Home Blog Page 3437

Mubarak Lives but Tension Rises In Egypt

Editorial
-
0
Mubarak Lives but Tension Rises In Egypt

After spending hours at the Intensive Care Unit of the Maadi Military Hospital, near Cairo, family sources said that the ousted Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak,has been revived and is on an artificial respirator.

The news came as tension continues to build in Cairo over delays in announcing the presidential run – off election, a situation that has led to the two leading candidates claiming victory.

Though a family source claimed that Mubarak’s health was stable and that he was recovering rapidly, military sources quoted by foreign media insist that he remained unconscious.

Read Also:

His wife, Suzanne, reportedly arrived at the hospital to be at her husband’s side while his sons, Gamal and Alaa, who are currently awaiting trial for corruption, were on Wednesday issued permits to visit their father at Maadi Hospital. It could not be ascertained if they eventually succeeded in seeing him yesterday.

Eighty four year old Mubarak’s state of health has been full of drama since he was moved out of the Tora prison hospital for urgent medical attention at the Army hospital late Tuesday.

The octogenarian, who is serving a life jail term after being convicted by the Egyptian court on October 2 for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising that ousted him last year, was rushed out of the prison after having a stroke.

No sooner than he arrived the Military Hospital, than the state official news agency, MENA, declared him ‘clinically dead’.

“Hosni Mubarak is clinically dead. Medical sources told MENA his heart had stopped beating and did not respond to defibrillation,” the agency declared Tuesday.

The story later changed as doctors attending to him were able to revive him. The revival was not total still. Mubarak, whose heart was said to be failing, was put on life support device throughout the night.

As at the afternoon yesterday, his breathing had been partially restored, but he was still in coma.

The former President’s health fluctuated as thousands of his countrymen gathered at the Tahrir Square, Cairo and also in Alexander to protest against what is seen as the military’s interference in the country’s transition to democracy.

Tension has been building over some of the actions of the military rulers, who took over the power after the ouster of the 84-year-old dictator.

Apart from a court order which declared the newly-elected Muslim Brotherhood – dominated legislature illegal and ordered its dissolution, Egyptians grumble about the uncertainty that accompanied the Presidential election wrapped up last Sunday.

The nation’s electoral body has not helped matters. Initially, it promised to announce the winner of the election on Thursday but has since said it needs more time to look at over 400 complaints by candidates.

Now, candidates for the two contesting sides are already claiming victory.The Muslim Brotherhood said its candidate, Mohammed Mursi, won the run-off vote in the early hours of Monday morning, and on Tuesday provided what it said were certified copies of ballot tallies to bolster the claims.

But Mursi’s rival Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s last prime minister, has also claimed victory, with his campaign accusing the Brotherhood of issuing false figures and insisting official results will declare him president.

Notwithstanding the declaration of victory by both sides, civilians seemed set on a collision course with the ruling military council, which issued a constitutional declaration Sunday night claiming sweeping powers.

The paper declared that the council would retake legislative powers from the Islamist-dominated parliament after the country’s constitutional court last Thursday ordered the body dissolved.

And it grants the council veto power over the drafting of a permanent constitution, angering activists who denounced the declaration and an earlier order giving the army the power to arrest civilians, as a “coup.”

The Brotherhood also rejected the declaration, insisting the parliament retains legislative power, and pledging to participate in “popular activities” against it.

On Tuesday night, the Muslim Brotherhood joined a mass demonstration in Tahrir, which attracted over 15,000 protesters, some celebrating Mursi’s win as well as denouncing the military move.

Court Invalidates 2011 General Elections, Threatens Edo Polls

Editorial
-
1
Court Invalidates 2011 General Elections, Threatens Edo Polls

The federal High Court in Abuja declares the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s use of transparent ballot boxes illegal due patent rights infringement, putting at risk the 2011 and future election.

 

A recent ruling by the Federal High Court in Abuja against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and six others over the use of transparent ballot boxes has invalidated the entire 2011 general elections.

In a judgment that has possible far reaching political implications for the current political dispensation, the court also threatens the conduct of the governorship election in Edo State scheduled for next month.

Ruling in a case instituted by Beddings Holdings Limited against INEC, Attahiru Jega, its chairman, the Registrar of Patients, Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and four companies, Justice Adamu Bello declared that the electoral body used the transparent ballot boxes illegally without the consent of the valid patent owner.

Having established Beddings Holding Limited’s ownership of the patent rights to transparent ballot boxes and that they were used without the company’s permission, the court ruled that “any action or actions whatsoever and howsoever taken or purported to have been taken by the defendants relating to the said products without the prior and express license, consent, authority and/or approval of the plaintiff is unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful and is therefore Null and Void.”

Also, significantly, the court placed a perpetual injunction on anyone from using the transparent and collapsible ballot boxes without the consent, license or authority of the patent owner, thus putting the upcoming governorship election in Edo State in jeopardy.

Beddings holdings Limited instituted the case in January, 2011 shortly before the general elections alleging that the electoral body was planning to infringe on it patent rights on transparent ballot boxes.

The company took the action after INEC sought for bids for the supply of transparent ballot boxes for use during the polls.

Bedding Holdings told the court that it wrote the commission to inform it that it holds the patent rights to both collapsible and transparent ballot boxes in Nigeria and that its consent or license was required before they could be used for the elections.

However, the electoral body went ahead and awarded the contract for the supply of the ballot boxes to three companies. The firms are Emchai Limited, Tambco United Limited and Anowat Project and Resources Limited. The three companies and the attorney general are the other defendants in the suit by Bedding Holdings.

Subsequently INEC sought and got approval of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, for the purchase of the ballot boxes.

The President presented the commission’s request to FEC through a memo dated November 15, 2010 in which he sought the council’s approval “for the award of contract for the supply of 150,000 units of Collapsible Transparent Ballot Boxes with pre-numbered security seals at N13, 000.00 each for the conduct of the 2011 General Elections, in favour of Messrs Emchai Limited, in the sum of N1, 950,000,000.00.”

In the memo, the president noted that the same company got the award of the contract for the supply of 300,000 collapsible transparent ballot boxes which were used for the 2007 election by INEC.

He went further to state that “Emchai Limited has the patent to its design and specifications” and that the commission decided to adopt the direct procurement method in the award of the contract to it “in order to maintain standardisation.”

After FEC approved the award of the contract, Bedding wrote a letter to the President dated November 25, 2010 wherein it informed him that is was the bona fide owner of the patent rights on collapsible transparent ballot boxes and that Emchai Limited and INEC had led him to misrepresent the facts put to FEC.

The company told the court that it got no response from the president.

Investigations show that, indeed the registrar of patents, a department in the ministry of commerce and industry, did issue Bedding Holdings a certificate of registration of patent rights No. RP 12994 and a certificate of industrial design rights No. RD 5946 for transparent ballot boxes on January 12, 1998.

Again on November 7, 2006 the registrar of patents, which is now under the ministry of trade and investments, issued Bedding Holdings certificates of registration of patent right (No. RP 16642) and registration of industrial design (No. RD 13841) for an invention names electronic collapsible transparent ballot boxes.

However, the registrar of patent went ahead to issue the same patents to other companies without first invalidating the right of Bedding Holding. On October 14, 2010, it registered and issued a certificate of industrial design rights (No. NG/RD/2010/702) for the same invention, which it renamed Tambco ballot box, to Tambco United Nigeria Limited.

On the same day, the registrar equally issued a certificate of registration of industrial design (No. NG/RD/2010/708) for what it renamed collapsible transparent ballot boxes to Anowat Project and Resources Limited.

Interestingly, the two patents were issues to the companies in October, 2010 the month that INEC called for bids for the supply of transparent ballot boxes.

In its originating summons, Bedding Holdings asked the court to answer four questions and grant seven reliefs. The questions and prayers before the court were to determine and declare that its patent rights over both transparent ballot boxes and electronic collapsible ballot boxes subsist and that the others were illegally issued.

The company also sought a declaration that actions taken by the all the defendants relating to the ballot boxes without its consent, license or authority be declared unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful and therefore Null and Void.

In his judgment, Justice Adamu Bello observed that although all the parties were served with all the processes of the court, only the attorney general of the federation reacted through a memorandum of conditional appearance in which he asked its name to be struck out from the suit.

Agreeing that the attorney general had a basis for the request, the trial judge struck out his name from the suit.

Justice Bello observed that INEC, the Registrar of Patents and the other defendants did not file any processes before the court or make any appearance in spite of evidence that they were served.

He stated that he granted an order of substituted service on the three companies involved when the bailiff reported to the court that the addresses given to INEC by them were found to be either fake or nonexistent. The processes were then pasted on the notice boards of the federal high court, Abuja and the federal high courts in Lagos, Minna and Port Harcourt, the judicial jurisdiction of the firms.

The judge declared that “in the absence of any counter affidavit to controvert the plaintiff’s averments in the affidavit in support of the originating summons, those averments are deemed to be true.”

In his ruling, Justice Bello averred that the distinguishing features of the patents granted Bedding Holdings are that its boxes are transparent and collapsible and that its possesses exclusive rights over any ballot boxes with these specifications.

The judge also determined that the Registrar of Patents erroneously issued patent and design rights to Emchai Limited over Envopac Ballot Boxes in August 2006 instead of and Envoseal, a security plastic coated metal bolt seal, a situation which allowed it bid for supply of transparent ballot boxes.

Justice Bello therefore ruled that the plaintiff’s patent claims supersedes any other subsequently given, thereby rendering others patents issued on transparent or collapsible ballot boxes after Bedding Holdings’ null and void.

However, the two most significant declarations in the ruling are the voiding of all actions taken by the defendants concerning the transparent ballot boxes without the consent or authorisation of the plaintiff and the perpetual injunction restraining anybody from further using the transparent ballot boxes for any purpose without the consent or authorisation of Bedding Holdings.

The import of this is that the 2011 general elections which were conducted using collapsible ballot boxes have been voided while the Edo State governorship election slated for July can also not go on unless with the consent of Bedding Holding.

However, INEC dismissed the claim of Beddings Holding when our reporter sought the commission’s reaction to the court ruling and its implications for the last general elections.

Kayode Idowu, the commission’s spokesman claimed that the electoral body did not use the transparent ballot boxes referred to in the judgment for the 2011 election. He said therefore that the judgment could not in any way affect the 2011 election or the upcoming Edo polls.

Idowu also stated that the commission never knew of the court case until judgment was delivered, inferring that it was not served. He recalled that Bedding Holding had previously taken the electoral body to court in 2010 but hurriedly withdrew it only to institute the latest one.

Contrary to Idowu’s claims, however, court papers obtained by www.icirnigeria.org showthatINEC was, indeed, served all the court papers by the bailiff. The document shows that the legal the commission and its chairman were separately served in February 2011.

Besides, it is also not true that INEC did not use transparent boxes in the last elections. Apart from the fact that pictorial evidence abound of the commission’s use of transparent ballot boxes, the president’s memo and the approval of FEC were for the supply of transparent ballot boxes for the conduct of the 2011 election.

The Registrar of Patents in the commercial law unit of the ministry of trade and investments, who is in charge of patents and trademarks was unavailable for comments. Her secretary told our reporter that she was  away from the office and that she would not be able to speak on the matter as she resumed work only last March.

Also, Edet Oti, head of the legal team in the unit who was said to be conversant with the Bedding Holding case who was also away in Lagos declined speaking on the matter. He told our reporter that he could not speak unless he got permission from the registrar and that that would take over a week.

However, a source in the Registrar’s office who knows about the case informed recollected that Bedding Holding did write a letter to the office complaining of the issuance of another patent for transparent ballot boxes to another firm.

The source said that a tribunal in the office sat on the petition and ruled against Bedding Holding. According to the source, a decision was given to grant all the companies what he termed “concurrent patent rights.”

Explaining why patents were issued to the other companies only following INEC’s calls for bids for the supply of transparent ballot boxes, the source said that it was done because of the timeframe for the elections and to meet the commission’s requirements.

“We did that as a matter of public policy because of the exigency of time because INEC appealed to us that it had a time frame. So we had to meet INEC’s requirements because it said that only one company would not be able to supply the number of ballot boxes it required for the 2011 elections.”

Although INEC does not regard the ruling as posing any threat to the coming elections in Edo State, an Abuja based lawyer, Abdul Mahmud, observed that “if there is an injunctive relief barring INEC from using the boxes because patent rights belong to Bedding, INEC would have to discharge that relief aspect of the judgment.

Another lawyer, however, said that because of the declaratory nature of the reliefs granted bedding, “The ruling cannot be stayed by a court of first instance and the appellate court, meaning that INEC cannot use the patented product for any election while any appeal lasts”

Text of the court ruling is reproduced below

 

Image

 

Image

 

Image

 

Image

Tension in Custom over HND/Degree Disparity

Editorial
-
0
Tension in Custom over HND/Degree Disparity

The age long discrimination against Higher National Diploma, HND, holders is causing tension in the Nigerian Customs Service.

 

A quiet storm is brewing in the Nigerian Customs Service as holders of the Higher National Diploma, HND, certificates are complaining about the disparity in the conditions of service between them and bachelor’s degree holders.

Although the complaints started at the stage of murmuring among aggrieved graduates of Polytechnics in the Customs, those affected across the country are mobilizing to take action to register their position.

A few of the affected customs officials who spoke to www.icirnigeria.org complained that although they spend more years in a tertiary institution, the management of the service still discriminates against them and places them below degree holders.

The aggrieved customs men listed several ways in which the conditions of service of their colleagues who had university education and possess degrees are better than those of polytechnic graduates who hold HND certificates.

For example, while HND holders enter the Custom Service on Grade Level GL 7, degree holders’ entry point is GL 8. Also while polytechnic graduates can only rise to GL 14, their degree holder colleagues can rise to GL 17 and even become the Comptroller General of Customs, CGC.

Invariably, because of the grade level disparity, the salaries paid to HND holders are also lower than the ones received by bachelor’s degree holders.

But the biggest complaint of the polytechnic graduates is in the disparity in the schedule of duties between them and university graduates. According to them, while degree holders are posted to executive/superintendent cadre assignments, HND holders are treated as minions and posted on assignments like guard duties.

For example, three OND holders in the Customs who spoke to our reporters claimed that they were on guard duty in the residence of senior officers. One of them was guarding a retired customs officer in one of the Northern states.

“Though in terms of allowances, we enjoy same allowances with our Bsc/BA counterpart, but in terms of schedule of work, we do jobs meant for First School Certificate holders,” one of them bemoaned.

Another area of discrimination is that HND holders on GL 7 are not allowed to wear uniforms designated for officer cadre unlike degree holders. They can only wear officers’ uniform when they get to GL 8.

Although some of them who serve in Abuja are allowed to wear uniforms meant for officer cadre, in other parts of the country HND holders have to wear uniforms meant for the rank and file.

The complainants also stated that even when they try to improve their careers by obtaining degrees after graduating from the polytechnic, the management of the Customs Service still make it impossible for them to convert to officer cadre.

“ Many of us have gone to get university degrees, a few even have Masters degrees but what they tell us is that there is no vacancy,” one of the aggrieved men said.

The polytechnic graduates are demanding that they be put at par with their colleagues who are degree holders in line with a circular of the National Board for Technical Education which they provided.

In the circular dated February 13, 2009 signed by A.B Kurawe for the executive secretary and addressed to the Comptroller General of Customs, the board in response to a previous memo from the Customs stated, “the entry point for HND holders into the public service is CONTISS 7 (GL 7) and they progress to a terminal point of CONTISS 12 (GL14).”

Wale Adeniyi, the Customs Service spokesman refused to make comments on the matter when our reporter phoned him. While declining to grant an interview, he offered that the Customs employs personnel based on a scheme of service.

But investigations by www.icirnigeria.org indicate that the complaining customs men might be fighting a difficult battle. It was gathered that the disparity between HND and bachelor’s degree holders is not peculiar to the Customs Service but is a public service policy that affects the civil service and even the military and security services.

Tope Ajakaiye, deputy director of press in the office of the head of service of the federation, shed some light on the reasons behind the different conditions of service for the two cadres.

According to him, the disparity is “a policy issue that is fundamental and has existed for a long time and is rooted in the curriculum and philosophy behind setting up polytechnics and universities.

Ajakaiye explained that while university education and its curriculum were structured to produce top level policy makers, the polytechnic syllabus was conceived to produce technicians and technologists to drive advancement in technology.

He stated further that while the university graduate is trained to assume management and decision making positions, the polytechnic graduates are trained to implement decisions thus taken.

“In the public service the management level or decision making level is the directorate level between grade level 15 and 17 that is why a university graduate can reach grade level 17. But the polytechnic graduate who is trained to be a technician can only rise to chief technical officer or grade level 14.

Many people in the polytechnic system do not agree with this. Godwin Onu, a professor and rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko says the disparity is inimical to technological development and shows a lack of seriousness on the part of government.

He advocated allowing polytechnics to award degrees, observing that countries like South Korea, India and other technology conscious nations have done so.

“I think that’s the solution to it. The proper solution if they can be realistic is to allow the polytechnics to start awarding degrees, allow upward mobility of the staff, provide them with the facilities without losing site of technical and vocational content of the polytechnic education,” he said.

He lamented: “We train people in the polytechnic and at the end of the day, they acquire a PhD and leave the polytechnic and join the university system because he cannot be a professor here and that is why we are advocating that polytechnics, as they are should all be made polytechnic universities as they are in other countries of the world.”

The issue of disparity between HND and degree holders has always been an issue in the public service and actually received presidential attention during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Sources in the federal civil service said that Obasanjo tried to get the National Council of Establishment to bring the two cadres at par. However, the council made up of the head of service of the federation and the head of service of all the states, reportedly came up with the resolution that the issue had to do with the curriculum in universities and polytechnics and could not be tampered with.

The council, this website learnt, advised, however, that the syllabus of some polytechnics could be structured so that they start awarding degrees. This would have enabled Ordinary National Diploma, OND holders to study for the award of degrees instead of the HND.

It was also gathered that the council specifically suggested that two polytechnics and four colleges of education. These polytechnics are Yaba College of Technology, Kaduna Polytechnic and Auchi Polytechnic.

The colleges of education are the Federal College of Education, Kano; Federal College of Education, Zaria, Kaduna State; Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Imo State; and Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Ondo State.

Since then there have been conflicting signals from the government about its true position. In May 2009, shortly before Sam Egwu, then minister of education at an interactive meeting with members of the Senate committee on education said that the federal government had commenced the process of eliminating the disparity between HND and degrees.

Egwu said that the government was concerned about it because if was affecting moral and productivity in the public service.

“We are addressing the problem, because when a staff with HND does not earn the same recognition that his counterpart from the university earns, it creates problems,” he said.

But in August 2010, Ruqquayat Rufa’i, the education minister, told journalists that the issue of eliminating the disparity was just a proposal that was being worked on and that it might take years to bring it to the federal executive council for approval.

“The planned conversion of these institutions is just the recommendation of the Implementation Committee on Guidelines for Degree Awarding for Colleges of Education and Polytechnics, which submitted its report on Tuesday, July 20. There is still a lot of job to be done before we can present it for approval by the Federal Executive Council,” she said.

The minister said that among the issues that still need to be worked out are the restructuring of syllabus; reconciliation of academic profile of members of academic staff and the status of existing students of the institutions.

There were indications last week that the committee saddled with working out these issues might have submitted its report to the minister and that the education ministry is putting finishing touches to a document to be presented to the federal executive council soon.

A source in the federal ministry of education told our reporter that it had been decided that as a pilot project, Kaduna Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology will be immediately recommended to FEC for upgrade into degree awarding institutions.

The source said that issues such as curriculum and service conditions of HND holders have been worked out and that the institutions would be called university of technology.

As observed by Onu, other countries have adopted this policy. For example, in Britain, academic degrees were validated for polytechnics as far back as the ‘60s. Over the decades, polytechnics in Britain have all upgraded to universities and the disparity between degrees and HNDs, referred to as “binary divide” was abolished in 1092 by the Further and Higher Education Act.

Our reporter could not confirm from our source what the status of those who already have HNDs would be when polytechnics start awarding degrees.

But Ajakaiye admonished parents and guardians to always counsel their wards on the course of study and choice of institutions they should take in future. He believes that part of the problem is that students no longer have the benefit of career guidance and counselling before making a choice of which course of study to pursue and where to study.

He observed that with examinations into tertiary institution becoming more competitive, students who leave secondary school do not bother to distinguish a polytechnic and a university not minding that their curriculums are different and that they would take them on different career parts.

“I think that we should advice our children to seek career counselling before making choices such as the course they want to study and where to study them because universities and polytechnics are not structured to produce the same cadre of personnel,” he advised.

Budgets as Conduit Pipe for Govt Officials

Editorial
-
0
Budgets as Conduit Pipe for Govt Officials

The Presidency, National Assembly and public officials conspire to use the annual national budget to fraudulently siphon public funds.

An independent review of the 2012 budget by www.icirnigeria.org and a coalition of civil society groups has revealed that ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, of the federal government, including the Presidency and the National Assembly, pad their budgets to provide hundreds of billions in slush funds for corrupt public officials.

A forensic look at the appropriation by the National Assembly for MDAs and other arms of government show that virtually all of them use nebulous and dubious subheads such as drugs and medical supplies, welfare packages, refreshments and meals, foodstuff and catering and Fumigation and cleaning among others to lay the ground for pilfering of public funds.

Read Also:

The review which also exposes waste and mismanagement in the allocation of the country’s resources points out how hundreds of millions of naira is illegally appropriated for the welfare, security and feeding of senior public officials who already enjoy outlandish allowances and perquisites of office.

In a pattern that shows a deliberate and coordinated effort to pad their budgets several ministries provided votes that are questionable, ridiculous or alien to appropriation processes while in others the votes are so unclear that it would be impossible to monitor them.

In some cases funds are fraudulently allocated twice under separate votes for a parastatal and the parent ministry. In other instances of officially sanctioned corruption, funds are allocated for the same projects for several years.

All the budget fraud is perpetrated and sustained by collusion between budget officials in the MDAs, officials of the budget office and its parent ministry of finance as well as the two arms of the National Assembly which appropriates funding for running the government.

The budget review shows a trend whereby the commonest and easiest means of padding an agency’s appropriation is through food, refreshments, catering, foodstuff; welfare packages; security vote and medical services and drugs purchase.

While many Nigerians go hungry government officials have close to N2 billion in this year’s budget for food and other culinary pleasures. The president and the vice president alone take nearly N693.5 million of this vote. While President’s office gets nearly N430 million for food and drinks, his deputy’s takes over N264 million.

Of course, nearly a billion naira was initially budgeted for food and catering in the presidency but public outcry against it forced the figures down.

But if many agree that feeding the president and vice president and their guests in the Presidential Villa is still acceptable, many would frown at the huge funds appropriated for other public officers and their offices.

For example, a total of N118, 241,819 is appropriated for the office of the head of service of the federation for foodstuff, catering meals and the like.

Others who got heavy votes for things like food, meals, refreshments and catering include the budget office, N194, 001,021; ministry of finance, N66, 969,198; ministry of culture and tourism, N37, 412,183.18 and Niger Delta ministry, N25, 906,994.

Another dubious subhead used by public servants to cream off money off the budget is “welfare package” for which the National Assembly appropriated nearly N1.5 billion, mostly to the Presidency, ministries and parastatals. This is in spite of the fact that all public servants receive allowances meant to take care of their welfare.

Of the total amount, the Presidency alone gets 481,287,340 or close to one third. Other big receivers of welfare packages are defence headquarters, N200 million; ministry of defence N 58,328,409; the Nigerian Police N170,818,524; Niger Delta ministry N64,871,904; ministry of finance, N96,151,968;the budget office, N122,895,000 and office of the accountant general,N92,734,898.

A former director in the federal civil service familiar with the budgeting process explained that welfare packages are legitimate as it is meant to take care of what he called repatriation, burial expenses and the medical expenses of civil servants who fall critically ill and have to be flown abroad for treatment.

According to our source, the repatriation fund in the welfare package dates back to colonial times when British officials who retired or are returning home were paid some money which was termed “repatriation allowance”. The tradition of including such items in the budget has been maintained even when it is no longer needed.

Other things covered by the welfare package, he explained, are expenses of the burial rites of deceased civil servants which he said is allowed by law. But he could not quote the law. The source also said the law allows for welfare budget to take care of medical expenses of a civil servant who falls critically ill and has to be taken abroad for treatment.

He, however, agreed, speaking from experience of his service years, that the welfare package never gets used for this purpose.

“Although the law allows for budgeting for welfare of civil servant, the truth is that many of them are not even aware of the provision so the money eventually gets pocketed by the big ogas. So it has become a money making avenue for those who know about it,” the source disclosed.

Another questionable item in the budget of many ministries and government agencies is security vote for which over N6.5 billion is provided in the 2012 budget. It is doubtful what this vote is for as even ministries and agencies that get support from the police to secure personnel and office buildings have huge funds appropriated for security.

The ministry of Aviation, headquarters, takes the biggest share of N6, 247,666,248 for what it calls “New Security Strategy for Airport”. No further details are given about which airport and what kind of security strategy or if it involves buying of equipment and which type.

Thus, it would be impossible for anybody, even the receiving agency, to monitor implementation. This is another fertile ground for corruption. And the National Assembly approved the vote.

Equally ridiculous is the appropriation for security  of N158, 359,040 to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC;  N104,504,161 to the office of the head of service and N56,577,744 to the office of the accountant general.

These allocations and their approval throw up a lot of questions about the integrity of the budget process. For example, why does the NSCDC need over N158 million for security when it also got over N405 million appropriated for the purchase of security equipment?

What do the offices of the head of service and accountant general need security votes for? Is it for the office or the person who occupies the office? Why would these two offices require and get over N160 million and other agencies and ministries do not require such a vote. Even the parent ministry of the accountant general’s office which houses it got just N26, 387,765 as security vote.

If these votes are questionable for their unreasonableness or because of the difficulty they pose for implementation monitoring, others are downright outrageous, even ridiculous.

Perhaps the most ridiculous vote in the entire 2012 budget is the N22, 806,460 appropriated for the National Theatre for the purchase of typewriters. In this age of technology why would the National Theatre need typewriters?

Other ridiculous appropriations in this year’s budget include N300 million approved for the ministry of information for a media tour of the states; N41,625, 000 for the purchase of three Discovery 5.0 engine capacity Jeeps for “procurement,  monitoring and evaluation” in the ministry of mines and steel; the sum of N17, 232,340 for implementation of a yet to be passed Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, in the petroleum resources ministry and N80 million for a roadmap on the Freedom of Information Act.

Even more preposterous is the approval of N126, 091,750 for “spectacle advances” in the petroleum resources ministry and another N869, 509 for the same purpose in the ministry of works.

There are other equally laughable and provocative appropriations in the budget. An example is the 2,766,274,637 approved in the budget for “consultancy and conceptual design of Kano Airport terminal building.”

The Kano Airport already has a terminal building. Even if it needs upgrading would that cost N2.7 billion? How much would be required to build a new one if the design alone costs this much? Instructively, in 2010, over N602 million was budget for remodeling of the terminal building of the same airport.

The budget approved for the ministry of Aviation has some of the most outrageous votes. From all indications, some of the votes are deliberate ploys to misappropriate approved budgets.

For example, N550, 000,000 is appropriated for the “consultancy and conceptual design of airports in Lagos Enugu, Rivers and Cross Rivers. But airports already exist in these places and there is absolutely no need for a new design to be conceived for them.

Even more significantly, Enugu airport, mentioned in this particular vote, has an N8.4 billion allocation for its total overhaul. So why seek money for the same purpose in another vote head? In 2010 the same airport got N1 billion for the expansion and resurfacing of its runway.

Besides, there is another N7, 030,000,000 budgeted for the modernization of the airport terminals in Enugu, Lagos, Rivers and Cross River states. So why the duplication of votes?

Equally fraudulent is the repeated budgeting of funds for airport construction projects in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Jalingo, Taraba State, Dutse Jigawa State and Abeokuta, Ogun State for several years now.

In the 2012 budget, N550,000,000 is appropriated for consultancy and construction of airport terminal in Yenagoa; N378,000,000 for same in Abeokuta, Ogun State and N750,000,000 for Dutse, Jigawa State. In the same vein N120, 000,000 is budgeted for the conversion of the Jalingo airstrip in Jigawa State into an agro airport.

However, money had been appropriated for these same projects in previous years. For example, N162, 042,482 was budgeted last year and N1 billion in 2009 for the Abeokuta airport, while N191, 210,128 was budgeted for the Jalingo airstrip project. Even the Yenagoa Airport received budgetary provision of N500 million as far back as 2008.

Repetitive budgeting is also found in many other ministries, particularly in demands for computers and ICT accessories. Virtually every MDA purchases computers every year. In the 2012 budget, purchase of computer hardware and software alone is to gulp over N6 billion. That is in spite of a budgetary provision in 2011of N4.85 billion.

In 2011, the federal ministry of works budgeted N1.8 billion for computers and software, yet in the 2012 budget it still got N95.7 million. The ministry of lands and housing got a total of N551.4 million for computers and software in 2011and still received N727.8 million in 2012.

The ministry of foreign affairs got N200.8 and N207.8 for computer purchase in its 2011 and 2012 budgets respectively.

But the Nigerian Presidency is, perhaps, the guiltiest in perfecting the art of repetitive budgeting in what appear to be an avenue of providing slush funds for government officials. Some of the most ridiculous, fraudulent and mindless appropriations go to the presidency.

For example, for some reason the Presidency budgets money every year for rehabilitating the State House, Marina, Lagos and Dodan Barracks, Lagos in spite of the fact that they are hardly ever occupied.

Last year, N628, 640,000 was budgeted for what was termed “outstanding liabilities on partial rehabilitation of SH Marina and Dodan Barracks. This year, again, rehabilitation of the two presidential residencies got N500, 571,330 in the budget.

In a similar fashion, monies were appropriated for the purchase of kitchen and catering equipment in the Presidential Villa for two consecutive years. In 2011 this vote got a whooping 553,594,442 and in 2012, it still got over N5 million.

For the Presidency, it also appears that the upgrading of facilities is an unending pastime. In 2010, N312, 099,475 was budgeted for the “completion of upgrade of Villa facilities”. But, two years later, more than double that amount, a total of N643, 887,523, was again appropriated for the same purpose.

But the most embarrassing appropriations are those made for the vice president. The upkeep of the vice president constitutes a huge drain pipe on the nation’s resources, it appears.

For instance, the upgrading and furnishing of the vice president’s official resident is costing Nigerian tax payers money heavily yearly. In 2011, the vice president’s residence and guest houses received over half a billion in the budget.

The breakdown is “household equipment for vice president’s residence”, N150 million; “furnishing of vice president’s guest house in Asokoro”, N100 million and “acquisition, upgrading and furnishing of VP’s guest house at Aguda” received a whooping N400 million.

The vice president also got another N300 million for the purchase of “utility and operational vehicles”.

However, in a brazen and fraudulent manner, the same items were again budgeted for in 2012, clear evidence that slush funds are provided in the budget for the office of the vice president.

For, in 2012, the vice president again got another N112, 005,600 for household equipment and materials. There is also N207, 168,598 provided for the extension and furnishing of the VP lounge in Aguda.

Another outrageous appropriation is the provision of N230, 132, 597 in the budget for acquisition, upgrading and furnishing of the guest house at Aguda even though N400 million was budgeted for same purpose in 2011.

The truth really is that the Aguda house is actually the vice president’s official residence for now. It is meant to be the president’s guest house but is presently occupied by the vice president.

In some ministries, the allocations are so irresponsible, breaking every rule of fiscal responsibility that it calls to question the integrity of the legislative process of budgetary approvals.

For example, some ministries take such liberties that billions of naira is approved for projects without giving any detail at all as to exactly for what the money would be used. In some cases, it is difficult not to conclude that monies have been provided in the budget to be pilfered.

For example, the ministry of agriculture has a vote head “Purchase of Agricultural Equipment” amounting to N26.8 billion. The only detail provided for this huge vote are items like seeds, improved seeds, seed dressings, seedlings, fertilizer, herbicides, small scale processing facilities and investing in agro processing capacity, poultry meat, fish farm and so on, many of them repeated several times in the vote.

There are no details of quantity, costs and locations of the purchased items or projects. And the two houses of the National Assembly raised no queries over this fiscal rascality.

In the same ministry, a budget of over N1.4billion is approved for the construction of road. The only explanation given is that N820 million is for the construction of 15 kilometers access roads to six staple processing zones at N15 million per kilometer.

There is no detail about exact location of the road construction making it difficult to track implementation.

The remaining N600 million is provided for the “rehabilitation and consolidation of 200k (kilometers) of existing roads” at N5 million per kilometer. Here, again, no detail is provided about location.

In the ministry of water resources most of the appropriations for the river basin offices are so nebulous that it would be practically impossible to determine whether the monies are eventually spent or not.

Several hundreds of billions are budgeted for projects in communities for which details are not provided. Besides, many of these projects are duplicated in the budget approved for millennium Development Goals, MDGs.

For example, the Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority has a vote of N650 million for small irrigation in Zamfara West Senatorial District. But there is no information about the location of any of the projects.

In the same manner N313, 150,098 is budgeted for South Chad irrigation project by the Chad Basin River Basin Development Authority without any breakdown of costs and location.

Competent sources conversant with the budgeting process in Nigeria said that many of the projects approved for execution in constituencies in the rural areas are actually lobbied for and put in the budget by members of the National Assembly.

According to one source, members of the federal legislature approach different MDAs asking them to include the funding of projects in their communities in their budgets.

This, he said, is common in the ministries of works, environment and power and the MGD office.

According to our source who once headed a parastatal but who does not want to be mentioned, senators and members of the House of Representatives put a lot of pressure on implementers of the budget to ensure that projects go to their constituency. Sometimes, the source alleged, such legislators also dictate the contractor that handles such projects.

Many people particularly point accusing fingers at the national Assembly for the failure of the annual budgets to meet the development needs of the country and the inherent fraud and corruption in the fiscal space.

In terms of budget transparency, the National Assembly is guiltier that any other arm of government. The last assembly removed the appropriation for the federal legislature from public scrutiny and put it in first line charge so that its funding comes directly from the federation account.

Thus, the budget of the National Assembly only spells out the bulk of its expenditure without giving details of overheads, current or recurrent expenditure or minute details of what money is appropriated for. That makes the National Assembly unaccountable to any institution.

It is a situation that Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre frowns at as too dangerous to allow to continue.

He observes, “One of the funny things that are happening in this democracy is that the National Assembly wants every government agency to be accountable to it but they are not accountable to anybody. And it cannot go that way.”

Continuing, he said “You cannot exonerate the National Assembly. At least, whether consciously or unconsciously, they allowed those wastages and duplications to continue to be in our appropriations because it is they who are expected to look at it.”

Rafsanjani also points out an inherent danger in situation which leaves the entire vote of the National Assembly in the hands of a few people to do as they like.

“Today as I speak, even the National Assembly members do not know their own budget. It is only the principal officers that know the budget. So, the National Assembly members are like you who don’t know their own budget too. It is the principal officers that do everything. This is the system that has been going on and that is why even development partners laugh at us because Nigeria is just a heap of corruption,” he said.

(Check Interviews section for full text of the interview with Rafsanjani).

Eze Onyekpere, a lawyer and director of the Centre for Social Justice agrees that the National Assembly has shirked its responsibility of ensuring fiscal responsibility in the budgeting process.

Apart from insulating its budget from scrutiny, Onyekpere said that the National Assembly ignored representations from civil society organisations pointing out latent corruption in the estimates of many MDAs and went ahead to appropriate funds for dubious vote heads.

According to Onyekpere, several civil society organisations under the aegis of Citizens Wealth Platform did a review of the budget and discovered a lot of fraudulent padding, repetitive and completely outrageous votes in the 2012 budget.

“We published the review we did, submitted it to the budget office and also gave copies to members of the National Assembly. Every senator and member of the House of Representatives got a copy,” he said.

(Check for full text of the interview with Onyekpere in the Interviews section)

The lawyer, however, observed that the recommendations were ignored.

“When the budget was passed we did another review and we discovered that over 90 percent of our proposals were ignored,” he disclosed.

He concluded in frustration, “In spite of all the things we pointed out nothing was done. It appears that the National Assembly did not do its home work.”

But Onyekpere also blames the executive for a lack of political will to ensure that the budget meets the developmental needs of the people and leaves no room for corruption.

First, he observes that the executive arm of government itself in deeply enmeshed in the corrupt the budgetary process.

“Of course everybody knows of the huge feeding allowance of the president. Everybody knows about huge sums spent on watering lawns in the Villa. Everybody knows about repetitive demands for the renovation and purchase of guest houses for the vice president.”

That is why, he says, the executive cannot frown at the high handedness of the legislature when it concerns the annual budget.

“It is unfortunate. The legislature is supposed to check the executive and the executive is somehow also supposed to check the legislature but if there is a conspiracy between the man who is supposed to do the job and the supervisor what happens? The executive and legislature are in an incestuous relationship,” Onyekpere stated.

Since the executive and legislature have abdicated their roles of ensuring of ensuring fiscal responsibility, Onyekpere believes that the Nigerians have to take over the budgeting process in order to democratize it.

This, he said, civil society groups in the country are working at by organising sensitisation town hall meetings in the geo political zones on the budget.

“What we are doing is that before the end of June we are going to go to all the geo political zones and hand these documents to community development associations, market women groups, artisan groups and so on, telling them about things that have been put in the budget for their communities so that they can follow up” the CENSOJ director stated.

“We are going to hold town hall meetings in the communities and distribute these documents so that people will know and begin to ask questions. We are tired of a few NGOs asking the questions and becoming predictable. It is better for the people at the grassroots to begin to ask the questions,” he enlightened further.

These would not only ensure that the people decide what their needs are and thus what is appropriated for capital projects but also enable them monitor implementation of the budget.

Annual Budgets are for stealing money – Eze Onyekpere

Editorial
-
0
Annual Budgets are for stealing money – Eze Onyekpere

Eze Onyekpere is Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice, CENSOJ, which has been in the forefront of advocating for fiscal responsibility and transparency in public spending. He speaks on the lapses in the 2012 budget.

Q: What’s your assessment of the 2012 budget in terms of its fiscal prudence and monitoring its implementation?

A: I would say that the 2012 budget, particularly in terms of its cardinal objectives appear to be beautiful and sound. But the problem and challenges we have always faced is in implementation. If you look at what has happened in the past, we always have a budget where the recurrent component is usually fully implemented. The recurrent component, that is salaries and overheads, are always drawn down.

Read Also:

The problem is always with the capital component which is actually 28 percent of the total budget. And of that 28 percent, 65 percent of it is administrative capital.

There are two parts of the capital. The administrative ones are the cars, furniture and office buildings.  The real developmental capital is the hospitals, schools and the social infrastructure that impact directly on the people.

The challenge is always government’s willingness and ability to fully implement the capital budget. Over the years, we have had the capital budget implemented up to 65 percent. And even what they say they implement is about what is released sum, not the whole 65 percent component of the capital budget.

That is why for about three to four years, they have moved the capital budget year to the first quarter of the next year. The one for 2011 rounded off in March 2012.

What we have done as at today is to educate and sensitize Nigerians. First, we reviewed the budget before it was passed and pointed out the areas of shortcomings and asking the authorities to minimize them.

Q: So the Citizens Wealth Platform was part of the budget making process?

Yes, we were. Not that anybody invited us but we are Nigerian citizens with an obligation under the constitution to render assistance to the fiscal authorities. We published the review we did, submitted it to the budget office and also gave copies to members of the National Assembly. Every senator and member of the House of Representatives got a copy.

Q: Were your inputs looked at?

When the budget was passed we did another review and we discovered that over 90 percent of our proposals were ignored. That was when we published the document titled “In the Name of Appropriation All Things Are Possible”.

But we are not leaving it there. We have done a pullout of the capital budget by geo political zone and in each area we break it down to state by state.

What we are doing is that before the end of June we are going to go to all the geo political zones and hand these documents to community development associations, market women groups, artisan groups and so on, telling them about things that have been put in the budget for their communities so that they can follow up.

For instance, in the budget, you find NAPEP has a vote for poverty reduction in Oyo Central for N250 million. We don’t know whether it is NAPEP that will handle it or if they will give it to legislators – senators and members of the House – to handle.

So it is important for the people in Oyo Central to know that there is a N250 million appropriated for them.

In the past we have seen senators and House members buy some keke NAPEP, motorcycles, sewing and grinding machines and distribute to the people. We do not know whether the money for that came from their personal pocket or if they are executing the capital budget of the federal government.

Whatever the case, it is important for the people to have the information and start to ask questions. We are going to hold town hall meetings in the communities and distribute these documents so that people will know and begin to ask questions.

We are tired of a few NGOs asking the questions and becoming predictable. It is better for the people at the grassroots to begin to ask the questions.

As we are doing this we are also sensitizing them to know how they can participate in the making of the 2013 budget. The idea is that between now and December it will be possible to reach up to 20 million Nigerians so that more people can join this crusade of monitoring budget implementation.

Q: You talked about frivolous expenditure. What are some of the ones you noticed?

There are so many of them. Of course everybody knows of the huge feeding allowance of the president. Everybody knows about huge sums spent on watering lawns in the Villa.

Everybody knows about repetitive demands for the renovation and purchase of guest houses for the vice president. And you have the ministry of petroleum resources budgeting N126 million for spectacles which was approved for them.

You have the ministry of finance, encompassing the main ministry, the budget office and the accountant general’s office, asking for over N240 million for welfare and close N300 million for food and catering.

You also have the office of the head of service getting N80 million for a road map on the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA.

And you have the ministry of agriculture’s budget where you find repetitive votes for fertilizer, seedlings and so on all coming to over N26 billion.

And the minister of agriculture told a lie to Nigerians that there is no more budget for fertilizer when it is clear that N26.8 billion is in the budget and it is not disaggregated in terms of where they are going to distribute the fertilizer, seedlings and other things they claim they will buy.

In spite of all the things we pointed out nothing was done. It appears that the National Assembly did not do its home work. Funny enough I heard a senator talking about wherein lies the power of appropriation between the executive and the legislature.

The senator was telling the executive to ensure that the 2012 budget is implemented, complaining that they always blackmail the legislature of passing a budget that cannot be implemented. And he said that because of this they allowed the budget to pass virtually the way it came from the executive so that there would be no excuse not to implement the budget.

I think that that is an abdication of duty if that reflects what the National Assembly did.

Some people say the problem with budgeting in Nigeria starts with the civil servants who prepare budgets in the ministries and government agencies. It is said that they do not have the training or capacity to produce reliable and realistic budgets.

I do not think it is a matter of training. These people have been trained endlessly with money coming from IMF, World Bank and other donor agencies, even the federal government. It is a question of lack of political will.

For instance they are supposed to start with what is called the Medium Term Sector Strategy, MTSS. Every MDA is supposed to develop a strategy and an envelope and do a budget and the finance minister gathers everything, does a Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, which should go to the federal executive council for approval. After approval then you pull out the budget for each year. But these processes are perfunctorily followed.

So I think that the problem is that of a lack of a political will not that these people have not been trained or not. They have had enough training.

How do you think these waste and frivolous votes in the budget can be stopped?

The answer is straight forward. A man or woman who comes into your house to cart away your property is doing so because he thinks he will overpower you. The people must come together and say an emphatic no and reclaim the fiscal space from the vagabonds in power.

Impoverished Nigerians never get interested in fiscal governance issues.

I insist that Nigerians must come together using civil society, their community based associations and faith based organization. There must be a price for those in power to pay for the frivolous expenditure in the budget. If there is no price we will continue to waste our resources

What have you really done with the result of your review? Have you presented it to the EFCC or the ICPC for example?

I just said that we gave a copy to every member of the National Assembly because we thought it was within the legislative competence of the legislature. Well, we can send it to the EFCC and ICPC.

It is really worrisome that the budget just lays the grounds for corruption with the implementation of most votes impossible to track. And there appears to be a conspiracy to use the budget to perpetrate corruption

It is unfortunate. The legislature is supposed to check the executive and the executive is somehow also supposed to check the legislature but if there is a conspiracy between the man who is supposed to do the job and the supervisor what happens?

The executive and legislature are in an incestuous relationship. And, with due respect to that institution, the judiciary is corrupt and does not have what it takes to call them to order. So it is only the people that can reclaim the fiscal space. If we wait for the legislature or executive nothing will happen

President Jonathan is Not Interested in Anti Corruption War – Rafsanjani

Editorial
-
0
President Jonathan is Not Interested in Anti Corruption War – Rafsanjani

Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, is the executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, and an importunate voice against corruption in Nigeria. He spoke with www.icirnigeria.org on the 2012 budget

Was CISLAC part of the budgeting process in any way?

Yes. Informally, we were part of the process of making sure that the appropriation that was sent to the National Assembly by the Executive reflects the reality and yearnings of the Nigerian people, especially on those areas of wastages.

Specifically, we looked at the budget that was sent by the President and discovered so many duplications, so many wastages, and so many areas that are deliberately included for corruption purposes. And we pointed that out to the National Assembly for them to be able to use their legislative powers to ensure that those duplications and unnecessary wastes are removed from the budget.

Read Also:

But that is the level at which we were able to make our own input. As you know, it is the National Assembly that has the constitutional and legislative powers to make this appropriation in a manner that will reflect the aspirations of the Nigerian people.

We did submit our recommendations to relevant committees of the National Assembly. In fact, virtually all committee chairmen got a copy of that analysis. We also submitted it to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

When you said “we,” who are you referring to?

I am talking about civil society groups that came together to look at these budget. There are quite number of civil society groups that decided to come together as a group to look at the budget and then point out some of those faulty areas.

 

What was the feedback? Were your recommendations actually reflected in the budget that was passed?

Quite numbers of the National Assembly members were happy with the work done by the civil society groups, because it is not a paid job, it is not a consultancy job. It is a voluntary work done just to assist the nation and also ensure that the National Assembly gets it right.

Also, they were happy but what we did not confirm fully is whether item by item, all those things that we pointed out have been properly reflected. We are still looking at the documents to see if those areas pointed out are fully reflected.

But you also need to know that the National Assembly faces some challenges in terms of their independent capacity to be able to scrutinize and analyze the budget without the influence and blackmail of the executive.

The executive believes that whatever it sends to the legislature should just be taken without any scrutiny.

This is one big challenge that the National Assembly is facing and they have not yet been able to overcome it.

 

So you think the National Assembly is not independent enough to work of appropriation?

There are lots of challenges; capacity challenges, experience challenges, independence of mind and also sincerity to stick to the right position.

Well, we did an independent review of the appropriations for the MDAs and what we found was a lot of the wastages, repetitive votes you talked about. It’s like laying the platform for corruption.

The truth is that if appropriation and budgeting is not properly done, it could be an instrument for legitimate corruption because you appropriate the money and because of the poor legislative oversight and the poor implementation of the budget, some people would use that opportunity to short-change the nation.

And they have been doing that and nothing has been done to curb it in a very fundamental way.

It also goes back to the National Assembly. You said you pointed out the lapses in the budget to the National Assembly but they still went ahead and passed it. So, doesn’t the corruption also fall on the National Assembly?

Yes, of course! You cannot exonerate the National Assembly. At least whether consciously or unconsciously, they allowed those wastages and duplications to continue to be in our appropriations because it is they who are expected to look at it. The president on his own cannot approve those expenses and budgets, it has to be legitimized by the National Assembly. This means that if the president or any MDA has done any deliberate inclusion to misappropriate public funds, the National Assembly is there to checkmate him.  That is why there are checks and balances. And if you negate your role & responsibility, then you are to be blamed.

Part of the problem is that about 60-70 percent of the budget is for recurrent expenditure. Only about 30-40 percent is for capital votes. So, how can there be development? Why does 70 percent goes to recurrent expenditure?

With the current way and manner we do budgeting, we cannot attain any fundamental development; because we are supposed to be doing five – year rolling plans for our budgets. That will give you space to plan for capital project so that every year, you know you have expectations on these.

But the way we do yearly budgets, it leaves you only with expenses that are not for development but for consumptions such as travelling, fictitious trainings, all sorts of allowances, entertainments, feeding, fuelling generators, buying petrol & buying newspapers, all sorts of dubious budgeting.

These are all budget heads that are being deliberately included to sustain and justify looting and stealing of public funds.

But unfortunately, many Nigerians don’t know budgeting process; they are not involved; they have no role to play; they just hear the formal announcement like we hear in the military regime.

So, budgeting under democracy as currently being practiced in Nigeria is not different from what we used to have during the military regime. In fact, budgeting during the military is not even as bogus as what you have today and it’s not characterized by the kind of corruption we have today.

During the military, there was an envelope for every ministry and parastatal for budget and, therefore, you don’t need to go for any budget defense and in the process have to pay bribe to get your budget through.

But I think there is a total misconception of democracy by the current people who are running democracy in Nigeria. I think they have succeeded in democratizing corruption, wastages and devaluing our value system and completely turning everything into a monetary thing.

Therefore, there is nothing that is done without monetary incentives put into it, which is really a very bad situation.

Yes, we don’t want military regime; but we cannot continue to claim that the current democracy we are practicing is in any way better than what we used to have during the military.

There are more killings, more corruption, and more abuses of people’s rights right now.

And what is democracy if it has even given licenses to people to be killing and bombing innocent people and places. I don’t think this is the kind of democracy we fought for.

It is alleged that legislators hijack the budget for constituency projects. MDAs have their own budgets and plans, but it is alleged that legislators sometimes corner these projects as constituency projects and sometimes insist on bringing the contractor.

Well, the whole idea is that if the executive is disciplined enough, they would have been able to stick to their roles as implementer of government programmesand policies. Therefore, they are supposed to have a due process in place. No contractor should be given any contract without following due process.

So, the executive also is responsible for that failure. I think that both the executive and legislature have compromised their responsibilities and the losers are the Nigerian people.

 

In what practical ways do you think that budgeting processes can be improved from the ministries to the legislature?

If we are to go into what we usually referred to as participatory budget process, it has to go back and start right from the people. Let the people identify that they need water, not classroom; that they need health care system, not bridges. Let the people identify their priorities and their needs. Then, let it be reflected in the budget.

But what we are seeing now is that some people just have interest in acquiring money. So, they will create a project that has no relevance, no bearing and no economic benefit for the nation and deploy so much money into it and at the end of the day, the people do not benefit, the nation looses huge amounts of money.

 

But what process will make it possible for the people to be part of the budge?

It’s just about translating this democracy properly. If we say democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people, then let the budget also begin to reflect that.

In other countries, they do it. In Brazil, there is grassroots’ budgeting process; in Uganda, there is grassroots budgeting process; even in Ghana here, their budgeting process is reflective of their own needs. So, why not in Nigeria?

I suggest we go back to what the Minister of Finance did between 2003 and 2006. What she did was to subject the budget proposal by the executive to the stakeholders to look at it.

But immediately after she left, during Obasanjo period, that process never came back.

Even now that she is back as the Minister of Finance, she has not returned that people’s forum where people can constructively and creatively critique whatever is in the budget even before sending it to the National Assembly.

It is even expected that the National Assembly ought to be more democratic, more open, allow more participatory budgeting process in the way and manner we do the budgeting but everything is in close-doors now.

Everything is in close-doors because it is also another opportunity for corruption. A ministry or parastatal comes to do what they called budget defense, and at the end of the day, they must bring bribe or if they did not bring physical bribe, they will include something in their budget.

And after the budget is passed, they will now go to them and asked them to bring that money.

That has been happening and it has been documented and some of the ministries even tried to resist that but they were overwhelmed because there is no political will of the executive to deal decisively with whoever is asking for that kind of bribe.

If today, you have a willing government that will close its eyes against anybody who violates the rule whether in the executive, judiciary or legislature, things will begin to change.

But because the system is so flexible anybody can steal. In fact, if you are caught, it means that you have not stolen well. If you are caught in corruption, it means maybe you have stolen small.

If you steal big, then you will settle your way through plea bargaining. This is the kind of process we allow that has encouraged corruption.

So, if today, the executive arm of government will seat up and ensure that its role is not compromised; legislators would also sit up and begin to do their homework to ensure that they do not also compromise in their legislative oversight.

But everything now has become settlement – settle me, I settle you. And because they are seeing that the president is not interested in any anti-corruption war, anybody can do anything.

We observed that the National Assembly vote is actually first line now. No breakdown, nothing! There is no accountability…

This is why I said that the executive has truncated its own roles and responsibilities. Public fund is public fund. If any amount of money is budgeted and allocated to a particular arm of government, it must be accounted for.

And therefore, one of the funny things that is happening in this democracy is that the National Assembly wants every government agency to be accountable to it but they are not accountable to anybody. And it cannot go that way.

Today as I speak, even the National Assembly members do not know their own budget. It is only the principal officers that know the budget.

So, the National Assembly members are like you who don’t know their own budget too. It is the principal officers that do everything.

This is the system that has been going on and that is why even development partners laugh at us because Nigeria is just a heap of corruption.

Now, talking about post-budget monitoring and evaluation, there is so much secrecy about the whole process. The Ministry of Finance and Budget Office have refused to give information about last year’s budget to us. So, how can civil society do any kind of evaluation or monitoring?

This is a big challenge that despite the Freedom of Information law that we have. Information is still not available for many Nigerians who want to do one research or another.

Government agencies are not willing and they are not interested to allow any information get to the public because of probably fear of exposing the dubious and corrupt practices that are reigning there or attached to the budget implementation.

It is a struggle we must continue with. We cannot give up. We must ensure that as long as it is public funds, the Nigerian public must have the right to ask questions and seek for clarifications on some of the things that have been done.

And that is because it is not their personal resources. It is public resources and that is why we must continue to demand for accountability.

We will not give up in terms of our resistance for the process to be open, transparent and accountable because this is our country; and we have collective responsibilities and obligations to make things work.

Therefore, we must not be deterred by blackmail or lack of access to information. We will continue to push for greater transparency in governance.

 

What is your assessment of the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria in the last one year?

The freedom of information regime that we have in the last one year is just beginning to be recognized by different arms of government. Many of them did not think that it is law that they need to even know or adhere to.

But thanks to the efforts of civil society groups; they are making this to be a serious matter. Therefore, if any government agency refuses to comply with the law, already some groups have begin to test this in our courts and this will begin to compel government officials to change their mindsets and attitude about public information, because everything is secret.

If you want to know the numbers of staff in this ministry, it is secret. If you want to know anything about the budget, it is secret; everything is secret because everything is shrouded in corruption.

So, though the implementation of the freedom of information has not gone anywhere, at least, the knowledge of the existence of the law is fast spreading.

 

Do you think government itself is doing enough in meeting its responsibilities? For example, the Attorney-General’s office needs to do a framework and so on. Bit it has not been done

They are not fast enough because many of them were taken by surprise that civil societies made that giant effort to ensure that we have the law. Many of them don’t believe in any transparent process.

So, they want the secrecy to continue and this also affects some of the government’s officials. Even when the legislators want to get information, they don’t get it because everything is secret.

It is even in the interest of everybody that we have an open government and open system because the risk in secrecy, in hiding information, is more than making it available. Because in the process of hiding the information, even what you did not do, people will say you have done it.

Finally, what do you think about the president who signed the law and has completely ignored requests made for the declaration of his assets?

I want to tell you that the president did not willingly assent that document. It was a struggle, even though we are still happy that he finally assented to it. But it was not an easy struggle to convince him to get that law passed.

Now, having passed the law, if they have their way, they will definitely frustrate it; they will make it unworkable.

That is why you see that one year after, the ministry of information and the attorney-general’s office have not tackled this law with the speed that is required for them to act; because they are still thinking on how to sabotage this law.

Why do you say the president doesn’t even believe in it?

The president signed that law because of the pressure from both the international community and the civil society groups in Nigeria.

Secondly, he wanted to gain cheap popularity. We thank him for signing it but we want him to comply with the law. We want him to lead the process of implementing that law.

That is the only means he can convince us that he signed that law willingly and because he wants Nigeria’s progress.

FOIA Training Workshop for Journalists in Northern Nigeria

Editorial
-
0
FOIA Training Workshop for Journalists in Northern Nigeria

A training workshop for investigative journalists and the press on the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011 was organised from May 20 to 22, 2012, at the Asaa Pyramid Hotel, Kaduna.

The training organised by the Right to Information Initiative (R2K), Nigeria, the Forum of African Investigative Reporters (FAIR), and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), was supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

Read Also:

In attendance at the program were editors and reporters from radio, television, and print media organisations from the 19 northern states of Nigeria. The participants were drawn from both private and public media institutions.

The main objectives of the training were to familiarise journalists with the essential elements of the FOI Act and how they can use the Act to conduct investigative reporting in Nigeria. The workshop was also meant to demonstrate the importance of the FOI Act to general media reportage.

Dana, Aviation Authorities, Responsible for Crash

Editorial
-
0
Dana, Aviation Authorities, Responsible for Crash

The Nigerian government has suspended the operational license of Dana Airlines, owners of the MD – 83 aircraft that crashed in Iju Ishaga, Lagos State, which killed the 153 persons on board and several on the ground.

Joe Obi, spokesperson of the ministry of aviation, who disclosed this today in Abuja said the action is to allow for a thorough investigation of the air disaster.

He was silent on whether the government will sanction official of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.

Read Also:

Earlier today, the Senate called for the withdrawal of the operating license of Dana Airlines and the stepping aside of the NCAA boss, Harold Demuren, until investigations are carried out and concluded on the crash.

But investigations by the www.icirnigeria.org indicate that the NCAA should be held responsible for the crash as much as Dana Airlines.

Our investigations show that the Dana MD – 83 aircraft that crashed in Lagos should never have been brought to Nigeria.

Worse still, the entire Dana fleet of MD – 60 series might not have been certified to fly in Nigeria if aviation regulatory authorities had done some homework on the history of the aircraft.

Information available to the website indicate that Dana Airlines Limited purchased a fleet of  four MD – 83s from Alaska Airlines in 2008 shortly before it commenced operations, at a time when most American airline operators were dumping the  aircraft because of its inefficient fuel consumption and noticeable safety issues.

In fact, Dana Airlines bought the aircraft at a time Alaska Airlines itself was disposing of most of the MD – 80 planes in its fleet as many of them had previously had issues.

The airline had been dumping its MD 80s since its twin – engine McDonnell Douglas MD – 83 aircraft crashed off Point Mugu into the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 persons on board.

Alaska Airline flight 261 departed Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for San Francisco and Seattle, United States when it developed problems and diverted to Los Angeles to land. But it crashed into the Pacific Ocean before it could land.

The National Transport Safety Bureau investigations showed that the cause was inadequate maintenance – the simple issue of failure to lubricate a mechanical component of the aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, also had serious issues with MD – 80s for years. In March and April 2008, a safety audit by FAA forced American Airline to ground its entire fleet of about 300 MD – 80 series aircraft.

The issue at stake was the hydraulic wiring of the aircrafts and American Airline had to cancel about 5700 flights in the incidents.

In the same vein, Delta Airline also had issues with its fleet as it grounded its 117 MD – 80 aircraft for safety and regulatory checks, in the process cancelling 275 flights.

Thus, by 2008 when Dana Airlines bought its fleet from Alaska Airlines major operators in the aviation, particularly the United States, had started dumping the power packed but old MD – 80 aircraft.

In 2008, American Airline had nearly 300 MD – 80 planes in its fleet. By July 2011, it the number had gone down to 195.

Age is a big issue in the aviation industry as it relates to aircraft. The Dana plane that crashed in Lagos would have been grounded in many countries many years ago. In America, although the issue of age limit for commercial aircraft is still being discussed, most airlines do not fly planes that are older than 20 years old.

Boeing, the aircraft manufacturers, said that its planes are built to fly for 25 years but added that airlines can continue to fly them if they satisfy airworthiness regulations.

In China, the age restriction place on imported passenger aircraft is 10 years, in Russia it is between 10 to 15 years and Libya has reduced its  own from 25 to 20.

In response to allegations that the ill – fated aircraft that crashed on Sunday had technical or maintenance issues, Dana Airlines management has said that it was “serviceable and operational”.

Speaking through its Director of Flight Operations, DANA Air, Capt. Oscar Wilson, the airline said in Lagos yesterday that the plane was still in serviceable and good condition in spite of its age of 22 years.

“We don’t allow our aircraft to fly if not in perfect condition. We don’t take risks with people’s lives. I did the test flight of the questioned aircraft myself, there was nothing wrong with the aircraft, it was okay,” he said.

“The aircraft had flown to Ibadan on Saturday without hitches contrary to rumours that it was undergoing repairs. On Sunday, it was a different story entirely as the aircraft had started operations as early as 7.47 a.m. On Sunday, 5N-RAM flew at 7.47 a.m., left Lagos to Abuja on flight 999 and Abuja back to Lagos on Flight 998. The aircraft went back to Abuja flight 993 and was coming back before the fatal flight 992,” he said, giving further details about the aircraft’s final hours of operation.

But aviation experts are not impressed and hold Dana Airlines and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, responsible for the crash.

One aviation source who does not want to be named accused the NCAA of handling aviation safety and regulations with laxity, observing that the agency continues to allow noisy and old aircraft to operate in the country in spite of the intervention fund given to airlines by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to upgrade their fleet.

Dana Airlines commenced commercial flights operations in Nigeria on November 10, 2008 and operates flights from Lagos to Abuja, Calabar, Port Harcourt and Uyo. It had four MD – 83 aircraft in its fleet.

The MD – 80 series which include the MD – 81, MD – 82, MD – 83, MD – 87 and MD – 88, has been in commercial operation since 1980. In its 30 years of operation it has been involved in 60 incidents, at least 18 of them serious accidents involving over 1,300 deaths. The Dana crash is rated as the most devastating and deadliest crash involving an MD – 80 aircraft.

Hosni Mubarak Jailed for Life

Editorial
-
0
Hosni Mubarak Jailed for Life

Former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, yesterday received a life sentence for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising that brought down his government last year and forced him from power.

Habib El Aldy, the minister of interior under him, was also sentenced to life in prison for involvement in the killings but the court acquitted Mubarak and two of his sons, Gamal and Alaa, of corruption charges.

The ousted president has been standing trial for allowing the killing of hundred – by some estimation, close to 1,000 – of people during the 18 – day people’s uprising in February 2011 which force him to resign from office.

Read Also:

Judge Ahmed Rifaat delivered the judgment in a make shift court room, a lecture room, which was once named after the former president.

An unsparing Judge Ahmed Rifaat described Mubarak’s reign as “30 years of darkness” which was terminated only by the people’s demand for democracy.

“They peacefully demanded democracy from rulers who held a tight grip on power,” the judge said.

Some of the charges against Mubarak and El Aldy carry the death sentence but the judge preferred to send them to prison for life.

As Rifaat read the conviction and sentence, Mubarak sat emotionless with his expressions concealed by big eyeglasses.

There are some reports that when he was transported to a prison facility after the sentencing, Mubarak broke out in tears and refused to alight from the helicopter that took him.

Since his trial began, the former president has been help in military hospitals, largely because of his failing health.

That will changed now with his conviction as he has to serve his sentence in a prison.

There was chaos outside the court as hundreds of mostly anti – Mubarak Egyptians jubilated as the life jail term was announced. Several youths threw rocks and fights broke out among them. Hundreds of anti – riot policemen were called to restrain the crowd, preventing them from storming the court house.

Many people in Egypt are angry that Gamal, heir apparent to Mubarak, and Alaa, a wealthy businessman, escaped being sentenced. There is also a lot of anger, particularly among family of victims of the killing, as several police officers brought to trial have either been acquitted or given light sentences.

Thousands of Egyptians gathered at the historic Tahir Square after the ruling denouncing the trial and chanting “Execute them”

Interestingly, Mubarak’s sentencing has come only a few days after Egypt’s presidential elections, the run – off of which will be between Ahmed Shafiq,  former prime minister a protégé of the former ruler and Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist Islamic group persecuted by the ex president.

UN Moves to Protect Journalists

Editorial
-
0
UN Moves to Protect Journalists

The United Nations, UN, has adopted The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity which was championed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

The Plan was endorsed on Friday, April 13, by the chief executives board which is the highest level coordination mechanism of the UN system.

According to a release by UNESCO on Wednesday, April 18, the Plan targets the “creation of a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers in both conflict and non-conflict situations” to strengthen peace, democracy and development worldwide.

Read Also:

At the board’s meeting, UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, told members that “the safety of journalists is essential to upholding Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that guarantees the right to freedom of expression.”

The world body noted that some 500 journalists and media workers have been killed in the last decade while many have been wounded or threatened while carrying out professional responsibilities.

Quoting the UNESCO director general’s report on the safety of journalists and the danger of impunity, the agency observed that in 2011 alone, 62 journalists were killed around the world.

In most cases, it observed, the journalists were not reporting armed conflicts but local stories on corruption, organized crimes and drugs.

Due to this situation, the UN said “there has been a pressing need for the various UN agencies, funds and programmes to develop a single, strategic and harmonized approach in order to have greater impact on combating the issue.”

The statement elaborated that the approval of the Plan would lead to the establishment of a coordinated inter-agency mechanism to handle issues related to safety of journalists.

It will help to involve other intergovernmental organizations at international and regional levels to encourage the incorporation of media development programmes that would ensure safety of journalists.

The UN would also employ the Plan to assist countries through development of legislation and supportive mechanisms to sustain freedom of expression and information, and also to support efforts at implementing existing international rules and principles.

The Plan would make UNESCO to work with governments, media houses, professional associations and non governmental organisations, NGOs, to raise awareness on existing international instruments and conventions, and on dangers posed by emerging threats to media professionals and various existing practical guides on the safety of journalists.

The statement also explained that through the Plan, it would relate with countries to include materials relevant to the safety of journalists and impunity in the curricula of journalism education.

The adoption of this Plan is the result of a process that stared in 2010 by the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication,  IPDC.

1...3,4363,4373,4383,439Page 3,437 of 3,439