Politics
Oil Subsidy’s Many Contradictions
The debate on the subsidy regime thrown up by the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government and the resultant nation-wide strike and protests by organized labour and civil society groups is far from being over, as the issue is still on the front burner of national discourse.
At the National Assembly, for instance, the House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc committee on the subsidy regime concluded its indebt probe a fortnight ago and is currently putting its report together, while the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Down stream) resumed its suspended public hearing on the sector last week. At both the House probe and Senate public hearing, the nation was treated to startling revelations that shocked not a few.
As the nation awaits the separate reports of both Houses of the National Assembly, The Tide took up issues arising from the probe with the sole sponsor of the motion on subsidy in the House, Hon. Kingsley Ogundu Chinda. A frontline member of the 7th National Assembly (Vice Chairman, House Committee on Customs and Excise) Hon. Chinda told The Tide that he sees contradictions in the handling of the fuel subsidy regime in the country and the entire imbroglio should be tackled frontally, and he tasked the government on this.
“So far, investigation by the House ad-hoc committee has been concluded and startling facts were revealed; the report of the committee will be made and forwarded to the Executive arm for action. I hope and pray that the Executive arm, in the interest of the nation, will act on the report expeditiously and not allowed the report rot on the shelve like many other reports,” he said.
The Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency (Rivers State) legislator said it was good that President Jonathan in fulfillment of his promise of creating employment with the money saved from subsidy, launched the government’s employment programme last week by inaugurating the implementation committee.
He acknowledged that the Dr. Christopher Kolade-led committee is empowered to manage proceeds from the subsidy, but added, “Let me say clearly that there are several contradictions in the system. Nigeria is still borrowing as we speak and appears to be poised to continue borrowing .
“We were informed that the country borrowed to fund fuel subsidy in 2011. If we stop subsidy payment, what we would have achieved is that we would have stopped borrowing. The issue of reinvesting the fund is illogical and contradictory. There are places in this country where fuel sells for N500 per litre as we speak. One of such places is Mr. President’s home state (Bayelsa)”, he lamented, adding persuasively, “something needs to be done.
“Government needs to gain citizens’ confidence and get them to buy into government policies. This can only be achieved if government is transparent and operates strictly by laid down rules that are clearly predictable.” He continued: “As I stated earlier at the heat of the subsidy removal, ‘for systems of administration or policies of government, let fools contend; what is best administered is best in any society’. What this means is that: It’s not the removal of subsidy that is the crux of the matter but it’s effective administration; it is not the policy but the administration of the policy that matters. That is why a policy can work in Ghana and may not work in Nigeria.
“Again, when national issues are discussed, people take regional and ethnic positions and abandon the nation; even among very highly placed officers, you see more of Ikwerre, Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa or Ijaw opinion or agenda, than the Nigerian project. All I will say is that we do not have a true Nigerian nation. What ww have is an amalgam of various nationalities. I pray that we begin to produce true Nigerians with Nigerian spirit, Nigerian orientation and Nigerian interest to get us out of this quagmire”.
The Tide asked Chinda of his input into the security puzzle that has bedeviled the nation and he drew The Tide’s attention to his recent motion on the prevailing security situation. Titled: ‘Need to urgently investigate and check the rising security challenges in the country’, the motion tasked the Federal Government to come up with a clear programme, solution, and/or policy on how to tackle the problem and not just to beg the problem or adopt a fire brigade measure.
Drawing example from late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s amnesty programme, which was instituted to quell the security challenges the nation was facing at the time from Niger Delta militants, Chinda said, “Now, I’m yet to see a clear programme on how to tackle the upheaval, We must come up with a clear programme on how to tackle the security challenges”.
The just-concluded 2012 budget defence of federal MDA’s at the National Assembly is one issue that cannot escape mention, especially since some committees embarked on a tour of some of these MDA’s before approving their budgets.
The Tide asked Hon Chinda, who led his Customs and Excise committee along with the chairman, Hon Sabo Nakudu on a tour of the Customs, their areas of operation, as part of their oversight function, on the committee’s discovery.
According to him, “We discovered during our oversight visit that our ports are heavily under-utilized, They are colossal wastes!” To this end, he has a motion before the House, mandating government to ‘put our ports to full use’.
There is also the issue of failed contract in the sector and already the erudite legislator has come up with a motion on that, titled : “ Failed contract for dredging of the Calabar channel and the Port Harcourt ports”.
He said there was need to re-award the contracts and put the channel and ports on sound footing so that they can generate more revenue to the Federal Government and create room for wealth creation in the region.”
He continued: “There is also need to connect Onne port to the National grid. It is disturbing that Onne port is not connected to the national grid till now; this is a misnomer. We also observed that fixed scanners were supposed to be installed at Onne and Port Harcourt ports but they are not there. Work has just started to fix the scanners and this is the last year of the five (%) year contract with SGS.
“Nigerians lost the opportunity of using the scanners for the duration of the 5 years contract and SGS is not likely to be there after this year to properly conclude the installation and testing of the scanners unless their contract is renewed. These anomalies should be corrected. I have motions before the House to properly empower the Committee to effectively deal with the situation”.
In addition, “We discovered that the employment pattern in the Nigeria Customs appears to be lop-sided and not in compliance with the constitutional provision for geographical spread. The Committee on Customs is recently working on that and we can say that we have received the assurance of the management of Nigerian Customs to correct the anomaly which has existed over the years.
“Also we discovered that state governments, particularly border states, do not pay attention to Nigeria Customs as one of the security agencies in the country. Nigerian Customs is supposed to protect borders and ensure that illegal goods, fire arms and explosives are not moved into the country. What it means is that they’ll be faced with the challenge of fighting criminals and high-class smugglers.
They, therefore, need proper equipment and they ought to be knitted fully to face the challenges,” he had expressing regret that while State Governments support the Police and other security agencies by providing operational vehicles and allowances, this goodwill is not extended to the Nigeria Custom.”
He that they observed in the course of the oversight function the commendable changes going on in the Nigerian Customs noting that the operations of custom are being digitalised making room for easy monitoring of the Customs and increases transparency, particularly in revenue collection in form of Excise duties, which accounts for the over 100% increase in revenue generated in 2011.
“There’s also concerted efforts to ensure speedy clearance of goods at the wharf. In this light, I’ll urge Nigerians to co-operate with the Agency and also report all cases of extortion or inordinate delay by the custom to the appropriate quarters, either the Controller – General’s office or the House Committee on Customs and Excise”, he said.
Justus Awaji, Abuja
Governor Douye Diri has set a target of at least one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Bayelsa State in the 2027 presidential election, while charging the newly inaugurated All Progressives Congress (APC) State Campaign Council to prioritise reconciliation, party unity and collective electoral mobilisation.
Governor Diri gave the charge at the inauguration of the 20-member campaign council at the APC secretariat in Yenagoa, where he warned that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to secure victory for President Tinubu and other candidates at the federal and state levels.
Governor Diri urged party members who were not appointed to the council to support its activities by taking the APC’s message to communities, wards and polling units across the state.
He specifically charged the campaign team to mobilise at least one million votes for President Tinubu, arguing that Bayelsa’s voting strength had increased and should be reflected in the 2027 election results.
“I give you a target that in Bayelsa, we must not bring less than one million votes for Mr President. You are going to campaign, and you have a lot to talk about the President. He has done so much for our people,” the governor said.
He listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road, interventions in the power sector, federal appointments for Bayelsa indigenes and the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy among the achievements the campaign should present to voters.
The governor particularly praised President Tinubu for the coastal highway project, arguing that it reflected federal attention to the development needs of coastal communities.
“No president, alive or dead, has remembered the coastal people and coastal states to say let us do this signature project from Lagos to Calabar. The first president to think about it is Bola Tinubu, and those were the demands of the Ijaw people,” he said.
Governor Diri also expressed hope that a second term for President Tinubu would provide an opportunity to advance demands for fiscal federalism, greater resource control and state policing, which he described as longstanding aspirations of the Niger Delta.
He said the President had shown indications of addressing some of the demands of younger Nigerians and argued that re-election would allow the administration to consolidate its reforms.
The governor further cautioned campaigners against personal attacks and abusive exchanges with political opponents, insisting that the APC should focus its campaign on issues, policies and achievements.
The governor’s mobilisation directive comes amid criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has questioned his commitment to President Tinubu’s re-election campaign, alleging that APC campaign billboards erected across Yenagoa promote other party candidates without featuring the President.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ikaebimo Mark, said the billboards showed Governor Diri urging voters to support APC candidates for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections without identifying President Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.
Mr Mark described the omission as an indication that the governor was not fully aligned with the APC’s national leadership.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying. Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” he said.
The PDP, however, maintained that the governor’s public campaign posture raised questions about his commitment to the President’s re-election bid. Its allegation over the billboards now places the issue of the relationship between the state APC leadership and the party’s national campaign among the political questions likely to feature in Bayelsa’s preparations for 2027.
The PDP’s allegation has introduced a fresh political dimension to the APC’s preparations in Bayelsa, even as Governor Diri publicly called on party leaders and members to close ranks and mobilise support for all its candidates.
“Every person picked as a member of this campaign council was carefully scrutinised. I want to tell you that our campaign team is loaded. We parade the best candidates among all the parties in Bayelsa State, and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
He urged members to remain focused and united, warning that political opponents could exploit any divisions within the party.
“Our unity is very important because they would want to feast on our disunity. We will not give them that opportunity. Please, as you carry out this assignment, do not take your eyes off the target,” Hon. Ogoriba said.
SP Edafe explained that during the meeting, the organisers were briefed on the identified security threats and advised against embarking on an open-road procession.
Instead, the police reportedly recommended that the political activities be conducted at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
However, the Command alleged that the organisers disregarded the security advice and proceeded with the road procession.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the political violence that erupted in Asaba, the state capital, on Saturday, confirming that one person was killed while four others sustained serious injuries.
The government described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable, warning political parties and their supporters against actions capable of threatening public peace, security and democratic participation in the state.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for political violence, intimidation and other forms of political misconduct.
Mr Aniagwu said the government had repeatedly cautioned political parties against engaging in activities capable of disrupting the peace, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the organisers had followed security advice.
According to him, the police had advised the organisers to cancel the proposed street march and instead conduct their political campaign at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
He expressed concern that the advice was allegedly disregarded, resulting in a confrontation that claimed one life and left four other people seriously injured.
The government subsequently called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violence and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
Mr Aniagwu further warned that the state government would not tolerate politically motivated attacks against any individual, regardless of political affiliation.
He maintained that Delta State remained safe for residents and visitors, stressing that the government would not allow the actions of individuals or groups to undermine the prevailing peace and security in the state.
The government also urged political parties, their leaders and supporters to conduct their political activities within the confines of the law and demonstrate respect for human life, public order and the rights of other citizens.
The latest development follows an attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) during a political procession in Asaba, which reportedly left several participants injured and campaign vehicles vandalised.
The government’s condemnation comes amid growing concerns over political violence and the safety of opposition supporters as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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