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Tag: Bailout funds

  • Probing bailouts

    Probing bailouts

    •Reps’ desire is good, but do they have all it takes for a thorough job?

    Various sectors of the nation’s economy, as well as ministries, departments and agencies received bailout funds, take-off grants and interventions from the Federal Government, especially from 2015 to date. The funds were released to the institutions to support their foundational operations, facilitate specific services and settle outstanding liabilities.

    Noble objectives.

    But, characteristically Nigerian, very few, if any of the MDAs, gave an account of how they spent the money.

    This is why we welcome the setting up of a special committee by the House of Representatives to investigate how the funds were utilised, as suggested by Kingsley Chinda, the minority leader.

    Chinda, who moved a motion of urgent public importance during plenary penultimate Thursday gave good  reasons why the disbursements should be investigated.

    “The House recognises that over the years, the government has allocated take-off grants and intervention funds to existing and newly-established agencies and institutions to support their foundational operations, as well as bailout funds to various agencies to facilitate specific services and settle outstanding liabilities.

    “The House further notes that the effective utilisation of public funds is paramount to fostering accountability, transparency, and trust in MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs (government-owned enterprises”).

    Read Also: ‘Poor credit management inimical to Nigeria’s economic growth’

    He said allegations of mismanagement and diversion of these funds inspired his motion of urgent national importance on the matter. He added, and rightly too, that such actions weaken vital public services and projects.

    Chinda cited  Section 88(2b) of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the house to “expose corruption, inefficiency, or wastage in the management of public funds appropriated by the National Assembly,” to support his motion.

    We agree with the minority leader.

    Ours is a country where many public officials take undue advantage of public funds. This is bad for the country.

    There is the need for accountability, transparency, and effective utilisation of public funds. Mismanagement of such funds undermines public trust and hampers national development.

    It is gratifying that Chinda’s motion was adopted and the House consequently constituted a Special Committee led by Emeka Chinedu (PDP, Imo), to conduct an immediate probe into the disbursement and utilisation of the funds.

    The committee is to assess compliance with regulations and guidelines for fund management, identify instances of misappropriation or diversion, and recommend reforms, to strengthen regulatory frameworks, enforcement mechanisms, and accountability measures.

    It is unfortunate that, in our country bailouts, like palliatives, have become more or less a way of life. Unfortunately, palliatives too rarely get to those they are meant for, as they are cornered by some unscrupulous politicians and civil servants.

    Stealing of public funds or diversion of government property is not peculiarly Nigerian. What is peculiarly so is lack of accountability and or political will to make scapegoats of many of those implicated.

    However, much as we support the representatives in trying to dig into the disbursements of these funds, we doubt if they have the capacity for the task which covers about 10 years. Several institutions and agencies are involved, with many of them handed humongous amounts of money.

    In a matter like this, we are interested in thoroughness. Can’t the exercise be conducted in phases?

    Stealing of public funds is inimical to national development. It robs the government and people of monies that could have been better deployed into productive sectors.

    But, looking into how such funds are spent requires a lot of time and painstaking efforts in order to be able to successfully nail the culprits and send a signal to others that government would no longer treat them with kid gloves.

    We do not want this probe to end the way of similar ones conducted by the house, which did not go beyond the level of the investigation. 

  • Ex-TUC chair: I wrote EFCC on ‘diverted’ Ekiti bailout funds

    A former Chairman of Ekiti State chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Kolawole Olaiya, has admitted writing a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which led to the arrest of Commissioner for Finance, Toyin Ojo, and Accountant General Yemisi Owolabi.

    Olaiya, a lawyer, said the petition was forwarded to the anti-graft agency because there were proofs of “criminal diversion” of bailout funds the Federal Government sent to the state to pay workers and pensioners.

    He said the petition was written in June, last year, four months before his tenure as Ekiti TUC chairman ended.

    The petition, according to him, was copied to President Muhammadu Buhari, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Debt Management Office (DMO) and Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), led by Prof. Itse Sagay.

    Speaking yesterday while featuring on a programme, Isejoba Rere (Good Governance) on Progress 100.5 FM, Olaiya said he went to the EFCC headquarters with documents to defend the petition.

    The former union leader said the commissioner and accountant general reportedly made confessional statements to the EFCC, which led to the discovery that N680 million was lodged in a private account yielding N6 million interest every month.

    Olaiya, who was a Grade Level 12 officer in the Ministry of Justice, was demoted to Level 10 and dismissed by a panel set up by the government after he raised the alarm that the first tranche of the N9.6 billion bailout received in September 2015 was allegedly diverted.

    The former TUC chief wondered why local government workers, primary school teachers and council pensioners were owed nine-month arrears when the councils from where they draw their money were paid differently.

    Praising the EFCC for responding to the petition, Olaiya urged the Judiciary to cooperate with the anti-graft agency to reduce corruption  and stop granting what he called “frivolous injunctions” to stop sleaze.

    He said: “I went to the EFCC and I saw the files on the alleged mismanagement of Ekiti funds. Investigations are still on and we strongly believe that the truth will prevail.”

  • Obiano: Anambra not taking bailout

    Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has said that under his watch the state has not taken any bailout funds from the federal government .

    He also declared that the state has maintained a stable economic base through his strategic partnership with the private sector.

    The governor spoke when he met with the presidents-general and town criers of communities in the state in Awka, the state capital.

    He maintained that his administration had not collected any single kobo as loan from any commercial bank.

    Obiano also said his N20 million per community “choose-your-project initiative” had brought about uncommon transformation at the grassroots.

    “The state has under my watch maintained a stable economic base through strategic partnership with the private sector, even though we did not take bailout from the Federal Government,” he said.

    “By the time my eight-year tenure must have elapsed, every community in the state would have had at least six massive projects completed by my administration.”

    He said it was important that the presidents-General and town criers who, according to him, were the nucleus of information dissemination system in the communities, were aware of what government was doing in their localities to enable them effectively key in.

  • Senate to FG: Release bailout funds N174bn for pension arrears

    Senate to FG: Release bailout funds N174bn for pension arrears

    The Senate on Tuesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order the immediate release of N174 billion voted in the 2016 budget for payment of pension arrears.

    The upper chamber said that fund was a bailout created in the 2016 budget to redeem all federal government pension indebtedness amounting to over N174billion.

    The lawmakers said that the provision for the bailout for pensioners was seen as a viable alternative to save the ugly plight of the country’s retirees.

    The Senate noted that “if the Federal Government could release bailout funds to pay outstanding workers ‘salaries in the states, similar gesture should be used for the payment of pension arrears, which is its direct primary responsibility”.

    The resolution followed the adoption of a motion entitled, “The untold hardship of pensioners occasioned by federal government’s failure to contribute its statutory share of five per cent to the Pension Redemption Fund” sponsored by Senator Emmanuel Paulker,

    Senator Paulker, in his lead debate noted with concern “the untold hardship our retired senior citizens occasioned by the non-payment of their pension arrears since 2015”.

    He said that pensioner under Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS who retired since 2015 have not been paid their pensions due to the failure of the federal government to contribute its statutory share of five per cent to the Pension Redemption Fund in line with the Pension Reform Act, 2004 amounting to a total sum of N285, 946, 669, 881.

    The lawmaker also disclosed that “about N50billion was appropriated for in 2016 to upset part of the pension arrears, but only a paltry sum of N18billion was released”.

    He further lamented that the pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme, DBS which include the Police Pensions, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigerian Prisons Service, Civil Service and other parastatals are yet to be paid their 33 per ecent accrued arrears amounting to N174billion.

    “The delay in payment of pension arrears has put pensioners across the country in a very precarious situations where they wallow in penury, sickness, hopelessness and regret for serving their fatherland diligently only to be abandoned by the government upon retirement”, he said.

    Paulker therefore warned that if urgent steps are not taken to pay the outstanding arrears within the current fiscal year, the much applauded Contributory Pension Scheme may collapse, leading to unimaginable consequences for the pensioners and the country in general.

     

  • Senate hails Ugwuanyi for using bailout funds well

    Senate hails Ugwuanyi for using bailout funds well

    The Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration has said Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi used well Federal Government’s bailout funds released to the state.

    The committee said the governor followed the principles of accountability in utilising the funds.

    Addressing reporters after the committee rounded off its legislative oversight function on the use of bailout funds to the state, the committee’s Chairman Abdullahi Gumel said their scrutiny of the state’s record revealed that Ugwuanyi was transparent and prudent in using the funds.

    The senator said the committee had not experienced elsewhere the type of accountability Ugwuanyi adopted for utilising the fund.

    He hailed the governor’s innovative management of the funds, urging other states to emulate him.

    Gumel said: “We have gone through the books. As far as the bailout funds are concerned, everything is in order. In fact, Enugu State has gone further because we haven’t seen this in any other state. We are not doing it because he was our colleague; we are doing it because we have seen with our eyes. This is an innovation and we are reflecting it in our report.

    “We are proud of him. We are proud of Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and how they are working together. We’re happy that the atmosphere is serene; everything is calm and working well. We are going back to write our report.”

    Ugwuanyi said the N4.207 billion bailout fund his administration received was judiciously deployed for liquidating outstanding pensions and subvention to corporations, agencies and departments.

    The governor said although the state applied for N40.9 billion, “we received only N4.207 billion, to be used for the liquidation of outstanding pensions and subvention to corporations, agencies and departments”.

    He hailed the Federal Government for the “bold and timely initiative” in providing the bailout funds for addressing critical development issues.

    He also used the opportunity to appeal for the refund of over N22 billion the state government spent on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of some federal roads in the state.

    The committee chairman had also during the courtesy visit thanked the governor for receiving them and applauded his administration’s achievements especially in the areas of good governance, infrastructural development and payment of workers’ salaries, explaining that the visit was in furtherance of their legislative oversight duties to ensure transparency and accountability.

  • Bayelsa didn’t tinker with bailout funds, says Dickson

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has said his administration did not tinker with the N1.285 billion bailout funds given to it by the Federal Government.

    He spoke in Yenagoa when the Senate Committee on State and Local Government Administration visited him.

    The committee was on a fact-finding mission on alleged misappropriation of funds.

    Dickson lamented that blanket statements were always made with regards to mismanagement, saying the state utilised the funds well.

    According to him, they have been disbursed to local governments.

    He assured the committee that the government would not compromise its integrity.

    “You are visiting to check what the state is doing concerning the  management or supervision and direction we are giving to local government funds.

    “I can tell you and as you must have seen in this state since we took over, we have never made any deduction from councils’ accounts.

    “In Bayelsa, local governments are autonomous in the sense that the state does not interfere, meddle or deep our hands into the resources of the local governments.

    “But as one saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the state’s economy, the only condition we give to them is that they must utilise and manage their resources prudently as we are doing.

     ”And that they must conform to our laid down financial rules.

     ”In this state, every month, what comes to the state and what goes out is announced. This is one of the first laws we passed. We are obligated to announce to the state what comes in and how we disburse it.

    “By that law, local governments also have the same obligations and we insist or we force them to comply with that law. So in this state, we don’t have issues of financial autonomy of councils,’’ the governor said.

    Committee Chairman Sen. Abdullahi Gumel hailed the transparency the state showed with regard to disbursement of funds.

    He said the committee would go through reports made available to it by the government and pass its findings to the Senate.

  • Unending rumpus over bailout funds

    Unending rumpus over bailout funds

    How did state governors who got bailout funds from the federal government to offset arrears of workers’ salary last year spend the money? This question becomes very pertinent against the backdrop of the unending rumpus being generated in some states by allegations and counter allegations of misappropriation of the said fund, Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, reports.

    ALLEGATIONS that some Governors misappropriated the bailout funds given to them by the federal government last year to help them solve the problems of mounting wages, have refused to go away, several months after the funds were sourced and even expended in most cases.

    In many states, Governors are up in arms against either their state assembly or the workers, or both in some cases, over how the money was spent. With some of the governors still owing their workers after sourcing the bailout fund, accusations that they have diverted part of the money they got as bailout fund from the federal government remained rife.

    Just last Thursday, lawmakers said one of the arsons why they are bent on removing embattled Governor Abdulaziz Yari from office is that he allegedly misappropriated the bailout fund sourced by his administration last year to pay workers’ outstanding salaries A statement issued in Gusau by the Chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Information, Alhaji Mannir Gidan-Jaja, accused the governor of misappropriating billions of naira from the state coffers.

    It listed the money allegedly misappropriated to include N11 billion bailout fund the state got from the federal government. While the governor continue to deny the allegation, the lawmakers are asking him to explain how the money was spent by his administrations.

    In Kogi state, Governor Yayaha Bello has constantly come under fire from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the management of the bailout fund he got last May. The PDP has consistently insisted that the federal government intentionally ensured the money was not released to former Governor Idris Wada. It also want Bello to publicly explain how he has been spending the money.

    A political group, the PDP National Youth Frontier, recently raised the alarm over the way the Governor is handling the finances of the state. The group in a statement signed by its National Co-ordinator, Mr Usman Okai Austin, disclosed that the governor of Kogi has been using several means to divert the state fund. The group said the Governor should have paid all salary arrears if he has not misappropriated or diverted the bailout fund.

    The Niger State House of Assembly, few weeks back, called on the government to explain what it had done with the N14.6bn bailout funds it got from the Federal Government for which the settlement of salaries were included. The Chairman, House Committee on Labour and Productivity, Hon. Abdulmalik Madaki, made the position of the House known while briefing Journalists at the Assembly complex in Minna.

    He said, “At the inception of this administration, the House of Assembly granted an approval to the state government to access a loan of N1.8bn to enable it settle the arrears of salary for local government which was inherited from the past administration.

    “The Federal Government offered the state government N4.6bn bailout loan to augment the shortfall from the federation account, which the House of assembly approved. If the governor now says he secured N3bn overdraft from banks, then where is the N4.6bn? What has he done with it?

    Workers still unpaid

    Last Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari was urged to probe state governors over the use of bailout funds. The appeal came from the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Ayuba Wab­ba, when he visited Kogi State in solidarity with the state workers who have not been paid for seven months.

    Lamenting that what is happening in Kogi is also being experienced by workers in many others states, in spite of the bailout fund released to Governors by the federal government to offset salary arrears, Wabba vowed that the NLC will mobilise Nigerian workers to move against the Governors soon if the states fails to pay workers their salaries.

    The NLC President, who stated this in Lokoja on Wednesday, asked Buhari and the National Assembly to probe the state gov­ernors over bailout funds his administration granted the states. According to him, there was the need for the Federal Gov­ernment to probe the applica­tion of bailout funds to states since it was obvious that some of the states do not adhere to the regulations guiding the disbursement.

    The NLC boss added that it was wrong for Kogi State Gov­ernment to have disbursed the N20 billion bailout fund part payment without the commit­tee expected to draw its mem­bership from the workers, se­curity agencies, the executive and other bodies.

    Wabba alleged that some governors are diverting the funds into fixed deposit accounts to yield them interests, adding that that such action was unacceptable and will be resisted by the NLC. He stated that the NLC was already working with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to track such funds and take appropriate actions.

    ”Some governors have elected to play politics with the welfare of their workers with some of them quoted as saying that they reserve the right to do what they like with the intervention fund from the federal government since it is a loan. We note particularly that payment of pensions at state and local governments is a major problem because they operate defined benefit pension system which often times is not funded.

    And even when it is funded, the governors and their cohorts help themselves to these funds because they are exposed.  We condemn this attitude and strongly warn that henceforth, any state that defaults in the regular payment of salaries and pensions will face the wrath of the workers. Salaries and pensions are inalienable rights of workers and retirees and not privileges.”

    Comrade John Odah, a former Secretary of NLC and currently, the Executive Secretary of the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA), is also worried over the failure of the governors to put the bailout fund to the very use for which it was sourced. According to him, it appears payment of workers’ salary is not at the top of the priority list of the governors.

    “The question now is why is it that upon the bailout from the federal government, many states are still unable to settle their wage bills. The indications are becoming clear that the governors may have used the bailout to do other things other than what it was targeted at which to my understanding was the payment of arrears of workers wage bill,” he said.

    Reps’ inquest

    Tired of unending calls and petitions for an investigation into the disbursement of the bailout funds, the House of Representatives on Thursday, resolved to probe issues surrounding the funds. The Speaker Yakubu Dogara-led House said that it would set up an ad hoc committee to investigate the terms and conditions of disbursement of the funds.

    The ad hoc committee, according to the lawmakers, will investigate utilization of the funds, level of compliance with targets and determine the necessity of further disbursement as being planned by the Federal Government. This followed a motion raised under “Matters of Urgent National Importance’’ by Rep. Sunday Karimi (PDP)-Kogi), which was unanimously adopted by members through a voice vote.

    Moving the motion, Karimi said that the need to investigate the disbursement and utilisation of the funds was geared toward ensuring the welfare of citizens in the affected states. He explained that the Federal Government approved and disbursed N689.5 billion to 27 states in July, 2015, and gave N20 billion to Kogi four months ago.

    The lawmaker expressed dismay that many of the beneficiary-states had failed to utilize the funds for payment of workers’ salaries and had continued to owe the workers their salaries. He disclosed that reports had alleged that many state governments lodged the bailout funds in interest-bearing accounts and allowed their employees to continue to wallow in hunger and lack.

    “States like Abia, Osun, Bayelsa, Benue, Ekiti, Kwara, Plateau, Oyo, Delta, Niger, Ogun, Nasarawa, Kogi, among others, are still owing workers’ salaries for several months,” Karimi said. Contributing to the motion, House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, said that the intention of giving out the bailout funds was good, but that the application seemed to be wrongly done.

    He said that in order to have transparency, the house should look into the matter and avoid same mistake in the bailout to be given soon. Also contributing, Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, said that based on the provisions of the Constitution, the house was empowered to look into the methodology and legality of the bailout funds.

    ICPC’s shocking report

    In May, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had made an inquest into the disbursement of the bailout fund inevitable when it disclosed that 16 states were yet to disburse about N57, 663, 185, 735 out of the bailout funds approved for them by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The commission, in a damning report on how the funds have been spent so far, also fingered some states including Imo, Zamfara and Enugu, as engaging in diversion of the bailout funds which were meant for workers’ salaries, to other use. The Commission made the disclosures in a statement in Abuja by its spokesperson, Edet Ufot, on the report of its investigation into the use of bailout funds by 23 states.

    “Some states that have not fully utilized their bailout funds according to the ICPC, are as follows: Adamawa (N7,200,000,000); Bauchi (N195,011, 616m); Benue (N1,650, 084,000.520); Cross River (N4,715, 516, 959); Ekiti (N390,613, 747m); Katsina (N8,574,415,469); Gombe (N4, 361, 119,848.27); Ondo (N1, 537,575,050.32); Osun (N16, 311,765,418); Plateau (N26, 980,938.85m); Kwara (N29,862,014.92m); Oyo (N1,111,652, 408.40); Delta (2,806,911,019.50); and Kebbi (N4,463,975,420.27).

    The commission said: “As part of the Federal Government’s effort to end the lingering crisis of unpaid workers’ salaries in most states of the federation, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a comprehensive relief package designed to salvage the situation through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Special Intervention Fund which offered affected states’ soft loans solely for the purpose of paying the backlog of salaries.

    “Whereas the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to officially confirm this to the commission, the 27 benefiting states from the open sources are: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara.

    “Following strident allegations of diversion of these bail-out funds and to avoid industrial unrest, ICPC in collaboration with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) decided to monitor the disbursement of the bailout funds in the 27 benefiting states. However, relying on available sources we could only cover 23 states.

    “The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), working in concert with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), made good its resolve to monitor the bailout funds for the offset of salary arrears loaned to 27 states of the federation as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Following the conclusion of the monitoring exercise, the commission hereby wishes to issue, for public notice, the report of the exercise. The commission also will not hesitate to provide updates to this report where applicable.

    “It is important to note that the monitoring exercise report and probable updates are being released to the public by the ICPC to foster understanding between workers and the state governments by providing a transparent process that eliminates information gaps that often lead to rumour-mongering.

    “The commission is convinced that this will promote a healthy atmosphere for interaction between the parties on the matter”.

    Governors respond

    But the Enugu State government, through a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Elder G.O.C Ajah, said it has not diverted the bailout fund in any way. The SSG stated that: “Enugu State Government received the sum of Four Billion, Two Hundred and Seven Million Naira only (N4,207,000,000.00) from the Federal Government as bailout fund for the settlement of outstanding salaries, subventions and pensions for public servants in the state.

    “When the bailout fund was received, a dedicated bank account was opened for the fund and a committee comprising leaders of Organized Labour in the state, representatives of the state government and pensioners, was setup by the Governor, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to oversee the disbursement of the fund.

    “So far, the sum of Three Billion, Two Hundred and Eighty Four Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty Nine Thousand, Two Hundred Fifty Three Naira, Thirty Eight Kobo (N3,284,729,253.38) has been verified by the committee and disbursement is on-going. At the moment, the balance is Nine Hundred and Twenty Two Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Thousand, Seven Hundred and Forty Six Naira, Sixty Two kobo (N922,270,746.62) while the verification exercise for further payment continues.”

    Similarly, the Ogun State Government has declared that it did not divert the bailout funds from the Federal Government for another purpose, insisting that the money was wholly committed to the payment of arrears of salaries, co-operative deductions to all categories of its workers. Secretary to the State Government, Barr. Taiwo Adeoluwa stated this in Abeokuta, the state capital.

    Adeoluwa, who expressed surprise at the insinuations in some quarters, that part of the funds, especially those due to Local Government Councils were diverted, blamed the development on communication gap between Government and the Local Government administrators, adding that anti-graft agencies, particularly the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), which monitored the disbursement across the country, gave the state a clean bill of health after the exercise.

    Contrary to the rumour, Adeoluwa disclosed that government had to take funds elsewhere to augment the bailout to the councils. “What was due to Local Government Councils from the total package we got, was N9.1 billion, from which we promptly cleared arrears of salaries, cooperative deductions of primary school teachers and Local Government staff.

    The Osun and Nasarawa state governments also denied allegations that they both diverted the bailout funds given to states to pay workers’ salaries. Semiu Okanlawon, the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy in Osun averred that the PDP in its desperation to hang anything on governor Rauf Aregbesola, did not carefully study what the ICPC released to the public before jumping to the conclusion that it had been vindicated.

    The Nasarawa state government urged the commission to revisit its information so as to be better informed and disabused the mind of the public on the issue of the fund. The government said governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura presented a cheque of N4.3 billion at a ceremony on October 23, 2015 to the state chairman of ALGON, Ahmed Wambai adding that N2.2bn was required to fully pay 100 percent of local government staff emolument, but said before the release of the bailout fund, local governments in the state had arrears of two and half months salaries amounting to N5.6bn for the months of July – September 2015.

  • TUC to ICPC, EFCC: expose states that mismanaged bailout funds 

    TUC to ICPC, EFCC: expose states that mismanaged bailout funds 

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intensify their investigations into how states utilised the bailout funds. Twenty-three states got the fund last year to offset workers’salaries, allowances and retirees’ pension.

    In a statement by its President, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, TUC lamented what he called the uncontrolled greed and quest for materialism by some governors and politicians.

    The attitude, it said, was worrisome, especially at a time of economic crunch and owing of workers’ salaries.

    ”The Congress is unimpressed by the porous explanations in the national dailies by some governors and their commissioners for information on how the monies were spent. As a labour centre we get first-hand information from our members in all the states of the federation.

    “We, therefore, know that some state governments are being economical with the truth when they make statements purporting that they have settled all their indebtedness to their workers. Even where a particular state government pays some of the outstanding entitlements, does that automatically translate to a liquidation of the entire debt?” Kaigama asked, noting that officers of the ICPC and EFCC should beware of the mischievous posturing in bank transfer documents presented by the states.

    The TUC president said it was inexcusable for any governor to neglect the payment of workers and divert the funds. He said weighing such actions against the backdrop of the recent happenings in the Senate raised serious concern about some politicians’ integrity.

    Endorsing the actions of the ICPC and EFCC, the Congress said the commissions should not give room to intimidations by any individual or group, who might want to upturn the course of  justice.

    ”We know that corrupt politicians will want to employ all antics to oppose the work of both commissions; all stolen wealth must be recovered. And any state that fails to make prompt payment of salaries and pensions will definitely face the wrath of Nigerian workers,” Kaigama said.

    He said as a labour centre, the fight against corruption and its effects on the growth and development of the nation is of very special interest to labour and all Nigerians.

    He added that the success of the crusade is the insurance that most Nigerians have to decent living, and the guarantee that the nation will stand strong and take its place among the leading nations of the world. Kaigama said the upsurge of corruption in Nigeria in recent times is particularly disturbing.

    “Indeed, statistics reveal that Nigeria is 163rd out of 172 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, with its yearly corruption level in recent years averaging $5 billion.  It has done unquantifiable damage to the national life.

    “For instance, the menace of corruption leads to slow movement of files in offices, fuels police extortion, accentuates traffic jams, port congestion, queues at passport offices and petrol stations, ghost-workers syndrome, election irregularities, inflation of budgets and contract fees,” he said.

    Kaigama noted that corruption pervades most establishments in Nigeria, private or public. He said apart from the political class, the justice system is another culprit.  “As a result of corruption, justice is perverted and judgment is often delivered in favour of the guilty that are able to pay their way through,” he said.

  • Bailout funds: Osun, Enugu fault ICPC report, deny diversion of cash

    Bailout funds: Osun, Enugu fault ICPC report, deny diversion of cash

    Osun and Enugu state governments yesterday faulted the report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on the utilization of the bailout funds from the Federal Government.

    They claimed that no money was diverted, misapplied or unused.

    The Osun State Government dismissed the ICPC report that the state paid salaries last in July 2015 as laughable.

    It asked the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun to desist from wishful thinking that it has a tool to hang anything on Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

    It explained that instead Aregbesola had been creative and prudent in paying salaries up till January 2016.

    The two states made their position known in separate statements.

    The Director, Osun State Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon said: “There is no case of diversion of bailout funds as far as Osun is concerned.

    “Has anyone asked how the state was able to accommodate pensioners in the bailout funds application when in actual fact pensioners were not part of the bailout scheme?

    “Don’t also forget that the bailout was to take care of salaries backlog up till June last year. The report that that Osun paid salaries last in July 2015 is laughable when in actual fact workers in the state have got their salaries up till January 2016 and already looking forward to February salaries including pensioners.

    “Governor Rauf Aregbesola cannot be found wanting because whether in bailout funds or other funds of Osun he has been very creative in the management of the scarce resources to lift the state beyond the limit of the available resources.”

    On its part, the Enugu State Government through its Secretary to the State Government, Elder G.O.C Ajah, said it did not misapply the bailout fund of N4.207 billion received from the Federal Government.

    Ajah’s said: “”The true position is as follows:

    “Enugu State Government received N4,207,000,000.00 from the Federal Government as bailout fund for the settlement of outstanding salaries, subventions and pensions for public servants in the state.

    “That when the bailout fund was received, a dedicated bank account was opened for the fund and a committee comprising leaders of Organized Labour in the state, representatives of the state government and pensioners, was setup by the Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuak to oversee the disbursement of the fund.

    “ So far, N3,284,729,253.38) has been verified by the committee and disbursement is on-going. At the moment, the balance is N922,270,746.62) while the verification exercise for further payment continues.

    “On the issue of Excess Crude Account (ECA) Infrastructure Development Loan facilitated by the Federal Government, the state government has disbursed N5,387,569,930.00, leaving a balance of N4,612,430,070.00.

    “From the foregoing therefore, the Enugu State Government wishes to state categorically that it did not misapply the bailout fund.”

  • CBN salary bailout to states hits N373.56 billion

    CBN salary bailout to states hits N373.56 billion

    To address the current economic challenges in the country, states have got N373.56 billion under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Salary Bailout Intervention Facility.

    A total of twenty-eight states have benefited from the facility between August 2015 and January 2016.

    This was contained in a copy of a paper presented to the National Economic Council (NEC) Retreat by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, obtained by our correspondent.

    The paper titled ‘Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 Budget of Change’ also disclosed that 23 states had their bank loans amounting to N575.52 billion restructured into 20 years FGN bonds.

    Giving an overview of the economy, the Minister noted that external reserves reduced from $37.5 billion in June 2014 to $27.8 billion as at mid-March, 2016.

    He also disclosed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP was less than 5 percent compared to 17 percent in other emerging markets.

    According to him, the 2016 Budget is intended to reflate the economy through government expenditure-led growth strategy with emphasis on infrastructure development.