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 Tide source reports that Prof. Akinoso was elected alongside 38 other executive members of the party at the congress held on Saturday.
Other executive members are Dr Abiola Olaonipekun, who emerged as Secretary, Alhaja Latifah Latifu, Women Leader and Mr A. Adeleke, elected as Youth Leader.
It was learnt that the congress, which took place at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Oke Ado in Ibadan, was attended by representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police, other security agencies and prominent members of the party.
The election was supervised by electoral committee members, among whom were Prince Diran Odeyemi, who served as Chairman, Hon. Awoniyi Tolulope, Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, Queen Stepheine Oyechere, Alhaji Yusuf Abidakun, Mr Olumide Aguda and Dr Phillips Adeniyi, who served as Secretary.
Prof. Akinoso, in his inaugural address, urged members of the party to set aside intra-party differences.
He advised them to concentrate their resources on the promotion of the party, saying, “The primary responsibilities of party executive members are to coordinate party activities, ensure harmony among members, and ensure party victory during general elections.
“Our immediate assignments are to key into INEC released 2027 general election time-tables. As directed by the National Caretaker Committee of PDP, our party e-membership registration starts next week. We must be fully involved and do a membership drive.
“A political party is only relevant and benefits its members if it wins the election. This is our goal. We should set aside intra-party differences; concentrate our resources towards the promotion of the party. We will make necessary consultations and dialogue to actualise this”.
President Tinubu disclosed this during an interfaith breaking of fast with senior journalists and media executives at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Saturday.
He also disclosed that his administration had opened up on the principles of true federalism to the extent that local governments now get direct allocation from the Federal Government.
“There’s no morning that I ever leave my house without going through the newspapers. It’s an addiction. I read all of you.
“It might not be in full detail, but headline, the one that would hit me and the ones that won’t.
“At the beginning of this administration, I was just a little bit stubborn, looking at opportunities to correct things and make life more easier for the downtrodden.
“We’ve opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money, but how they use it is in your hands. So, don’t bombard me alone,” President Tinubu said.
The ruling party said the ADC had turned criticism of the APC-led administration into its operating manifesto instead of presenting concrete solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges.
In a statement issued on Saturday by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka, the party dismissed the ADC’s interpretation of a report presented at a policy dialogue organised by Agora Policy which suggested that the country’s poverty rate had risen from 49 per cent to 63 per cent.
Mr Morka said the opposition party’s reaction to the report as a “damning verdict” on the government’s economic policies reflected either ignorance of economic realities or deliberate political mischief.
“The African Democratic Congress’ attempt to spin a recent report presented at the Agora Policy dialogue indicating a rise of poverty rate of 63 per cent from 49 per cent as a damning verdict on this administration’s economic policies speaks either to its shocking ignorance of economic policy or its wilful blindness to the justification for, and transformative impacts of, ongoing economic reforms,” he said.
The APC spokesman noted that the report itself recognised the necessity of reforms aimed at correcting long-standing structural distortions in the economy.
According to him, the ADC had failed to present any credible alternative policy direction for Nigerians.
“Clearly, the ADC does not recognise itself as a political party. The ADC has not articulated a single alternative policy position or prescription of benefit to Nigerians. Condemning the APC and its policies has become its operating manifesto,” Mr Morka said.
He explained that major economic decisions taken by President Bola Tinubu, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple foreign exchange windows, were necessary steps to rescue the country’s economy from collapse.
Mr Morka said the subsidy regime had for years placed a heavy burden on public finances, consuming trillions of naira annually while encouraging corruption, fuel smuggling and inefficiencies in the system.
He added that the reforms had helped redirect national resources to key sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, education and social development.
The APC spokesman acknowledged that economic reforms often come with short-term hardship but stressed that the measures were essential to build a stronger and more resilient economy.
“Economic reform is never cost-free anywhere in the world. The transient hardship experienced by Nigerians was an inevitable cost of reforms meant to build and guarantee a better future for all Nigerians,” he said.
Mr Morka maintained that the country’s economic outlook was already improving, citing recent growth figures and stronger external reserves.
“Our economy has rebounded and is expanding steadily. The country’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.4 per cent last year and is projected to expand by 5.5 per cent this fiscal year, with foreign reserves now exceeding $50 billion,” he stated.
He also pointed to government initiatives designed to cushion the effects of economic adjustments on citizens, including cash transfer programmes, student loan schemes and the rollout of compressed natural gas (CNG) initiatives to reduce transportation costs.
Mr Morka reaffirmed that the APC-led administration would remain focused on rebuilding the economy and expanding social investments to support vulnerable Nigerians.
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