The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • 2015: Southwest PDP may opt for consensus candidacy

    2015: Southwest PDP may opt for consensus candidacy

    The Southwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may field consensus candidates in the five states for the governorship elections next year and 2015, it has been learnt.

    The consensus option, according to party sources, was suggested by President Goodluck Jonathan, who is worried by the division in the troubled states – Ekiti, Oyo, Osun , Lagos, Ekiti and Ogun.

    The next governorship elections will hold next year in Osun and Ekiti states, but there have been polaralisation, mistrust and distrust in the crisis-ridden chapters, following the rancorous party congresses.

    Sources said that the President, who has promised to give maximum support to the distressed chapters during the proposed contests, have advised the delegations of the PDP leaders to put their houses in order and forge a common front, stressing that a divided house cannot stand. The President also advised them to sponsor candidates who have track records of integrity, credibility and honour.

    The source added: “When some elders of the party from Ekiti met with the President recently, he offered the same advice that they should go and resolve their problems and foster unity and harmony. The President is aware of the scramble for the governorship slots by the PDP chieftains and he does not want the chance of the PDP to be marred by post-primary crises”.

    Few months ago, Dr. Jonathan, who held meetings with selected party leaders from Lagos State, urged the former PDP deputy chairman, Commodore Bode George (rtd) and former Works Minister Prince Adeseye Ogunlewe to close ranks and work for the unity of the party.

    The President’s advice followed the observation made by the Lagos politician, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who pointed out that he could not accept the entreaties to him to defect to the party because it is enveloped crisis. The two party leaders promised the President to embrace dialogue and peace. Lagos State PDP leaders have been mounting pressures on Agbaje, a pharmacist-turned politician, to defect to the party, with the promise that he would be made the consensus candidate. However, it is not clear whether the Afenifere chieftain, Agbaje, will defect to the conservative bloc. His defection will not stop others from joining the race. Also warming up for the governorship are Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and Dr. Ade Dosunmu.

    Sources said that the President is not also comfortable with the crisis rocking the Ekiti PDP. In the state, a section of the party has not fully accepted the composition of the State Executive Committee led by Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, who is a close associate of former Governor Ayo Fayose. Those opposed to Ogundipe’s leadership are mainly the followers of former Governor Segun Oni, who are aggrieved that Fayose played a critical role in the circumstances that led to Oni’s ouster as the Southwest leader and National Vice Chairman. Also, Oni is still aggrieved about the negative role played by Fayose during the governorship rerun, which he lost to Governor Kayode Fayemi. Fayose campaigned for Fayemi during the exercise.

    It is also evident that other chieftains, including Senator Ayo Arise, the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade, and Prince Dayo Adeyeye, have grudges against Fayose, whose followers compose the State Executive Committee. The rift started when they first declared their intentions to rule the state in 2006 under the Action Congress (AC).

    In Ekiti, the preparations for the governorship primaries are on. No fewer than 15 aspirants are on the prowl. They include Fayose, Arise, Adeyeye, Bisi Omoyeni, Abiodun Aluko, Gbenga Aluko, Biodun Olujimi, Aribisala, and Olubolade. A twist to the preparation for the primaries is the agitation for zoning by the Ekiti South PDP stalwarts, who have pointed out that, since 1999, no indigene of the district has served as the governor.

    In Ondo, the PDP leaders are at war, following the declaration of support for Governor Olusegun Mimiko by a section of the party during the last governorship poll. The decision of party elders; Segun Adegoke and Olu Agbi and others, to shun the PDP candidate, Olusola Oke, has further polarised the chapter. Oke, a lawyer and former PDP National Legal Adviser, was deserted by many party leaders who gravitated towards the direction of Mimiko during the election. The elders involved claimed that it was part of their strategy to woo the governor to the PDP. Although the next governorship election will hold in the Sunshine State in 2016, the crisis may impinge on the 2015 state and federal parliamentary elections.

    In Ogun State, the forces loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo do not see eye to eye with the authentic chairman of the party, Mr. Adebayo Dayo, an engineer. The reconciliation brokered by the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, failed to achieved the desired result. It is not clear that the outstanding rift between Obasanjo and former Governor Gbenga Daniel has been fully resolved. The two dominant caucuses in the Ogun State, which revolve around Obasanjo and billionaire businessman Buruji Kashamu have not resolved to work together harmoniously.

    Recently, former High Commissioner to Ghana Senator Musiliu Obanikoro led some party chieftains to reconcile former Governor Daniel and Obasanjo. However, no truce was achieved as the effort did not lead to a real renewal of contact between the two politicians.

    In Oyo State, the PDP leadership is weak. Thus, members queue behind the strongmen, including former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, Elder Wole Oyelese, Chief Lekan Balogun, Hon. Taofeek Arapaja and Hon. Afeez Gbolarunmi. In fact, Gbolarunmi attributed the disarray to the death of the Ibadan strongman, Chief Lamidi Adedibu, five years ago. To realise his governorship ambition, Alao-Akala is striking an accord with his estranged boss, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, the leader of the Accord party (AP). Oyelese and other leaders have chided him, recalling that Ladoja, the former PDP governor of the state, contributed to the failure of the party at the governorship polls in 2011. Other aspirants for the governorship in the state include the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Jumoke Akinjide, :Prof. Taoreed Adedoja, Arapaje, Gbolarunmi, and Senator Teslim Folarin.

    A party source said that it may be difficult to sell the option of consensus candidacy to the Oyo State PDP governorship aspirants. “They may not be able to overcome the bitterness of the past. Even, before Adedibu died, the party was not one. But with the absence of a leader they can all look up to, it is now worse”, added the source.

    In Osun State, the governorship aspirants have commenced mobilisation. The ruling party has the advantage a dual advantage of incumbency factor and cohesion. There are indications that Governor Rauf Aregbesola will be endorsed by the party, like his Ekiti counterpart, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Party insiders said that the consensus candidacy has been shut down by the PDP contenders. “Each of them prides himself as the best and under this kind of situation, no one will be ready to step down” , added the party source. The aspirants on the field are Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, and Chief Fatai Akinbade.

  • Can Senate avert budget failure?

    Can Senate avert budget failure?

    Members of the National Assembly, ministers and other professionals recently converged on Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for a two-day brainstorming on the review of the national planning and budgeting process. Assistant Editor ONYEDI OJIABOR reports.

     

    IT is less than six months to the end of the year. Yet, the National Assembly and the Presidency are still locked in a war of wits over this year’s budget.

    Though President Goodluck Jonathan reluctantly signed the 2013 Appropriation bill, the fiscal document was returned wholesale to the parliament over allegations by the Presidency that the lawmakers usurped the executive powers.

    One area of dispute is the directive that the Accountant General of the Federation should furnish the National Assembly with the quarterly releases. The Presidency said this directive was against the spirit of separation of powers. The lawmakers, however, think thought.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning, Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Senator Barnabas Gemade, gave the synopsis of what led the Senate to begin the search for a new budgeting process that would be all- inclusive.

    The need for national planning and budgeting process was described by the Senate President, David Mark, as “all important,” apparently in view of the slow pace of the country’s economy to respond to economic therapies.

    The importance of national planning, Gemade said, cannot be overemphasized. According to him, it enables a nation to make conscious choice regarding the rate and direction of its growth.

    He faulted the current budgeting process, which he said, makes the legislature less involved and to rely solely on the input provided by the executive arm of government, giving no room for the legislature to effectively exert its control over the fiscal priorities of the government.

    He told the participants that the public hearing was not meant to witch hunt anybody, or to reduce anybody’s sphere of influence.

    The discourse stemmed from a motion by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) lawmaker, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, whose scholarly touch to national issues, has often shaped deliberations in the Senate.

    Adetunmbi in the motion, blamed the sharp disconnect between the multi-year development plans and the annual national budget under which the Federal Ministry of Finance prepares the budget with little or no regards to ministries, departments and agencies for the stunted growth of the country’s economy.

    During the debate of the motion, the Senate agreed that a disconnect between the national plans and the annual budget is largely responsible for the slow shift from recurrent to annual capital budget in the country.

    But opinions soon differed at the public hearing, with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, leading those who think that the existing status quo should not be altered.

    Observers said Okonjo-Iweala might have been influenced in her position by her Bretton Wood orientation.

    Some observers said the minister might be apprehensive that the removal of budgeting from her ministry would amount to taking away the soul of the ministry.

    But former the Chief Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ode Ojowu, disagreed.

    In his presentation at the public hearing, Ojowu said that globally, planning is recognised as critical to growth and development.

    Though accepted as the engine of growth, Ojowu admitted that in practical terms, the role of planning has continued to wane with the exception of a few countries where it has retained its primacy in driving the overall economic and social progress.

    For him, Nigeria ’s experience with planning has been mixed: the earliest plans, in particular, the First to the Third national development plans, were quite successfully implemented with their targets mostly achieved, including some progress with structural transformation of the economy.

    The Fourth and Fifth National Development Plans were, however, not as successful owing to the failure of revenue, Ojowu said.

    The economist traced the beginning of crisis in planning to the failure of Fourth and Fifth national development plans.

    He pointed out that General Ibrahim Babangida’s Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was actually a response to this failure.

    SAP, Ojowu argued, meant the abandonment of the structural transformation, which the plans aimed to achieve in favour of adjustment of the structures that really never existed.

    He posited that SAP generated even greater crisis leading to a return to planning in the twilight of the military era through the return of democratic rule in 1999.

    Ojowu said that, the severance of Planning from the Ministry of Fnance and Economic Planning by the National Planning Commission decree of 1992, was intended to boost planning and enhance its impact on growth development.

    He noted that though the measure was well intended and in line with best practices, the move nonetheless, witnessed some resistance and led to an amendment of the decree in 1993, which returned the capital budget function to ministry of finance.

    “What followed was a simmering conflict that endured. As a fallout of this conflict, in 2004, the department of planned budgets and programmes with its entire staff was transferred to the ministry of fiancé. This, largely personality driven conflict between the national planning commission and ministry of finance, has deepened at the expense of institutional and national development,” Ojowu said.

    functions and perhaps relevance.

    Ojowu said over time, though the laws setting up the national planning commission have not changed, they have been counteracted by other laws like the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the creation of such institutions like the Budget Office in the ministry of finance.

    “Either way, the economy bears the ultimate burden of the absence of clarity of role around budget coordination, the absence of linkage with national planning and the shrunken role of the legislature in the process,” he said.

    Ojowu was of the view that the absence of a strong national planning function denies the budgetary process of a robust analytical contributions and effective partnership with the international community and development organisations.

    The way forward, he said, would be to address subsumed role of the national planning function in the budgetary process and prepare national plans that allow the government to develop a holistic perspective among other concerns raised in the Adetunmbi motion will require a honest and open discussion of the ideological undertone for or against formal planning in the country since the mid 1980s.

    Ojowu was not alone in this postulation. Mike Kwanashie, a professor of Economics and Vice Chancellor, Veritas University , also said that planning was abandoned in the country following the adoption of SAP as a national economic policy.

    Kwanashie said to make matters worse, that with the introduction of SAP planning infrastructure was relegated to the back seat while the manpower was scattered throughout the civil service.

    He was of the opinion that the absence of long term planning to drive growth and development reflects in the current underdevelopment of many aspects of economic life of the country.

    For him, the country had developed from independence until the mid 1980s a core of planning officers that were trained in the act of planning, project evaluation and analysis involving project circles and costing.

    He believed that the absence of these skills in public management of the budget, after the introduction of SAP, greatly undermined the integrity of the capital budget.

    The Vice Chancellor also believed that Vision 20-2-20 was articulated to restore the country back to the path of long-term planning.

    He said that one major lesson learnt is the need to better interface the annual budget with the medium term plan.

    Kwanashie identified a major disconnect between the national integrated projects and the Medium Term Expenditure Framework that drives the annual budget.

    He expressed worry that the country is yet to achieve the harmony between plans and budget, which he sees as critical for the attainment of the objectives of the national vision.

    Kanashie isolated two major components of the budget critical in the growth trajectory of an economy.

    One is that the relationship between the current and capital budget is critical to the ability of the budget to create growth potential in an economy.

    Planning, he said, imposes a strict discipline on the selection of projects and increases the chances of project success.

    He posited that with the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2007, it has become necessary for Medium-Term Expenditure Framework to be presented to the National Assembly prior to consideration of each year’s budget.

    jjHe insisted that the restoration of planning in the country is a major step forward for driving the growth and development process and should be solidly entrenched in the management of the country’s economy.

    He did not forget to stress the fact that the major role of the budget within the planning/budgeting context is to implement the plan.

    “You have the plan first then the budget. The budget takes its cue from the plan. There is need to ‘de mystify’ budgets and to increase particip ation in the budget-making process.

    “A major medium for ensuring effective participation is first full engagement of the legislature as the elected representatives of the people,” he said.

    Okonjo-Iweala opposed any fiscal policy aimed at removing budgeting as part of the functions of the Ministry of Finance.

    The minister said that the stunted growth of the country’s economy should not be blamed on fact that budgeting and planning are not done under one roof.

    According to her, through the initiative of the envelope system of budgeting, MDAs are made to set priorities. She noted that the envelope system, prior to the time she came to office, MDAs did not have ownership of the budget.

    She advised that the partnership between the Finance Ministry and National Planning Commission should be sustained and strengthened.

    “We strongly believe that a country needs a strong budgeting process and a strong planning process. We believe that strong planning process gives a country vision, direction and focus. Planning shows the direction a country is going,” she said.

    On the independence of the budget office as it is practiced in the United States , she said that the location of the budget office is based on the structure of the economy. She added that where the economy is heavily driven by the private sector, to move the budget office out of the Ministry of Finance may be desirable.

    On the need to restructure the budget circle to reflect the country’s weather condition, she said that she has an open mind on the issue.

    The minister said that structuring the budget circle from January to December is a matter of convenience.

     

     

     

  • Divided Southwest PDP endorses Jonathan for second term

    Divided Southwest PDP endorses Jonathan for second term

    The crisis-ridden Southwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term.

    It is the first to endorse the president for a second term among the six zonal chapters.

    The endorsement followed a motion moved by a PDP chieftain from Ogun State, Prince Kashamu Buruji and seconded by another chieftain, Chief Tola Odulaja.

    It was approved by a “yes vote” at the Southwest Stakeholders’ Forum held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

    The forum was presided over by the Zonal Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Ishola Filani, a chieftain from Ekiti State.

    The meeting passed a vote-of-confidence in the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

    Filani said the president deserved the endorsement because of his “leadership qualities and achievements”, adding that he is constitutionally entitled to two terms.

    He said Tukur should be applauded for his strict adherence to reconciliation, rebuilding and reconstruction.

    Prominent PDP leaders at the meeting, where a Stateholders Coordinating Council was set up, include former Osun State Governor Isiaka Adeleke; former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose; former Zonal Leader Senator Yinka Omilani; former Science and Technology Minister Senator Bode Olowoporoku; former Lagos State Deputy Governors Alhaji Rafiu Jafojo and Mrs. Kofoworola Bucknor; former Works Minister Senator Seye Ogunlewe; Board of Trustees (BoT) members Chief Dayo Okondo and Mrs. Aduke Maina; former Housing Minister Mrs. Mobolaji Osomo; Senator Ayo Arise; Prince Dayo Adeyeye; Mr. Bisi Kolawole; Chief Segun Adegoke; Mr. Bisi Omoyeni; Senator Lekan Balogun; Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi; Mrs. Salman Badru; Dr. Tayo Dairo and Dr. Yomi Finnih.

    Party chieftains loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, including the displaced PDP National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former Zonal Leader Mr. Segun Oni; Senator Dipo Odujinrin; Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye; Commodore Bode George (rtd); Senator Musiliu Obanikoro; Dr. Olusegun Agagu; Dr. Iyiola Omisore and Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, were absent.

    There was a mild rancour at the meeting, following the non-inclusion of the former Education Minister, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, in the Stakeholders Council.

    Acknowledging the omission, Filani adjusted the list. He said following consultations, Obasanjo has been appointed the Grand Patron of the forum.

    Other patrons include Ajiroba Alaba Williams; Senator Martins Kuye; Chief Yekini Adeojo; Omilani, Osomo; Chief Alani Bankole; Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Mrs. Maina.

    The Stakeholders Council is chaired by Dr. Lekan Balogun.

    Members are Fayose, Olowoporoku, Finnih, Adegoke, Prof. Wale Oladipo, Comrade Kingsley Kuku, Adeleke, Omisore, Dr. Bimbo Ogunkelu and Chief Tunde Daramola.

     

     

     

     

  • Is local government federating unit?

    Is local government federating unit?

    Local government autonomy has remained a controversial issue, since the commencement of the processes for amending the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the arguments for and against the proposal.

    The question of local government autonomy in the country has been a long-running subject. It has elicited animated and almost emotional debate among the political class. The Senate’s position on the matter has never been in doubt right from the onset. While setting up the 47-member to review the Constitution, the Senate President David Mark had posed a number of questions. He asked: “How effective are the Local Government? Should they be made to function independent of the states? Is the joint State/Local Government still necessary”?

    The question of local government effectiveness and joint account have been in the front burner for a long time. Many people are of the view that anything short of granting administrative and fiscal autonomy to the local government will not be acceptable.

    Hitherto, a bill for an Act to alter the provision of the Constitution to provide for financial autonomy for Local Government Councils and for matters connected there to, had scaled the second reading on the floor of the senate.

    The bill, which was sponsored by Senator Nurudeen Abatemi Usman, was intended to give local councils a lease of life from the strangle hold of states and ensure their financial autonomy. He said through the bill, the delay in states’ release of funds to their respective councils would be a thing of the past. Besides, he avered that it will also eliminate wanton and arbitrary deductions by the states as well as reduce the utilisation of the provision as a suppressive tool by some governors. He said such financial autonomy will attract better, qualified Nigerians to contest for and serve in the local governments.

    The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, justified the demand for local government autonomy this way: “In 2002 , the state governments brought a suit against the Federal government for deducting first line charges for joint venture investment in oil sector, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation priority project and external debt service”.

    Ekweremadu noted that, while the Spreme Court judgment favoured the state governments, it appears that most states are guilty of the same act as the local governments in many instances have continued to suffer fiscal emasculation in the hands of state governments. Now that we have the opportunity to amend the constitution, let us determine once and for all the uniform policy of local government administration with regard to structure, tenure, administrative independence and fiscal autonomy. This is the only way we can guarantee even development to our communities and spread the dividends of democracy to the people.

    Beyond that, Nigerians are divided on the issue. While some say autonomy for local government will speed up development in the country others believe it will worsen the corruption.

     

    NGF’s opposition to

    LG autonomy

     

    The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) is stoutly opposed to any move to grant autonomy to local governments. The body has continued to maintain that local councils are integral part of state governments. The plank of the Forum’s argument is that, in all known federation, the federating units are usually the states and the centre. And that autonomy will only make sense in the relationship between the states and the centre where we look at a spectrum that runs on the two extremes of unitarism and confederation. They argue that, in a federal system, there is no provision for local government as a federating partner and to talk of one is to engage in absurdity.

    The understanding, over the years, has been that, in a true federalism, the issue relating to the creation, delineation and funding of local authorities is within the constitutional purview of states, which have political and juridicial status that the local governments do not have. The states are federating units while the local governments are merely administrative units.

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola agreed that local governments have politico-legal existence in so far as the constitution recognised them and even listed their names. “These local governments so named are the beneficiaries of federal allocations, just like the states and the federal government. It is this existing arrangement that has made some to erroneously assume and even argue that the local governments are on the same level of autonomy as states and federal governments.

    “What we have today is a disruptive and abominable legacy of military rule. It was the practice of the military to create local governments and even states. Since the military went on a frenzy of proliferating the local governments, and even took on itself the burden of its funding, just as it was funding the states from the Federation Account. The military then passed on this legacy at its disengagement in 1999. Nevertheless, the issue of local governments’ autonomy should only come into play within the context of their relationship with their states”, he said.

     

    Local governments in

    other countries

     

    Local governments in the United States, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and others countries have huge responsibilities and resources, but still operate within the purview of their states.

    Switzerland has a three-tier governmental structure-Confederation (Federal government), Cantons (State government) and municipalities (Local government). The autonomy of the Municipalities is guarantied within the limits fixed by catonial law. The municipalities are the creation of the Cantons and they define the organisation, competences, resources and power of control and intervention of the cantonial authorities in municipal affairs.

    In Germany,the local government is characterised by diversity, especially in its unique city states. The Federal Republic of Germany consisted of 11 Lander (States) when it was founded. Since reunification in 1990, Germany now has 16 Lander, including the three city states of Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin. Regarding the assignment of land tasks, the Basic Law merely distinguishes between two orders: the federation and the Lander.

    Austria, clearly, belongs to the category of the federal systems where local government is extensively regulated by the Federal Constitution. The more rigorous the federal constitutional regime, however, the less space remains for the Lander and their legislation. Even then, the competence to regulate local government is mainly assigned to the Lander not the federal legislature.

     

    Third tier of government?

     

    The general belief is that there are three-tier of government in the country, namely: federal, state and local governments.

    A political scientist, Dr Hakeem Baba- Ahmed, said the authors of the 1999 Constitution envisaged true federalism with three tier of government. So, what we have is a federal constitution that recognises local government as a tier.

    Baba-Ahmed frowns at the practice whereby local governments with democratically elected executive are answerable to the state government. “Why should that be? Once the local government executive are accountable to the state executives they can’t perform their functions. Local governments should be accountable to the people just as the states and the Federal governments are.

    “The constitutional provision that tied the local government to the state government should be amended. It shouldn’t be there. Remove all those elements that hinder local government from operating as a tier of government. The joint account should be abrogated and be allowed to conduct their own election independently. It is important to have a full blown local government with full autonomy”. Baba-Ahmed stressed.

    Baba-Ahmed dismissed the argument of the state governors that local government can’t be autonomous of the state government adding that we don’t have to go to Switzerland or India to borrow a model.

    The Head of the Department of Political Science, Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Abubakar Momoh, wants the local government to operate as third tier of government because they are close to the grass root and that is where people feel the presence of government.

    Momoh said the interest of the people start with local government because the local government executives know the needs of the people more than the states and thefederal government that are far away. Transparency and accountability are visible at the grass root because the people live with those running the councils.

    He said putting local councils in the pockets of state governments do not encourage competent and qualified people to serve as chairmen or councillors.. It is not good for the country. The governors remove councillors and chairmen at will either because they don’t belong to the ruling party in the state or they are not willing to do the bidding of the governor. The state governments intervene in their activities. The state governors determines what to do with the joint account, the funds on many occasions are diverted.

    “Where the state electoral commissions conduct local government election, the result is predictable. The ruling party wins all seats. It is not helping our democracy.

    “People keep criticising the federal government of not doing this and that , they have forgotten that local governments too have certain roles to play but they can’t because they are crippled by the state governments.

    An expert in Constitutional Law, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), described the three-tier federal structure as a fundamental error and an anomaly. He said Nigeria is a federation , so the idea of having autonomous local governments makes no sense.

    Sagay said: “To have the local governments listed in the constitution is an aberration” adding that councils should exist as agencies of the states for development.

    “It should not be mentined at all in the constitution. States should decide how many local governments they need and fund them. We don’t need a Federation Account. It is not the duty of the constitution toto direct the state to create local government area. A state should decide whether its local government officials should work on a part time basis or not, or whether to run them like a parliamentary system. We don’t have to have the same system for all the local governments.. Those advocating autonomy for local government should bid federalism good-bye”, Sagay said.

    The chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and governor of Rivers State, Chief Rotimi Amaechi said there is no country in the world that there are three federating units. There are only two all over the world. Why should anybody say there must be three federating units in Nigeria?

    Amaechi said: “Let a state governor or let the states create as many local governments as they want to create. It should not be a constitutional issue. Those accusing governors of mismanaging resources are far from saying the truth. In Rivers state, Locacal governments not only collect their money directly but they also collect two billion naira monthly from the state coffer. The state government pays the salaries of all teachers in the state. With this, our wage bill is six billion naira per month.

    The Nigerian Union of Teachers has kicked against granting local government financial autonomy. The union said its position was informed by their experience under the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida when the payment of primary school teachers was transferred to the local governments. It recalled that some local governments across the country owed as much as nine month salaries. Primary education in the states nearly collapsed when teachers refused to go to school to teach. At last, the military government reversed the policy and asked the state governments to take over. That was how state governments cleared the salary arrears and continued payment of teachers’ salaries.. The union said nothing has changed in the local government so as to entrust the management of education on them.

    Lagos State commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Mr Ademorin Kuye said those behind the agitation for autonomy for local government were not sincere but only pushing for it to score political points . Those clamouring are doing so for political gains; to use the local government to get elected into office.. However,the state government supported tenure elongation for local governments to give them more time to carry out their constitutional responsibilities, he said.’

     

  • ‘We need better govt in 2015’

    ‘We need better govt in 2015’

    Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain Senator Oluremi Tinubu represents Lagos Central District in the Senate. She spoke with reporters on her activities in the Upper Chamber. Group Political Editor, EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

     

    You are in the Senate now. So, would you say that you are living up to the expectation?

    I am from a political family. There is no time that we are not ready to serve. We have been serving at the state and at the national levels for a long time now, so we have been in the process trying to bring succour to the people and I don’t know how more ready, I don’t know how more ready you want me to be? For one, my husband has been a very visible active player, but if he hadn’t gotten the support from home and the understanding, I don’t think he would have been able to go this far. So, asking me, maybe it took a decision for me to say, maybe I should go in and do this? Is it a familiar or an unfamiliar terrain? It is a familiar terrain for a long time now. We have paid the price to even be here today. I will tell you it’s like maybe this battery that they used to have in the US. that is Eveready, so, it is like where you want to be and what capacity you want to serve. So, I am always ready.

    What is your primary concern in the Senate?

    My primary concern is one, the rate of the poverty level of our people. When we look at the system, we are talking about the structural development, how far have we gone

    This wasn’t the Nigeria that I grew up to love. I keep saying it that I was not from a very wealthy family, but we were comfortable, we were the then middle class, we could aspire, we could dream to be whatever we want to be. I am here today because that dream kept me, but when I look at what we have today, I look at the young people and my concern is for the young, not for the old. What kind of Nigeria do we want to leave for them? A good parent would leave an inheritance for the children but what inheritance, what legacy do we want to leave for the up coming generation? What they see is corruption. We see our children doing a lot of this yahoo-yahoo business, a lot of kidnapping, cultism and I am worried.

    If we go wrong we should be honest enough to say that we have done wrong. The German Chancellor was saying yesterday that her generation had done wrong to the young generation, but look at Nigeria. If Europe is saying they have sinned by accepting that they didn’t create jobs for the young people and we Nigerians are still lying under SURE-Party, we are still lying under Sovereign Wealth Fund. I am concerned and my primary concern is respect for the rule of law.

    My greatest challenge in the Senate is that, out of the 56 committees, opposition, ACN, only has three chairmanships. I am the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity and some people would say, o do labour people who are in the struggle dress the way I am? But I say, this is the new face of labour, and it is in my blood. If you fight for the common good for the people you don’t have to dress in towels and deceive them, but they know who are theirs and you can see me with the rapport I have with the common man and my heart is saying, who is going to give them justice? Who is going to fight their cause? So I wan to see where social security is directed to the young person. I want to see them have access to free health care, to go to school, to have three square meals on the table.

    So, my request is very simple. My request is that people can live like very decent human beings. They don’t have to keep begging for food, they don’t have to sleep under the bridge. That is my concern.

    The two bills concerning social security and another one that prevents women from doing certain jobs.

    What is your position on the bill for a special status for Lagos?

    You know the Senate turned it down they said it cannot be included in the constitution amendment, but by the Grace of God, we will have it. When we have the right government for Nigeria, they will know the need why Lagos should be given that special status as General Murtala Muhammed recommended years ago for Laogs, Port-Harcourt and Kano.

    What is your reaction to the threat by the British Government to cut off assistance to Nigeria on account of the bill prohibiting homosexual marriage?

    I don’t see any reason why any government would talk down on the government of another country. Is it not the freedom of choice? Why should you now breath down a country’s neck and give then ultimatum?? We are Africans and we never ask them to wear some of our traditional clothes. We have culture and we also have tradition and this is according to our tradition and culture. Even their gay rights is even conflicting and now, I don’t know whether they will give us another bible and send new missionaries to us because the bible they left with us says it is wrong and I think in the Koran it also says it is wrong.

    What is the fate of the 2013 budget?

    What can I say? Being in opposition whatever your views are, they are not even respected. To me, that is the way they want to see it because one day, Senate will be crying foul, the next minute you don’t understand what is going on. So, they go and forth with the budget. And the budget that is passed does it translate into anything? At the end of the day, they ended up declaring state of emergency. So, I am just as confused.

    If just one man could transform Dubai it doesn’t take a lot of people to…and that is why Nigerians must look critically on Jonathan in 2015 or whoever PDP chooses.

    Lagos is Lagos today because somebody sacrificed. You all know what Lagos looked like after military government, but we tend to forget. We see the bridge that Fashola has just commissioned and we think that is how Lagos used to be. No, it wasn’t.

    You almost talk like a comrade?

    I am a comrade. I said that this is the new face of labour, it is in the blood. I also came from the trenches. I never talk about June 12. everybody would give themselves all the accolade and I will just look. I paid dearly!

    Why are opposition Senators always desirous of getting juicy committee positions in the Senate, instead of remaining in the opposition?

    If I wanted a juicy committee I wouldn’t be in the Labour, Employment and Productivity committee. I can only speak for myself and I have been a rookie in the Senate and I don’t know about the juiciness of the committees until I learn. I think one of the things that the chairman of a committee gives is to wield more powers to work.

    For me, I am quite satisfied wherever the Senate President has put me, but ACN we want to work.

    You were absent when the Senate endorsed the president’s proclamation of the emergency rule in three Northeast states. I would like to know how you would have voted if you were present given your party’s opposition to the proclamation?

    The state of emergency came rather too late, after security votes had been wasted and could not be accounted for.

    To me, I look and see the pretence, and these are not the things you would want to say.

    It is still the more you look, the less you see and I just pray that a lot of innocent lives are not lost. So, it is still chasing shadows. The problem with Nigeria and terrorism is the level of poverty. Until it is addressed, people are still going to be aggrieved, they are still going to be angry.

    So, my view on state of emergency? I never supported it and I still don’t. I don’t believe in it.

    But the APC Senators voted for it?

    They voted for it for their own reasons, but I didn’t vote and you can count this as my vote.

    Would you agree with the suggestion by the ACN national leader that the work of the legislature should be made part-time?

    Governance truly is expensive. When you look at the national budget it is mainly on paying salaries. If my husband (said that) I think he misses me too (Laughter). If it is part time it would be nice so that credible people can go into the Senate and go back to their daily chores.

    Are you running for the office of governor?

    Even to run for this office, it is this press that started it.

    So, can the press start it again?

    No, don’t start it oh! Truly and truly speaking, it is never my ambition to run for governor of Lagos State. Remember, my husband did it for eight years and I was not outsider to it. It is not a place for the tender hearted, it is a lot of work to govern Lagos and I am not the type that don’t put hard work into whatever I do. I don’t think I have the strength to say that I want to govern the present state of Lagos. There is still a lot of work to be done in Lagos, a lot of work.

    It is not a child’s play. I am still in training as far as I am concerned. My first love is charity work. So, I don’t have such an ambition.

     

  • ‘Assess Jonathan with open mind’

    ‘Assess Jonathan with open mind’

    A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party and member of the Board of Trustees of the Southsouth Peoples Assembly (SSPA), Chief Richard Lamai, has given President Goodluck Jonathan pass mark on performance.

    Speaking to The Nation in Lagos, the Edo State born politician urged Nigerians, to assess the two year administration realistically. He said it was only by so doing that they would be able to appreciate his efforts in trying to reverse the infrastructure decay in the country.

    He argued that President Jonathan has brought some innovations into governance, pointing out partisanship has made it impossible for people to appreciate it.

    “President Jonathan has done well. But because ofpartisan politics, it has been difficult for Nigerians to accept this as a fact. I’m a politician who travels a lot by road around the country and I see how much our once death traps called roads have been transformed.

    “From the North to South and East, major roads have been rehabilited or at the verge of rehabilitation. Today nobody complains of the Benin/Ore road any more”, Lamai said.

    Lamai also said the transformation of the aviation sector, the construction and rebuilding of new airports around the country, as a reasonable achievement that should be applauded.

    “Look at the aviation sector, we have never had it so good. The Jonathan Administration is at the verge of giving us a national carrier, something past administrations considered unimportant. This can only be appreciated if we assess it with open mind void of partisan politics”.

    Lamai also alluded the revolution in the agricultural sector, saying it was a necessary way to diversify the economy.

    “Gone are the days when our farmers used all their time looking for fertilizers, seedlings and farming equipment. Today these things are delivered to their farms directly. All Nigerians, especially the farmers agree that agriculture has never had it so good. Yet critics, especially the opposition want Nigerians to believe that nothing has happened under President Jonathan in the past two years.”

  • Bayelsa in hurry to develop, says Dickson

    Bayelsa in hurry to develop, says Dickson

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson recently spoke with reporters in Yenogua, the state capital, on the activities of his administration and other partisan issues. AUGUSTINE AVWODE reports.

    You said your government is spending so much on road construction. Why is this so? That was what I promised the people of the state and also that is what they deserve. We are preparing our state for industrialisation; to be a foremost tourism and investment destination. We dream of joining the league of developed states. We are in a hurry to see development in the state. Initially, people asked: where is he going to get the money? His dreams are too big for this state; too big for four years; even too big for eight years. But as for me, I always try my best in all the responsibilities that I have been privileged to handle. I try to make a success, however modest, and this will be no exception.

    You have seen improvement in security. You asked why Julius Berger and all these companies. It’s not just Berger. All major construction companies in Nigeria have presence here. A lot more are even coming, because the whole state is about construction.

    I have also succeeded, within this short period, to create an enabling secure environment. The Commissioner for Works, who is a committed young man, and selfless, understands the vision and he is effectively supervising and leading the charge. This is the tip of the iceberg. There is construction in all sectors, in all our communities across the length and breadth of this state.

    Bayelsa was created out of the old Rivers State. How much of development was on ground when the state was created?

    Bayelsa was the least developed part of the old Rivers State. When we came, we just saw ourselves living in an abandoned forest; an abandoned swamp with all its challenges, the difficulty of our terrains and then the challenges of under-development of the people themselves. That brought a lot of negative consequences – rise in militancy, high level of illiteracy and unemployment and all that. So, the key to reversing the trend is to open up the state and that is why it has been roads and roads everywhere. A place that is inaccessible is a forgotten place. The underdevelopment here predated Nigeria’s independence and that was why our leaders and chiefs, at the time before Nigeria’s independence was agreed upon, requested for a conference and the colonial masters listened and summoned the Willink Commission. That was how the Willink Commission came into being. It studied the complaints of the minorities of the Niger Delta, who felt that their terrain was very difficult and the majority groups, in an independent Nigeria, would not take care of them; would not develop the place; would not even understand their challenges and the British government saw reasons and convened the Willink Commission. That was how they now granted special status to these areas.

    So, this is a very special area. The terrain is so difficult. What I spend on one kilometre of road, you can use it to construct 20 kilometres in other places. So imagine me doing what I am doing on a dry land, you would have seen that even within this 14 months that I have been here would have been something else. You’ve got to first excavate up to eight feet, in some places even more, and that is why I select only first class construction companies. Whatever I put in place here, I will like it to stand the test of time. But I am not a showman. I am not putting up structures for political campaigns. Whatever I put on ground here should outlive us. Any sector I touch, succeeding government should not think of that area; it should think of other things. So that’s the kind of ambition I have.

    What are you doing about human capital development?

    The challenge of human capacity building, in fact, that is the most important that I need to confront. Part of the consequences of under-development of this area is that human development index is very low. No good schools; I know that the standard of education, generally, has fallen in this country. Here, it is something else. Everywhere, the standard is always higher in urban areas than it is in the rural areas. So, for a state that is completely rural; a state that is inaccessible, you can imagine what is going on. I noticed that to prepare for tomorrow, you’ve got to invest in human mind today and that is why we are investing so much in education.

    You must have been told about our declaration of free education for primary and secondary schools. In one year, we have built 400 schools; 400 Teachers’ Quarters. I’m not aware of any other government that is building Teachers’ Quarters.

    At the secondary school level, we are constructing modern secondary schools with modern facilities. The key is to have boarding re-introduced. Most of us passed through boarding schools and they taught us a lot of things, not just academics. So the key, for us in this state, is once this boarding schools that we are constructing are finished and we hope to finish a number of them by September, then we begin the next phase.

    Secondary education in this state, generally, will be boarding and the state will take responsibility for their feeding and maintenance. In other words, once a child gets into secondary school, the parents will pay little or nothing. Because if you introduce compulsory boarding, you also need to consider capacity of parents so that students don’t drop out. So the state has to intervene in a revolutionary manner on that. So we are building eight model schools – one in each local government headquarters which will have a capacity for 1,200 students. But now we are decentralising it also. Every state has constituencies, so we also have a constituency boarding secondary schools. So we are building 26 constituency secondary schools. We have 24 constituencies but there are some areas, which are highly populated and we have challenges of illiteracy, so I’m putting more there – Southern Ijaw to be precise. So in all the 26 of them construction is going on and most of them are at roofing stage. Also, the girls’ school – the oldest school – we are rebuilding it. We are virtually rebuilding every facility so that it can serve as a topmost girls’ training school. We have the college of education introduced with so many students now there receiving lectures. We introduce the Teachers’ Training Institute to train teachers. We’ve got a lot of courses for the teachers in the state and all of them will pass through that school for training and retraining.

    What is happening in the area of scholarship?

    In the last one year, we have given over a hundred Ph.D scholarships within this country and outside; over 250 to 300 Masters degree scholarships; over 400 undergraduate scholarships; even selected 250 pupils from primary schools selected and as we speak, they are in top boarding schools in this country – Nigerian-Turkish, Bell, Loyola, all over. They are indigent students who are bright. The program was started by the President (Goodluck Jonathan) when he was governor, but my predecessor (Timipre Silva) stopped it. So for some five years the program was cut off. The ones that the President started with about 100 of them, I think so, they passed out last year. So we are now starting the programme again and a number of them have been sent out on scholarships. We got support from the Amnesty Office because they do a lot of training.

    In this state since I became governor no student pays for WAEC, NECO or JAMB. It’s free. You just need to indicate that you are set to take WAE, NECO or JAMB and the government pays. But parents pay for teaching science practical and all that.

    We supply text books, notebooks even writing pen, school bags and uniforms. I just directed the Finance commissioner to release N5m to every LGA and N10m to the two largest LGAs – Yenagoa and Southern Ijaw – for the chairman and the committees to now buy more school uniforms for them. We are doing this is because in vain do we build roads and bridges if we do not develop human beings. Yes, we are building roads because we have to prepare the place for development and industrialisation. We have to prepare the place as a modern city and developed economy. But the most important challenge is the challenge of capacity development.

    What is your government going to do about the 500-bed hospital that is enmeshed in controversy?

    I don’t know of controversies but the issues on the hospital are not insurmountable. They are not things that cannot be resolved; they are not serious issues. If you went there, you would have seen the diagnostic centre that is coming up there.

    The whole idea is that when that centre is finished then we will begin to fix the development of that hospital. The hospital was conceived without due regard to available manpower that will run it and so many other fundamental issues involved. So, we are working with the private sector. That is not an hospital that can be run by any state government. So, we are looking for people – major firms, major medical firms. A lot of them have shown interest because of improved image of the state. They have come from India, from South Africa, Dubai and England to come and look at it. We are looking at there proposals. We want to outsource that place for them to use and with the diagnostic centre we are building, to complement it. That place will become a centre for medical excellence. So it is not abandoned at all.

    What efforts are you making in the area of transport?

    We are working with the Federal Government to have an airport, which for me, is not a necessity but a necessity for our development. The arrangement is for us to acquire the land then pay compensation for the land. The Federal Government will build the terminals; the state government will build the runway. The runway is the most important component. That is the collaboration. We have already done our part – we have acquired the land and we have even cleared the land. We have awarded contract for the construction and we have mobilised to site. So, anytime from now, the sand filling will start and about a year or less, we should have an airport here. Certainly, before the end of my tenure, we want to deliver on an airport.

    Can you shed more light on the Safe City and Safe State project?

    We want to provide fool proof security as much as it is humanly possible and we are calling in technology because that is the trend all over the world. You saw what happened in Boston. You can’t prevent all crimes. The important thing is that the one you cannot provide, you should be able to apprehend and punish as quickly as possible. So I want our law enforcement agencies to have that kind of capacity in Yenogoa. That is what we should have in all our cities, really. But over the years, just as we have abandoned investment in education and then we allowed the generation to grow up without values, without morals, without knowledge all over the country – and it’s hunting us now – so also we didn’t invest in security. So we are reversing that trend. We want people to troop to Yenagoa, feel safe here, do business and live here. I hope that by the time the new Yenagoa City project is launched by about November or December, the new Yenagoa City will be like Dubai.

  • Sokoto 2015: Can PDP retain power?

    Sokoto 2015: Can PDP retain power?

    In Sokoto State, the 2015 governorship will be a straight fight between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), writes ADAMU SULEIMAN.

    The 2015 governeorship contest in Sokoto State will be a tough battle. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite its internal crisis, is working assiduously to remain in power. But observers contend that, unless the party puts its house in order, it is doomed.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) is waxing strong in the Caliphate. Unlike the ruling party, the opposition is united. There are discordant tunes within the PDP. Governor Aliyu Wamakko, who returned from an overseas trip last week to a rousing reception, used the opportunity to blast the leadership of the party.

    He particularly singled out the national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, accussing him of running the party in a manner that has done more harm to it than good. At the reception was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal. The party had two weeks ago suspended the governor for alleged insurbordination.

    Analysts say Wamakko’s suspension was not as a result of any insurbordiation but the fact that “Abuja” is uncomfortable with the “perceived plans” by Wamakko to instal in 2015 a candidate who is not anointed by “Abuja.”

    Besides, many governorship aspirant in the state are anti-Abuja.

    Already, there are stong indications within and outside the state that four front runners in the race for the Government House in the PDP have emerged. Others are still “consulting.” Among the leading contenders is Tambuwal; there is also the incumbent Deputy Governor, Alhaji Mukhtari Shagari; the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Farouk Yabo.

    Also in contention are the former Minister of Sports, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, and Senator Abubakar Gada. The two had tested their popularity in 2011 against Governor Wamakko at the primaries, but lost to him. It is being rumoured that they are strategising to launch their bid, once again, to clinch the party’s ticket for the plum job.

    Within the PDP, Tambuwal is said to be the front runner. His popularity has soared, since the historic election that produced him as the Speaker. The PDP machinery was arrayed against him in that contest, but he pulled through in a manner that left the PDP bigwigs in the gallery, who had gone to witness the election, dumbfounded.

    Besides, his leadership style has earned him more respect and he is a major source of worry to the powers that be in Abuja. His rating soared when former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida called on him to seek “higher office” on the understanding that he has performed creditably. Moreover, Tambuwal has established a rare relationship with the opposition party members, a style that has infuriated the leadership of the PDP. In fact, it has earned him the rather derogatory appelation of “Opposition Speaker.” Within the House, he is at home with all and sundry, except, perhaps, the die-hard supporters of the establishment.

    Shagari, a former Minister of Water Resources and hardcore loyalist of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, comes across as a very loyal deputy to Wamakko. He is adjudged by analysts to be politically mature to step into the shoes of his boss. He has gone through the test of the game and may be rewarded for his patience and loyalty. The sacrifice he made could earn him the ticket.

    Even though Yabo is not too old in the game, he is an enterprising and highly resourceful politican. He is also very humble and often attracts remarkable attention at political gatherings across the state. He is nicknamed the “man of the people’’. This, analysts say, could surprisingly smoothen his political ambition at any given opportunity.

    But the PDP will face a big challenge from the mega party in the making, the APC. It is a merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (UPGA).

    The opposition is enjoying a huge popularity.

    The APC is determined to take the state from the PDP. The ANPP governorship candidate in 2012, Alhaji Yusha’u Ahmad, recently described the APC as the political messiah for Nigerians.

    ‘’The coming of the APC is a good omen for Nigeria and its citizens. The party is a reflection of true democracy, which we need now, to free the masses from the shackles of poverty and maladministration, which the PDP government has subjected them to in the last 14 years,” he said.

    Ahmad said the clamour for change can no longer be neglected, and to meet the yearnings of the peoples, the leaders of the opposition decided to come together to provide the needed alternative, which is the APC.

    ‘’There is wide agitation for change by the people of Sokoto State and Nigerians, and APC is set to build the needed confidence in the electorate, ahead of the next general elections, ’’ he said

    Ahmad said Nigeria required leaders with integrity, foresight, vision and commitment that can religiously pursue relevant policies for the benefit of the citizenry, adding that ‘’ this is what APC stands for’’.

    He maintained that these qualities are lacking in this current leadership. According to him, the masses need to be sensitised to their fundamental rights, which they ought to protect by electing credible candidates of their choice.

    His words: “There is absolute need to change the leadership and direction in the state and in the country.’’

    Ahmad accused the PDP government of turning the state to a ‘’beggar spot where basic demands of the majority of people cannot be addressed by the ruling PDP in the state”.

    Wamakko has warned politicians to allow his administration a breathing space to pursue his programmes, adding that campaigns in any form or guise will constitute a distratcion for his administration.

    He urged all the aspirants to allow him enough space to channel resources and energies to the empowerment of the youth through job creation, poverty reduction and self reliant activities to give them a sense of belonging and prepare them as tomorrow’s leaders.

  • Tukur goofs again

    Tukur goofs again

    Despite reported efforts by President Goodluck Jonathan to pacify some aggrieved PDP governors, it appears he is not on the same page with his party’s national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

    A few days ago, Tukur was quoted to have said that the Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wammako, can leave the party if he so desires.

    Ripples gathered that this statement has not gone down well with top members of the party, who are concerned about whether Tukur is working on a script to bring down the party.

  • Kamil Akinlabi in cold war with godfather

    The once cordial relationship between Hon. Kamil Akinlabi, the member of House of Representatives representing Oyo Federal Constituency and his godfather, a foremost South West traditional ruler, has gone cold. The lawmaker and the monarch, until now, have enjoyed an excellent relationship that has endured for over ten years, a factor that has contributed to the lawmaker’s meteoric rise in the politics of his hometown. Reasons for the split are still unclear, but sources squealed that it may not be unconnected to the alleged failure of the lawmaker to redeem some political I.O.Us.