
Good Governance Program
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