By Akin O. Akinkuotu
Believe me sir, you rode to the presidential palace on three platforms: 1.The general believe that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is God-fearing and humble. 2. He is not part and parcel of our ignoble political past. 3. Flowing from the foregoing, his campaign slogan --- a breath of fresh air --- was believable.
At inauguration, Mr. President, you told us that you will abide by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This even went beyond mere speech; your Excellency vowed to this effect as provided by the Constitution.
Recently, Mr. President, you brought the issue of removal of fuel subsidy which, in my own view, when juxtaposed with the Constitution and your campaign to introduce a breath of fresh air, negates your demeanor especially before we voted.
First, Section 16(1b) of the extant Constitution provides:
The State shall, within the context of the ideals and objectives for which provisions are made in this Constitution ----
Control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity.
If the proposed removal of fuel subsidy is examined in the context of this Constitutional provision, it will be crystal clear that there is no way such policy could bring about the security of maximum welfare, not to talk of the other laudable ideals which this Section of our Constitution envisaged. On the other hand, it will engender further deprivation and, a lot more of our people would be subjected to deeper poverty, which will act as harbinger of other socio-economic problems that may put the sovereignty of the Nigerian nation into peril.
Secondly, there is no way that the issue of removal of fuel subsidy can be explained to be a fresh matter. In fact and indeed, in most recent socio-economic history of Nigeria, it remains a terribly odious matter. It was the curse in Abacha’s regime. It was the malady in Obasanjo’s government. If Mr. President had brought the issue of removal of fuel subsidy into his campaign before election, his electoral failure would have been without parallel.
It is in the context of all this factors that I respectfully urge our beloved President to view and weigh his seemingly dogmatic pursuit of withdrawal of fuel subsidy.
Mr. President, as your Excellency is an intellectual, one had expected that by now, the news media would have been awash with facts and figures of our petroleum trauma; to the effect that we would have the following at our finger tips:
- How much it costs to import petroleum products.
- The quantity of these products imported monthly and yearly. We may calculate from 2007 to 2011.
- The names and addresses of the organizations supplying us these products. This will enable us cross-check to see if we are being short-changed because there may be a big difference between the amount being paid and the actual worth of our imports.
- Have we discussed with other producers as we don’t have reason to stick to any particular producer?
- The beneficiaries of the import arrangements in which we appear to be trapped. This arises because Mr. President was reported to have said that only few Nigerians benefit from fuel subsidy.
- Why we are not refining sufficient crude oil to meet our needs.
After we have these facts and figures and there is no relief, we then look at other areas that can be adjusted to assist us.
The first area that comes to mind is our elected and appointed politicians. National Assembly is my first port of call. This is because a respected Nigerian, a man of unquestionable integrity, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the CBN Governor (forget what political, religious and ethnic bigots are saying) astounded Nigerians sometime ago by letting us know that we spend a whopping 25 percent of our hard-earned income on Members of the National Assembly. The “Honourable” members did not question his figures. Some of them only tried to cow him but, expectedly, they failed.
It was this revelation that made me sniff around the National Assembly. And, I got some information that depressed me.
One, what is the contribution of the National Assembly to the economic welfare of Nigeria that qualifies each member to earn N20 million monthly? Why are we paying them N45 million quarterly (every three months) as “constituency allowance”? Is it true that each member collects N350 million as furniture allowance?
Why are we buying state-of –the-art vehicles for them only to hear discordant and shameful tunes from the National Assembly? Why are we paying them for aids they refuse to employ?
Was it not in our National Assembly that a medical practitioner turned politician lost his life in a free- for- all wrestling right inside the House?
Didn’t we bury our heads in shame when, in the presence of secondary school children, who escaped by the whiskers, our National Law-makers were throwing sticks, chairs and all-what-not, amidst and against themselves, not quite long ago?
Are our ears deaf to the extent that we didn’t hear that the leadership of the Lower House borrowed N10 Billion from our financial system to pacify some members?
Mr. President, this is where the real waste lies. The salary of the National Assembly members should be reduced to just N2million per month. The so-called “Constituency Allowance” should be cancelled forthwith. Extravagant furniture does not make for good law-making. Five million Naira is more than sufficient for any class of reasonable furniture. Are they there to sleep on gold when millions of decent, skilled and law-abiding Nigerians are roaming about without food?
Furthermore, the President should be courageous enough now, to introduce a Bill to the House to amend the Constitution and reduce the National Assembly to just one House of equal representation as it is in the present Senate, beginning from 2015. We can not afford the luxury of a Bi-cameral legislature in view of the astronomically high cost. After all, they have not done anything really beneficial to this country. The amendments to the Constitution for which they have been boasting is not spectacular. Also, several sections of the Electoral Act, 2010, are being contested at the Law Courts, even by the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Secondly, we should stop the waste that is going on at the Executive Arm of Government, be it Federal, State or Local.
For example sir, there is no provision under any Law in force in Nigeria, for the office of the wife of President, Governor or Chairman, at the three tiers of government. Yet, Millions of Naira is spent yearly on the non-essential activities of the august wives of our leaders.
One question that agitates my mind in this aspect is, whether there would be the office of the First Man whenever a woman is elected President, Governor or Chairman, as the case may be.
Moreover, there is a monthly deduction by the head of the Executive Arm of each of the three tiers of government in Nigeria that comes under the curious name: Security Vote.
At the Federal level, it is not part of the allocation for the Military and Para-Military organizations --- Armed Forces, Police, SSS and others. Each has its own vote usually put forward by the respective Ministers in charge of such agencies.
At the State level, Security Vote is the prerogative of the Governor. How much monthly, what and how he spends it is entirely out of public glare. The same rule of no-accountability applies to the various Local Government Councils in respect of this out-law called Security Vote.
Remember sir, Armed Forces, Police and other security agencies are in the employ of the Federal Government. And, the Police posted to States are not employed under the Supernumerary system. So, the Federal Government still pays and equips them.
Next to this is the long list of Senior Special Advisers. They are political appointees and many of them are of “cabinet rank”, that is, they rank equally not necessarily in function and qualification, but in emoluments, with Ministers at the Federal level, Commissioners at the State level and Supervisory Councilors at the Local level. Many of them come with funny qualifications and they are not subject to scrutiny, however slight, at the respective Legislative Houses like Ministers and Commissioners. There is a State with 108 Senior Special Advisers. I heard about one of them. He is reported to be a secondary school drop-out. He is Special Adviser for Domestic Affairs!
Thirdly, Mr. President should direct the Attorney-General of the Federation to ensure that State governments comply with Section 7 of the Constitution, particularly, subsections (1) and (3).
Contrary to Section 7(1), some State Governors simply appoint their cronies as Chairmen and Supervisory Councilors for their respective Local Government Councils.
These appointments, apart from being undemocratic, negates the letters and spirit of our Constitution.
Also, it constitutes a wide drain of public kitty. There is no way we can query how much they spend. They have no budget as there are no elected Councilors to which the so-called Chairmen will present their respective budgets for approval. They don’t abide by the Code of Conduct provision of the Constitution. They have no plan!
Many of these illegal appointees, parading themselves as Caretaker Committees, enjoy a life style that borders on the ridiculous; more so that we are not sure they are qualified for the positions to which they are appointed. They are only answerable to the Governor.
Mr. President, I strongly believe that if these steps are taken, there will be enough money for fuel subsidy if, indeed, there is any subsidy.
I pray that God Almighty who directed me to vote for you will guide you and protect you from people that want you to cause chaos by this eye-wash bogey they call fuel subsidy.
I am an Attorney-at-Law and author of The Pocket Lawyer Series, based in Ondo State.
Phone:* 08064382259 * 08052244171.
