Buhari vows to recover funds looted under Jonathan
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday
vowed to recover billions of dollars stolen under the administration of
his immediate predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
He said the Jonathan government threw
the nation into a financial crisis by throwing all financial and
administrative processes in parastatals and agencies to “the dogs”
Promising that the era of impunity and
financial recklessness was over, the President said the next 90 days
might be hard for the Federal Government and the states.
“The
next three months may be hard, but billions of dollars can be
recovered, and we will do our best,” Buhari said in a statement made
available to journalists after his meeting with the 36 state governors
in Abuja.
But he did not state how he would go about the recovery of the looted funds.
Buhari regretted that the impunity,
lack of accountability and financial recklessness in the management of
national resources by the past administration threw the country into a
situation that is worse than what happened in the Second Republic.
The President, in the statement by his
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, added, “There are
financial and administrative instructions in every government parastatal
and agency.
“But all these were thrown to the dogs in the past. Honestly, our problems are great, but we will do our best to surmount them.”
He said that a comprehensive statement
on the economic and financial situation inherited by his administration
would be made public within the next four weeks.
“We will try and put the system back
into the right position. What happened in the 2nd Republic has
apparently happened again, and even worse, but we will restore sanity to
the system,” Buhari assured the governors.
It will be recalled Buhari toppled the
Second Republic government of President Shehu Shagari on December 31,
1983 on allegations of corruption and gross mismanagement.
The President, according to the
statement by Adesina, expressed surprise that governors had been
tolerating the atrocities allegedly committed in the management of the
Excess Crude Account since 2011.
He then promised to tackle the issue decisively.
The President also declared that the
payment of national revenue into any account other than the Federation
Account was an abuse of the constitution.
He added that most of what he heard
going on in many agencies and corporations, particularly the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, were clearly illegal.
On the refund of money spent on federal
projects by state governments, Buhari assured the governors that the
Federal Government would pay, but insisted that due process must be
followed.
The President said that special
assistance would be given the three North-East states badly affected
by the Boko Haram insurgency.
On an immediate lifeline for states that
have yet to pay their workers for months, the President said that a
committee headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo would look into the ECA
and come up with an amount that could be shared immediately.
The governors, led by their Chairman, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State, had presented a wish list to the President.
The wish list included:
- Obedience of extant Supreme Court ruling that all money goes into the Consolidated Federation Account;
- An order from the President that all revenue generating agencies must pay into the Consolidated Federation Account;
- Review of the Revenue Allocation Formula;
- Refund of the monies expended by states on federal projects;
- A special consideration for the three states of the North-East under Boko Haram infestation; and
- Full details of the amounts that accrued into the ECA from 2011 and how the money shrank without official sharing.
As of May 15, 2015, only $2.79bn was left in the ECA.
FG owes N5.53tn, states; N658bn.
Before the statement by Adesina, the
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, had told the
State House correspondents at a news conference that even the Federal
Government was currently battling with domestic debts totalling
N5.53tn.
Yari, who is also the governor of
Zamfara State, disclosed that all the 36 states and the Federal
Capital Territory, were owing N658bn.
He was joined at the briefing by his Bauchi and Abia states counterparts, Muhammed Abubakar and Okezie Ikpeazu.
Yari said, “At our meeting today (Tuesday), we identified the problem and we are going to find a solution.
“Right now, we cannot even pay salaries
much less of embarking on development projects. So, at least we have to
work faster and salvage the situation.
“I want you to note that it is not only
the states. The states’ debts are not as bad as that, we made it clear
to Mr. President that the total debts of 36 states and FCT is N658bn but
the domestic debts of the Federal Government is N5.53tn, so is not
equal.
“So, we appreciate the fact we are all
in this problem. The Federal Government cannot pay members of staff of
ministries, departments and agencies and states cannot pay workers.”
The governor explained that the meeting
with the President was not just about bailout but about the way forward
out of the situation that both the states and the Federal Government
found themselves.
He said the President himself, before he
was inaugurated, was aware that some of the states were in a critical
situation as regards payment of workers’ salaries because of the
dwindling federal revenue caused by the drop in oil prices.
The governor said that they proposed to
the President that instead of being given a bailout, the funds for
projects that were done by their states should be refunded.
According to him, if the affected states
were able to get the money owed them released, they could pay salaries
without a bailout.
He said the governors also urged Buhari
to help stretch the tenure of loans owed by state governments from the
current four to seven years to about 20 years.
He argued that such extension would
relieve the affected states and they would be able to continue other
business, including paying salaries.
He added that they asked that the
about $1.6bn first charge money paid by NLNG be paid to the Federation
Account instead of the Federal Government.
This, he said, would allow the money to
be shared amongst the three tiers of government “so that we can also get
money to do one or two things.”
He said, “Also, we urged the President
to follow the constitution when it comes to money sharing, Section 80 is
very clear. That all money should go to the Consolidated Revenue
Account for the purpose, no account should be kept anywhere because this
is what the constitution says.
“And Section 162 also is explanatory,
that whatever is going to happen to the money will be after sharing to
the three tiers of government.
“That the NNPC or any other revenue generating agency should not have the first line charges.
“So, Mr. President said there will be
few committees headed by the Vice-President that can discuss the way
we can move forward within the few days.”
He regretted that states could not ask questions on the ECA.
The governor added, “For instance,
before our group (Nigeria Governors’ Forum) was divided, we left $10.3bn
in the ECA and we expected the account to grow but as reported in our
last meeting, the account is now $2.6bn . The sharing was stopped in May
2013; so since then, no kobo has been given to any state or local
government.
“So, under which platform will you save
the money? To save the money is good. No matter how beautiful it is, if
it does not have the backing of the constitution, it is null and void.
“We are saying we are having issues,
atimes, the economy will be up and sometimes it will be down, what we
are saying is for the President to invoke sections 80 and 162 of the
constitution.
“The truth is that if Mr. President will
invoke these relevant sections of the constitution where all the
generating agencies (NIMASA, NPA, NNPC, customs etc) will pay and remit
the exact amount into the consolidated revenue, we need not touch the
oil money.
“The issue is the loss. We can have a
good President today and tomorrow you have a bad President. You can have
a good President today that will grow the account and tomorrow you will
have a bad President that will spend the money.”
On insurgency in parts of the country,
Yari said the President briefed the governors on his meeting with the
G-7 countries who agreed to support Nigeria in its fight against
terrorism.
He said Buhari had put a committee in
place to assess the damage done to infrastructure such as schools,
hospitals, and bridges by insurgents.
“We also raised concern about the dismantling of military checkpoints on the highways, we are saying it was not timely.
“But Mr. President cited some incidents
that happened at the military checkpoints but where necessary, he has
given the Chief of Army Staff the permission that they can continue
especially in the North, South-East and the frontline states,” he added.
The governors at the meeting were
those of Rivers, Ogun, Imo, Gombe, Benue, Delta, Niger, Kano, Katsina,
Zamfara, Kogi, Borno and Jigawa.
Others were those of Kebbi, Kwara,
Taraba, Ekiti, Ondo, Kaduna, Oyo, Osun, Edo, Anambra, Sokoto, Ebonyi,
Lagos, Adamawa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Yobe states.
Plateau and Bayelsa State governors were represented by their deputy governors.
Jonathan, others ready to defend themselves –PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party immediately
responded to Buhari’s decision to recover the looted billions of
dollars, saying Jonathan and all those who served in his
administration were ready to defend their actions while in office.
It said through its National Publicity
Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that in looking for the funds, the
President must not embark on a witch-hunt .
Besides, the party said that the President must not use the action for political gains.
The PDP said, “We welcome the action of
the President to recover the alleged looted funds. It is a welcome
development and we must say that all those who served under President
Jonathan and the former President himself , are ready to defend their
actions while in office.
“We however insist that the action must
not be a witch-hunt . It must not be for political gains and it must be
in the interest of the country.
“Apart from these , the step to be taken
by the government must be seen to be transparent by all. Enough of
excuses from the government.
“Nigerians are tired of excuses. Let the Federal Government hit the ground running and deliver on its electoral promises.’
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