Politics
Missing Billions In Hallowed Chambers
Recently, the six-year old anti-corruption posture of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government took a severe bashing asTransparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report for the 2020 appeared in the public domain.
According to the report, which was published by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and circulated to newsmen, Nigeria ranked 149 out of 183 countries on the Corruption Perception Index for the year 2020 and was the second most corrupt country in the West Africa Sub region, scoring only 25 out of 100 points behind Guinea Bissau with 19 points.
The document which was jointly signed by CISLAC/TI Nigeria, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and BudgIT, read in part: “The 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released globally by Transparency International (TI) today shows that Nigeria, yet again, records a decline in the CPI in 2020.
“Published exclusively in Nigeria by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the National Chapter of TI, the index reveals that Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points in the 2020 CPI, falling back by one point compared to last year. In the country comparison of this year, Nigeria ranks 149 out of 183 countries, three places down compared to 2019 results,” the report said, adding that “while the index does not show specific incidences of corruption, it is an indication of the perception of the Nigerian public about the state of corruption in the country.”
As if this was not disturbing enough, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) went to town with an open letter, calling on Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila to “use their good offices to urgently probe and refer to appropriate anti-corruption agencies allegations that N4.4 billion of public money budgeted for the National Assembly is missing, misappropriated, diverted or stolen, as documented in three audited reports by the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.”
In the letter dated January 30, 2021, and signed by Kolawole Oluwadare, Deputy Director, SERAP urged the NASS Leadership to exercise strong and effective leadership in the matter in order to “show Nigerians that the legislative body is a proper and accountable watchdog that represents and protects the public interest, and is able to hold both itself and the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to account in the management of public resources”.
According to SERAP, “The Auditor-General noted in his 2015 report that the National Assembly account spent N8,800,000.00 as unauthorized overdraft, contrary to Financial Regulations 710. The National Assembly also reportedly spent N115,947,016.00 without any documents. Another N158,193,006.00 spent as cash advances to 17 staff between January and June, 2015, is yet to be retired”.
The vocal civil society body expressed concern that “these allegations of corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds amount to fundamental breaches of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) and the country’s international obligations, including under the UN Convention Against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.”
Consequently, SERAP warned that “Any failure to promptly, thoroughly and independently investigate these serious allegations, prosecute suspected perpetrators, and recover missing public funds and assets would undermine public trust in the ability of the leadership of the National Assembly to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in management of public funds.”
Describing SERAP’s call for a probe into the alleged missing money at the National Assembly as a welcome development, a Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, Barr Arochukwu Paul Ogbonna urged the civil society group to press forward with their demand until the desired result is achieved.
Barr Ogbonna also urged the leadership of the National Assembly to resist the temptation of sweeping the allegation under the carpet as others in the past but rise to the occasion of being the people’s parliament and beam the searchlight on itself with the intent to clearing itself of complicity and taking up the position to lead, oversight and sanction other arms of government and institutions in the fight against corruption.
“If the Auditor-General which a state institution and the office that looks into government accounts has discovered that there’s a leakage somewhere, and that leakage is traced to the National Assembly, the National Assembly, as the people’s parliament, should look inwards and clear itself and come up with facts and figures accounting for the said amount of money,” he said, warning that “it must not be swept under the carpet.”
Barr Ogbonna who is also the National Coordinator, Civil Rights Council, insisted that the National Assembly which is vested with constitutional powers to probe into corruption allegations, sanction corrupt practices and oversight the activities of other institutions, ministerial departments and agencies of government cannot afford to be enmeshed in corruption itself, if it must continue to enjoy the confidence of the people as their true representatives with the mandate to project and promote their interest, welfare and well being.
“Now, if the parliament that legislates for the Federal Republic of Nigeria is discovered to have misappropriated, diverted or whatever, a whooping sum of N4.4 billion, then the leadership of the National Assembly should come forth to clear its name and should probe itself and make sure that money is accounted for or else SERAP should take every legitimate means to ensure that such developments are curbed, and elements or individuals responsible for the diversion of the money; for the loss of the money; or the misappropriation of the money should be exposed and, very importantly, punished,” he said.
To do otherwise, according to Barr Ogbonna, is to further increase the uncomplimentary image of the federal government as one that has failed or unable to adequately deliver on its lofty promises on anti-corruption.
“The National Assembly is a foremost state institution; it is the people’s parliament; it is the first of the three arms of government”, Barr Ogbonna pointed out, adding that for the federal legislature to appear to condone corruption is to show “that the anti-corruption posturing of the government is nothing but sloganeering of the ruling class; it shows that it is just a mantra-something that is repeated over and over again for its own sake.
“If any house (institution or agency of government) ought to be honourable, just as they are referred to as honourables, it should be the National Assembly. The parliament should be the one to probe the executive and the judiciary should they misappropriate or divert funds.
“So if a whooping sum of N4.4 billion is said to have been lost, misappropriated or stolen from the National Assembly, then the anti-corruption posturing of the government is absolutely nonsense, its’ rubbish and it doesn’t make sense”, he said.
In his own response, a veteran journalist and public affairs analyst, Dr Obidinma Obidinma, told The Tide in Port Harcourt that it was still the responsibility of the Auditor-General’s office to trace the said missing money and come out with the details of when, who and how the monies got missing.
Dr Obidinma said rather than ask the National Assembly to probe itself, all the anti-raft agencies in the country should be directed to move into the National Assembly to investigate the sordid allegation.
“I don’t believe that the National Assembly can probe itself and come out with something reasonable. There is the ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and related offences Commission); there is the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) they should be directed to go into this matter,” he said and urged the presidency to swing into action without further delay.
Dr Obidinma urged the Federal Government to seize the opportunity presented by this revelation to demonstrate its commitment to the fight against corruption and redeem itself, especially, in the face of its latest abysmal ranking in the Corruption Perception Index 2020 recently published by Transparency International.
As the National Assembly resumed plenary this week, Nigerians expect that one of the issues that should be on the front desk of the legislators is how to trace and locate the said missing amount of money within its fold, money that ought to be there to provide education, water, electricity, security and sundry social amenities that would make life more meaningful for the people. Such an exercise will also help the image of the country within the global community.
By: Opaka Dokubo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told the National Assembly that it requires N873.78bn to conduct the 2027 general elections, even as it seeks N171bn to fund its operations in the 2026 fiscal year.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure while presenting the commission’s 2026 budget proposal and the projected cost for the 2027 general elections before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja.
According to Amupitan, the N873.78bn election budget covers the full conduct of national polls in 2027.
An additional N171bn is needed to support INEC’s routine activities in 2026, including bye-elections and off-season elections, the commission stated.
The INEC boss said the proposed election budget does not include a fresh request from the National Youth Service Corps seeking increased allowances for corps members engaged as ad-hoc staff during elections.
He explained that, although the details of specific line items were not exhaustively presented, the almost N1tn election budget is structured across five major components.
“N379.75bn is for operational costs, N92.32bn for administrative costs, N209.21bn for technological costs, N154.91bn for election capital costs and N42.61bn for miscellaneous expenses,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chief noted that the budget was prepared “in line with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the Commission to prepare its election budget at least one year before the general election.”
On the 2026 fiscal year, Amupitan disclosed that the Ministry of Finance provided an envelope of N140bn, stressing, however, that “INEC is proposing a total expenditure of N171bn.”
The breakdown includes N109bn for personnel costs, N18.7bn for overheads, N42.63bn for election-related activities and N1.4bn for capital expenditure.
He argued that the envelope budgeting system is not suitable for the Commission’s operations, noting that INEC’s activities often require urgent and flexible funding.
Amupitan also identified the lack of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge, adding that if the commission develops its own network infrastructure, Nigerians would be in a better position to hold it accountable for any technical glitches.
Speaking at the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) said external agencies should not dictate the budgeting framework for INEC, given the unique and sensitive nature of its mandate.
He advocated that the envelope budgeting model should be set aside.
He urged the National Assembly to work with INEC’s financial proposal to avoid future instances of possible underfunding.
In the same vein, a member of the House of Representatives from Edo State, Billy Osawaru, called for INEC’s budget to be placed on first-line charge as provided in the Constitution, with funds released in full and on time to enable the Commission to plan early enough for the 2027 general election.
The Joint Committee approved a motion recommending the one-time release of the Commission’s annual budget.
The committee also said it would consider the NYSC’s request for about N32bn to increase allowances for corps members to N125,000 each when engaged for election duties.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Simon Along, assured that the National Assembly would work closely with the Commission to ensure it receives the necessary support for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Similarly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Bayo Balogun, also pledged legislative support, warning INEC to be careful about promises it might be unable to keep.
He recalled that during the 2023 general election, INEC made strong assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time.
“iREV was not even in the Electoral Act; it was only in INEC regulations. So, be careful how you make promises,” Balogun warned.
The N873.78bn proposed by INEC for next year’s general election is a significant increase from the N313.4bn released to the Commission by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election.
In a timetable issued by its National Secretariat in Abuja and signed by the National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, the party said the activities were in line with provisions of its constitution guiding the election of party officials across all tiers.
According to the schedule, membership e-registration began on January 31 and ended on February 8, while notices of congresses were dispatched to state and Federal Capital Territory chapters on February 2.
Submission of nomination forms for ward and local government congresses closed on February 9, followed by screening and appeals between February 10 and February 14.
Ward congresses are fixed for February 18, with appeals the following day, while local government congresses will take place on February 21 and appeals on February 23.
At the state level, purchase of forms for state executive positions will run from February 22 to February 25, with screening set for February 27–28 and appeals from March 1–2. State congresses are scheduled for March 3, and appeals on March 4.
Activities leading to zonal congresses and the national convention include purchase and submission of forms between March 12 and March 16, inauguration of screening committees on March 23, and screening of aspirants on March 24. Zonal congresses across the six geo-political zones are slated for March 25, with appeals on March 26.
The party’s national convention will hold from March 27 to March 28.The APC also published fees for expression of interest and nomination forms across the different tiers.
At the ward level, expression of interest costs ?5,000, while nomination forms range from ?15,000 to ?20,000 depending on the position. For local government positions, nomination forms range from ?50,000 to ?100,000 after a ?10,000 expression-of-interest fee.
State executive positions attract ?50,000 for expression of interest, with nomination forms pegged at ?1 million for chairman and ?500,000 for other offices. Zonal offices require ?100,000 expression of interest and ?200,000 for nomination.
For national positions, the fees rise significantly, with expression of interest set at ?100,000. Nomination forms cost ?10 million for national chairman, ?7.5 million for deputy national chairmen and national secretary, ?5 million for other offices, and ?250,000 for National Executive Committee membership.
The party noted that female aspirants, youths and persons living with disabilities would pay only the expression-of-interest fee and 50 per cent of nomination costs. It also clarified that Ekiti, Osun, Rivers states and the FCT are excluded from ward, local government and state congresses, but will participate in electing delegates to the national convention.
Forms are to be completed online after payment verification, with payments directed to designated APC accounts at Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa.
The congress cycle is expected to determine new party leadership structures ahead of future electoral activities.
The Tide source reports that the committee, reportedly backed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, is making moves to reclaim the Wadata Plaza headquarters months after it was sealed following a violent clash between rival factions of the party.
Senior officers at the FCT Police Command told our source that while they had not received an official briefing, police personnel would be stationed at the secretariat and other key locations to maintain peace.
The Acting National Secretary of the Mohammed-led committee, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, announced last week that the secretariat would reopen for official activities on Monday (today).
He dismissed claims that ongoing litigation would prevent the reopening, saying, “There are no legal barriers preventing the caretaker committee from resuming work at the party’s headquarters.”
However, the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) has fiercely rejected the reopening move, insisting that Sen. Anyanwu and his group remain expelled from the PDP and have no authority to act on its behalf.
Speaking with The Tide source, the committee’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, declared: “They are living in fool’s paradise. The worst form of deceit is self-deceit, where the person knows he is deceiving himself yet continues with gusto.
“Even INEC, which they claim has recognised them, has denied them. They are indulging in a roller coaster of self-deceit.”
Mr Ememobong further revealed that letters had been sent to both the Inspector-General of Police and the FCT Commissioner of Police, stressing that the matter was still in court and warning against any attempt to “resort to self-help.”
“The case pending before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik was instituted by the expelled members. They cannot resort to self-help until judgment is delivered,” he said.
He warned that reopening the secretariat would amount to contempt of court.
A senior officer at the FCT Police Command, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that officers would be deployed to the area to avert a repeat of the November 19 violence that led to the secretariat’s initial closure.
“The command would not stand by and allow a breakdown of peace and order by the party or anyone else. Definitely, the police will have to be on the ground,” he said.
Another officer added, “There will definitely be men present at the secretariat, but I can’t say the number of police officers that would be deployed.”
When contacted, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, said she had not been briefed on the planned reopening and declined to comment on whether officers would be deployed.
Asked to confirm whether the secretariat was initially sealed by police, she responded, “Yes,” but refused to say more about the current deployment plans.
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