President Muhammadu Buhari has given more insights on the extent of corruption in the country’s oil sector under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He spoke on Tuesday while reacting to questions from members of Nigerians In Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in the United States and Canada at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC.
According to him, “250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude were being stolen and people sell and put the money into individual accounts,” adding that the United States and other developed countries “are helping us to trace such accounts now.”
” We will ask that such accounts be frozen and prosecute the persons. The amount involved is mind-boggling. Some former ministers were selling about one million barrels per day.
” I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to prosecute them. A lot of damage has been done to the integrity of Nigeria with individuals and institutions already compromised,” Buhari stated.
Citing the example of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), President Buhari said unlike what obtained during his tenure as Federal Commissioner for Petroleum under military regime when the NNPC had only two traceable accounts before paying oil proceeds into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), “now everybody is doing anyhow.”
The President, who expressed skepticism on the existence of oil subsidy, said if subsidy was removed, transport, housing and food prices would go out of control and the average worker would suffer untold hardship.
Tag: Goodluck Jonathan
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Jonathan ministers sold one million barrels of oil per day- Buhari
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Jonathan’s ex CSO speaks, says ‘I ‘m hale and hearty’
Ex-Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Gordon Obuah, has dismissed speculations of his purported death in detention, saying “I am hale and hearty”.
Obuah, who spoke to journalists at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) said he was being held to account for his stewardship under Jonathan.
Allaying fears over possible ill treatment, Obuah maintained that he was still in the service of the DSS, which he described as a responsible organisation that will never cause him harm orb inflict pain on him.
Looking healthy in a beige coloured kaftan, the ex CSO used the opportunity to thank his family and members of the public for their concern over his wellbeing.
Obuah said it became necessary for him to personally clear the air on his purported ill health and rumoured death, saying the DSS has been according him the privileges deserving of a serving officer.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I came out this afternoon to dispel the rumour making rounds that I was dead. This morning, I was shocked at the report in some media that I was dead.
“This is me. I am hale and hearty. I was only invited six days ago by my employer to give account of my stewardship as the CSO to the former President Goodluck Jonathan. As you can see, I am alive, hale and healthy.
“Nigerians should be aware that the DSS is a serious organisation. As a Security Service, and more so the fact that I am still an employee of the DSS, I am constrained from divulging any more information until the right time.
“I want to seize this medium to thank all Nigerians for their concern and care towards me. I also want to inform them that I am alive, hale and healthy”.
Obuah was arrested on Thursday by operatives of the DSS and has since been in the custody of the agency.
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NNPC should be replaced – El-Rufai
- Full text of Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State at the 2015 Wole Soyinka Centre Annual Media Lecture, delivered on 13 July 2015.
There is every danger that addressing a topic like this might yield another exercise in vain lamentation when what our country needs to do is take and give effect to rational decisions about the oil sector. For instance, the discourse around the resource curse has had a deep resonance for many Nigerians because it vividly sums up the paradox between the huge earnings from oil and the reality of poverty and underdevelopment for most Nigerians.
Thus we have jobless growth, a fact that statistics touting high GDP growth rates tend to obscure but which is painfully real for many people. And we continue to suffer the consequences of our affliction with the Dutch disease. The easy money from oil has led to the neglect of other endowments, most especially agriculture.
Yet talk we must when a problem persists in the embarrassing dimensions that Nigeria’s oil debacle represents, in the hope that we can deepen understanding about the precise nature of the problem, and build national consensus about the possible solutions.
Even the crafters of the topic of this lecture imply that something is rotten in the governance and outcomes of Nigeria’s oil industry. Yet they helpfully infuse an air of optimism by not describing it as oil misfortune.
Thus I approach this assignment not as an fortune-teller, but as a Nigerian who has had the duty and the interest to pay more attention to this issue than most of my compatriots. During the Obasanjo years, I had the responsibility to constitute Oil and Gas Implementation Committee that led to the drafting of the original Petroleum Industry Bill as an instrument for reforming the oil sector.
Eight years after the exit of that government, the PIB has not become law, mainly through the wilful neglect of the successor governments that prioritized their personalized stranglehold on the sector’s revenues above its reform and efficient performance for national benefit.
We now have another chance to anchor our oil sector reform agenda on the current and projected realities in that sector. And we must do that in the knowledge that the world is not waiting for us, that while we dallied new suppliers have come in to the global oil business and buyers have more choice.
Some of our traditional customers have become self-sufficient, while others have developed alternatives thus reducing their reliance on our ‘light, sweet crude oil’.
Is there an oil fortune?
In fiscal terms, the answer is a massive yes. That the revenues have de-clined, or not been used to build human capital or enduring physical infra-structure is another matter. Nigeria’s oil reserves relative to our population is puny by comparison to the Gulf states. But you only need to imagine what national budgets would look like without the oil receipts to appreciate the fact that some oil is better than no oil.
And we are not talking peanuts here. Despite a 60% fall in oil price between June 2014 and the end of that year, Nigeria still earned USD 77 billion from oil exports in 2014. The Punch newspaper of 2 April 2015, quoting figures from the United States Department of Energy, placed oil export earnings for the year 2011 at USD 99 billion. Indeed in the five Jonathanian years, Nigeria earned nearly USD 500 billion from crude oil and gas sales.
The 2014 earnings of $77 billion is rather small compared to the $246 billion that Saudi Arabia made, but it cannot be sniffed at. So there are oil fortunes and there are oil fortunes. What we need to interrogate is how responsibly we have managed that fortune, how diligently we have tried to expand and sustain it and whether having that national fortune has impacted significantly on the fortune of the average Nigerian.
About 40% of Nigerians are estimated to be very poor. That is about 70 million living people living below the poverty line in a country that has earned at least 1trillion in current dollars from oil in 50 years. For our vast masses, oil is no fortune.
It is more of a mirage, but a more insidious kind, because the fortune is visible in the lifestyles of a few thousands of the privileged elite but is stubbornly inaccessible to tens of millions of ordinary people. Our rich enjoy the lifestyles of the richest in the world, while our poor are truly the wretched of the earth. This inequality is most unfortunate.
That wide gulf in living standards is clearly problematic. It is, in my view, a major responsibility of a democratic government to strive to move more people away from the attrition that extreme poverty inflicts. This is not attained by wishful thinking, or by merely affirming the intent. It is about managing our resources in a way that sustainably builds our people, diligently collecting revenues and applying them in a determinedly cost-effective and result-oriented manner.
The best fortune a country can have is its people. But like many gems, they have to be polished and nurtured for their talents to glow. Spending efficiency and effectiveness is best reflected in outcomes such as more educated and healthy people, living longer lives productively and happily.
That, for me, is the major reason we must seek to enhance and responsibly manage Nigeria’s oil fortune. It must become the people’s fortune.
Sketching the Oil Industry
Let us examine some statistics to give us a picture of the oil industry in Nigeria. In 2014, Nigeria was producing on the average about 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day, while importing most of its daily consumption of 43.5 million litres of refined petroleum products.
That reliance on imports of refined products has seen unsustainable expenses on questionable subsidy payments, exemplified by USD 8.99 billion in the 18 months between January 2012 and June 2013.
About N971 billion was budgeted for subsidy payments in 2014 alone (more than twice that was eventually paid). You all recall how trillions of Naira were paid out as oil subsidy in 2011, when only N254 billion was appropriated
No one has been successfully prosecuted for this scam. Huge deficits in gas supply have ensured that the country’s thermal plants cannot produce power at optimal levels. In the eight years leading up to 2014, joint venture production declined by 50.4%. Some 100,000 barrels per day, about five percent of total production, is estimated to be lost to organized theft.
And we all dread the ease and rapidity with which supply shortages lead to endless queues, widespread panic and mortal consequences for the many victims of tanker accidents.
The long and short of the situation of our oil industry is best exemplified by the parallel government called the NNPC. In 2012, it sold N2.77 trillion of ‘domestic’ crude oil but paid only N1.66 trillion to the Federation Account.
In 2013, it earned N2.66 trillion but paid N1.56 trillion to FAAC, in 2014 N2.64 trillion but remitted N1.44 trillion, while between January and May 2015, it earned N733.36 billion and remitted only N473.2 billion!
That means that the NNPC only remitted about 58% of the monies earned between 2012 and the first half of 2015. A company with the audacity to retain 42% of a country’s money has become a veritable parallel republic!
The NNPC feels entitled to consume more resources than the 36 states, the FCT and the Federal Government combined! The example just given is only with respect to domestic crude oil sales. Similar leakages exist in NPDC, NAPIMS procurement and subsidiary budgets.
How could a country so dependent on oil revenues have been so lax about the proper governance, efficiency and security of its oil industry?
How can a mono-product economy be so relaxed that it takes up to 24 months or more to make decisions on vital oil industry projects? Why is it that in this most crucial of sectors it has been possible for briefcase companies to walk away with big assets, billion naira subsidy payments and ‘local content’ contracts?
Can an oil industry with virtually no serious barriers to entry yield fortunes beyond a narrow circle? For so great are the miracles that oil has performed in the lives of a few, there is not much left for the many.
Having strayed into lamentation in describing the Nigerian oil industry, let me quickly return to trying to draw lessons and to suggest ways by which we may successfully navigate a different track. We can agree that what passes for the oil industry is a mismanaged, costly, corrupt and grossly inefficient operation. These negatives are not the way to grow or retain fortune.
So what should we consider doing?
Let us first learn the appropriate lessons. We are neither immune from the laws of economics nor from the consequences of sheer folly.
Now that more countries are producing and selling oil and gas, we can safely assume that barring a new phase of explosive global economic growth, oil will remain relatively cheap at the $50-$60 per barrel range, for the foreseeable future. What do we intend to do with these diminished earnings?
If we persist in indulging our appetite to consume rather than save, import rather than produce domestically, or neglect to prioritize capital investments, we will simply sink deeper into poverty. We must resolve to spend wiser, and do more with less.
Our general national orientation has been impacted for worse due to our attitude to the oil cash cow. Let us firmly resolve that growing our people’s potentials will be a primary goal, and that in the pursuit of that aim, we shall commit to an efficiently and transparently managed oil industry.
We can demonstrate this new purpose by slaying three huge dragons:
1) A fixation with public ownership and control of every major oil asset
2) the corruption and distortion that oil subsidy is inflicting on our economy, and
3) the NNPC in its current form is in our collective national interest.
End the fixation with public ownership: You will recall the outcry when the Obasanjo government sold two of our refineries shortly before it left office in 2007. The successor-government reversed the sale.
Eight years and millions of dollars in turn-around maintenance later, the refineries are at best a minor component of our supply sources for refined products while remaining a suction pump of our resources.
One of the men whose purchase of the refineries was aborted is now building his own, and it can be expected to be more modern, far more efficient and more productive than the public facility we turned into an object of baseless veneration. Let us be realistic enough to choose the most pragmatic options when we confront national problems.
We should incentivize competent investors to acquire majority shares and management control in all our refineries and sell to them crude oil at market prices, and remit the proceeds directly into the Federation Account!
Tackle the corruption and distortion in subsidy regime: I daresay that the oil subsidy regime has neither grown our people nor guaranteed stability of refined product supplies. What subsidy has achieved is create a huge hole in the budget and a new array of overnight billionaires.
The downstream oil business in Nigeria has morphed into one optimised for the pursuit of subsidy payments. We see thinly-disguised periodic hostage-taking as the subsidy barons seek to pry open government coffers. It is time to tackle the corruption in the subsidy regime.
We can discuss how the resulting subsidy savings will be spent to improve lives, while guaranteeing stability of supply to the domestic market.
We have a president with both the integrity to responsibly manage the savings and the experience of managing special interventions based on subsidy savings.
Let us say bye to foreign exchange drains, opaque crude swaps, offshore processing agreements and other devices that have derailed and distorted the subsidy regime, to our national detriment.
Reverse missed opportunities: I have already highlighted the fact that our country has neither saved nor wisely invested oil proceeds from the five oil booms that my sister Oby Ezekwesili identified.
I may only add that the oil industry itself is a victim of this lack of proper investment. We have been as unable to utilize what it yields us as we are remiss about expanding what it can yield us, by prudent and focused re-investment.
Nigeria’s oil reserves are not growing at a fast enough pace. The gas potential is still largely that, an untapped potential amidst pressing needs. Since Bonny LNG we have not been able to complete and commission any other – Brass and Olokola LNG projects remain on the drawing board. The implementation of the national gas masterplan has stalled since 2009.
And so there is simply not enough natural gas collected and dried to feed our power turbines, industries and households. There has to be a commitment to sustained investments to stimulate a proper gas sector.
The multiplier effects of this will be immense, from contributions to improving the country’s power capacity, fuel homes and industries, create jobs and improve export earnings. We must be ambitious about what we can achieve here.
We similarly need to encourage more local refining, and not just to assure stability in the supply of refined products for the domestic market but to cut costs and save jobs.
We also have untapped potentials in petrochemicals, which can help fast-track domestic industrial activity and improve export earnings.
In short, we must take steps to reposition our oil and gas sector as one that is properly integrated into the national economy, helping to create jobs, raise skills level, drive industrialization and earn more from exports.
The rents therefrom can then be applied towards investments in human capital, physical infrastructure and economic diversification.
How do we attain this wish list?
We need a mix of fresh strategic thinking and a firm commitment to reform. We need to define exactly what we want the oil industry to be and to achieve, and then define the structure that can best deliver it. An efficient and productive oil sector, able to create jobs, spur industrialization and earn more revenues requires that we tackle the monster that the NNPC has become.
This country can no longer afford to maintain an NNPC that arrogantly, unlawfully and unconstitutionally spends an unhealthy proportion of national oil earnings on itself.
We should replace the NNPC with brand new organizations that are fit for purpose: – among others – a commercialized and corporatized national oil company and new industry regulators.
This new national oil company should be capitalized once and for all, and then freed to fend for itself like other national oil companies do, seeking its financing independently from the financial markets and paying due taxes and royalties.
The corruption and nonchalance that have hobbled the NNPC are symptoms that its best days are over. We should give it a deserved funeral so that a new institution, active and nimble, can promptly replace it.
NNPC’s subsidiaries and associated companies can be reviewed, restructured and privatized or commercialized as appropriate consistent with national interest and objectives.
The government should review the Joint Venture strategy, with the governing principle being to shift the financing and operational risks to the markets and operators respectively.
Government should avoid owing the oil companies, and should more proactively review the terms and implementation of the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and concentrate on collecting the royalties and taxes due to it.
No one is better qualified to do this than the person that birthed the NNPC through the merger of the NNOC and the Ministry of Petroleum in 1977 – President Buhari himself.
No one can appreciate the gap between the vision of NNPC’s founding fathers, the beautiful baby of 1977 and the 38 year-old monster it has become better than President Buhari.
The NNPC of today must make Chief Sunday Awoniyi of blessed memory squirm in his grave. Something fundamentally decisive must be done to tame this monster.
We must have the political will to make all oil industry transactions transparent. There should be clear rules and processes for licensing, concessioning, procurement and contracting. Opaque systems tend to be corrupt, and it is time to shine the light.
The president has already taken the commendable step of directing that all revenues be remitted either to the Federation Account or the consolidated revenue fund as required by sections 80 and 162 of the Constitution.
President Buhari is therefore clear that oil industry revenues will no longer be treated as some slush fund of the federal government.
It is the national consensus that we arrive at regarding the oil sector that we can finally codify in a new petroleum act, which should be a simply worded, concise piece of legislation that spells out the general governing principles for the industry. Specific matters can then be based on subsidiary legislation, regulations and agreements. Complex and densely worded laws conduce to opacity and should therefore be avoided.
I am by no means underestimating the titanic struggles that might be necessary to change the Nigerian oil industry. The vested interests will be all out to thwart change and uphold the status quo. The media and civil society organizations (CSOs) have the major role of pushing for transparent disclosures and adherence to due process.
No other institutions have the power of CSOs and media to advocate, educate and enlighten the public to support and demand the most pragmatic, rational and effective measures that can make Nigeria’s oil fortune become the people’s fortune. The media in particular must lead from the front in this effort.
To be in a position to accurately educate, the media must itself be knowl-edgeable about the issues. Apart from the obvious advantages of having specialists leading the reporting of certain industries, the media performs an immense service when it affords the public the resources to partake in informed debate.
And the media must enhance its capacity for follow-up, to focus on an issue long enough to report its resolution. It must use the Freedom of Information Act maximally to ensure that wrong-doing and impropriety are not protected by official secrecy. If we successfully remake the oil industry, we would have significantly remade our country.
And our poverty stricken majority will be the better for it. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the burden of responsibility placed on us as leaders in our various spheres of influence.
Thank you for listening. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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Boko Haram: Jonathan urges support for Buhari
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians to support the government of President Muhammadu Buhari in fight against Boko Haram.
The former president who made the call on his facebook on Sunday message said the current administration is doing its best to put an end to the terror act.
According to Jonathan, the death of the victims at the hands of the terrorists is a sad reminder that the war against Boko Haram is a task for all Nigerians.
“The death of any Nigerian at the hands of terrorists is a sad reminder that the war on terror is a task for all Nigerians not just the armed forces. I urge all Nigerians to continue to pray for peace in Nigeria and to support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as the government does its best to bring an end to these acts of terror and secure all Nigerians. May God bless Nigeria,” Jonathan state.
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Treasury: Presidency tackles Jonathan’s minister
The Presidency had asked former Minister and Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Abubakar Suleiman, to provide explanations about the $30 billion he claimed was left in the country’s coffers by the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
The former Minister had faulted President Buhari’s claim that he inherited a virtually empty treasury from Jonathan.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu while speaking on Channels Television on Thursday insisted that the treasury has been emptied, and wondered why the media had not taken Suleiman to task to tender details of the $30b legacy.
“We talk about the foreign reserves and the commitment that are well beyond the capacity of the new government especially given the responsibility that has brought forward coming from the election.
“Its a woeful situation and the President needs understanding and he needs help.
“Coming into the election, there were all manner of promises that had been made (but) the ground reality is that you must read the books as handed over to you by the outgoing administration.
“As you know, all of these things were kept late (such that) we were not allowed to see the skeletons in the cupboard until the very last minute.
”Therefore government itself needs time to to read and to understand where we are from the beginning and hope to build on all of that, ” Garba stated.
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Good riddance
We commend the FG for terminating the ill-gotten pipeline contracts to militants and ethnic militias
The dubious oil pipeline surveillance and protection contract which the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan gave to even dubious organisations in the twilight of his administration has ended ignominiously. According to the publicity secretary of one of the beneficiaries of that devious arrangement, Mr. Sylvester Eweka of the New Age Global Services, “on Sunday, a lorry load of task force members invaded the Sagamu area, claiming it had orders to forcefully reclaim control of the pipeline area”. He further said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) abruptly sent a text message terminating the contract, with effect from June 15, 2015.
We commend the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for sacking the ethnic militias masquerading as security agencies. As we had written on this page when the Jonathan administration took that desperate manoeuvre, it was unlawful to allow the ethnic militias to appropriate the statutory responsibilities of our security agencies. The leadership of one of the groups, the Oodu’a Peoples Congress (OPC), openly boasted that the contract was given to them to empower the group to deliver the south-west to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2015 general elections.
To show how cynical the past regime was, the pipeline contract was parcelled out to ethnic militias that operated where the pipelines are. The protection of the pipelines in the creeks of Niger Delta was parcelled out to the various militant leaders in the area, before the amnesty programme. So, the Jonathan administration, instead of disarming the militants who had turned to terrorisers of their neighbourhood, opted to empower them financially, and provided them a cover to acquire more arms, in the name of execution of security contracts.
As predicted, the beneficiaries of the pipeline protection contracts were unable to stop the stealing of our crude oil. Indeed, while the contracts lasted, pipeline vandalism increased, and the result was the continuous dwindling of the accruals from our crude oil. As expected, many commentators were wondering whether those who had been put in charge of the protection of the pipelines were complicit in the increased wave of pipeline vandalism, and the stealing of our crude oil.
Another fallout of the dubious contract was increased violence in their areas of operation. One of the most volatile areas was Arepo in Ogun State, where a number of law abiding citizens became victims of the untrained security manpower used by the ethnic militias to guard the pipeline. In the Arepo incident, a lady lawyer was gunned down, as the hoodlums exchanged gunfire, with one of the culprits claiming to be fighting to protect the pipeline. There were also several cases of police engaging pipeline vandals in gun battles, with the latter claiming to be agents of the contractors.
So, while the contract lasted, insecurity and confusion reigned in the areas that provided passages to the pipeline. There was also the contest for patronage among the ethnic militias. In the south-west, the two factions of the OPC contested amongst themselves which of them deserved to gain the contract. Similar disagreement also took place in the Niger Delta, and each time the contest spread into the streets, lives were lost, and properties destroyed.
This contract no doubt gave rise to more proliferation of small arms, as the contractors without lawful permits armed themselves, in the line of their duty. Nigerians were appalled as television cameras caught these hoodlums bearing arms and engaging in mini-warfare, while the state security agencies watched helplessly. Instances abound where the pipeline contractors took their battle to other security agencies, with causalities on both sides. In such instances, the heads of the militants talked openly about losing their boys, as if they were the commanders of para-military agencies of state.
So, we urge the Federal Government to completely flush out these unauthorised persons who are bearing arms and competing with state security agencies, quickly. As we have severally canvassed, the Nigerian Navy should be equipped to man our waterways, and protect the pipelines in the creeks; while the civil defence, police and the army should protect the pipelines that are covered by land. There is no justification for private citizens, under whatever guise, to be given the contract to take up the responsibility of the state, and of course, engage in abuses detrimental to the country’s economic wellbeing.
We however add that the operation should be conducted with military efficiency and dispatch. The claim of one of the contractors that lives were lost in the takeover of the oil pipeline at Shagamu is unfortunate, and we urge the NNPC to give advance notice, before sending in military operatives. It is however salutary that the pipeline contract for political support is coming to a closure.
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Bayelsa can be better if youths lead – Siasia
- At an interactive session with Journalists, Moses Siasia, 35-year-old governorship aspirant in Baylesa State, revealed his plans to transform the state. He also lamented the interests of the old folks for the younger generations. David Lawal was at the session for The Nation Newspaper.
Considering your age, would you not need party elders’ support to secure the ticket?
While some remain myopic and wouldn't love to let go because that is where they get their pay from, there are some of them that are positive minded. And we must convince them that it is time for us take care of them and to take the interests of our people serious. And I believe that God will give us the grace to champion this course to the next level.
You should be aware of the level of debt in the state which successive administrations have incurred, how would you run a successful government with the high level of debt?
If you do not take up the challenge you will continue to allow people to accumulate debt for the state. My will is to put a stop to debt owing. We must create investments that would boost the state’s Internally Generated Revenue of the state which is currently less than N1 billion.
We are going to diversify the economy and concentrate on sectors like tourism, agriculture. I would increase investment enough and create environment to attract investors.
We would tax the rich and the big hotels in the state and complete the abandoned five-star hotel project that former President Jonathan started so that people can come and see.
Bayelsa is where oil was first discovered in Nigeria. We would create a museum, a city out of Oloibiri, then develop Akasa and create a beach there. The environment in Akasa in Bayelsa is better than Miami in the US. If you sit in Brass at night you can sight Guinea. Bayelsa State is central to the Gulf of Guinea. You can get to Equatorial Guinea under one hour through boat from Brass. Hence, we can build partnership and build seaport.
We can use the opportunities to create wealth for the people. I am not going to run a debt owing state. There won’t be need to borrow to execute any project. Some of my partners are currently supporting some states in building infrastructures.
We would also team up with them. There are a lot of my partners who are looking for real business environment to invest; we can create that. The current administration created Bayelsa Development Centers in the United Kingdom and South Africa but not many investments have come to the state through this means.
In one year, we can bring about 500 companies in Bayelsa. We can create massive employment under one year, in fact about 50,000 jobs, viable jobs, not N10, 000 jobs or street sweeping jobs. We are going to create job that comes with job security. Wealth to me is not about how much I have in my account but how many lives I have been able to touch and that is why I want the people to vote for me. I have done that in the past.
Majority of the militants from the Niger Delta regional are from your state, what is your plan for them?
I do not see them as militants, rather, I see some of them as professionals. For example, on a high sea and on a very high level of water pressure, someone uses a speed boat to kidnap somebody and still uses the speed boat to escape with his victim. It requires a lot of technicalities to do what they are doing.
We would try to ensure that they channel their energy into productive ventures. We would show them the light to enable them use their potentials rightly and this will further strengthen the state.
That is where human capacity development comes in. I have started meeting with some of them and they have been impressed that someone within their age bracket is coming out for a post like governor, while some of them have not responded.
Well, but we would keep them informed about the dynamics of contemporary politics which largely involves youth participation.
How realistic is it for you to run the state without borrowing funds when elected as governor?
My business is not in debt. You must take loan to fund massive projects but the strategy we have used to run our business is to build partnership and that would be adopted too.
See, running a state is not so different from running a business. Some state governors were able to leave office with good reserves without debt. What we have is enough to sustain the state.
For instance, most investors have it in their business plan that they are going to get gas from Bayelsa and this makes the state very strategic. And we are going to build investment around this with the support of the Federal Government to ensure that we create massive wealth for our people. Our aim is that we transform Bayesa to a point that everyone would become proud of it.
Considering the current level of threat to life in Bayelsa due to kidnapping and hostage taking, how do you intend to ensure the safety of foreign investors and provide basic facilities which they are used to from where they are coming?
We would use Bayelsa as example for modern facilities by Optic fibre network. You would have access to internet from anywhere you are. There are companies that are willing to come and do this and thankfully people are beginning to key into this.
For security, I believe that once the people have a sense of belonging, the state becomes secured. This strategy was used in Borno and it is working. The environment becomes safe once you build confidence and the people are part of the projects.
We must transmit values that would sensitize the people so they would know that they are critical stakeholders in the system. People will be able to access me as this would help to build their trust.
How do you intend to dislodge political heavyweights like the incumbent governor, Dickson and Timipre Silva who are currently rumoured to be interested in the governorship race?
It is not about me, it is not just Moses Siasia, it is a movement. The people's will is more important in politics. This was evident in the last general elections. Power is going back to the people and this is what would happen in Bayelsa too.
Former President Jonathan is from Bayelsa and is expected to be the Godfather in the state. Do you have his support already or hoping to?
People's perception of godfathers in politics really worries me some times. I understand that there is need to gather the support of the heavyweights. I will consult the former president.
I know he is open to the voice of the youth as seen in his works while in office and this is the time for him to show again that he believes in the youth.
Does the ethnic game on ground in Bayelsa favour you? And how would you ensure that you are accepted at the grassroots?
I strongly believe in professionalism so I don't discuss matters like ethnicity or zoning formula. The incumbent governor is from my part of the state, he has used for years and I will also use four years. The choice is there for the people to make and they would make it rightly, I believe that we do not have buy people's vote because the people are wise now.
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BPP, BPE bicker over N1.45b PHCN’s liquidation contracts
The dust raised by the controversial disbursement of N1.45 billion as consultancy fees for the liquidation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc. will take more time to settle. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) – the two federal agencies involved in the unbundling process – are locked in a blame-trading game. Writes Managing Editor YUSUF ALLI.
DESPITE denial by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), that it followed due process before disbursing N1.45 billion, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) rejected the award of N929 million contracts to a legal adviser for the winding up of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
Also, the payment of N500 million to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) as consultancy service fee was not routed through the BPP.
These clarifications were contained in some documents made available to The Nation against the backdrop of the N1.45 billion fraud which is causing disquiet in the BPE.
In a statement, the BPE had on Tuesday admitted payment of the curious sums and claimed that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) in a September 17, 2014 letter titled: (HAGF/BP/2014/Vol.1, withdrew its objection to the award of the legal advisory services for the winding up of PHCN.
The BPE also said it obtained a “No Objection” letter from the BPP.
However, a highly-placed source in the presidency said: “Based on the facts available to the government, the BPP did not issue a Certificate of No Objection to BPE for the award of the N929, 613,188.94 for legal service for the winding up of PHCN.
“Under the Public Procurement Act, no contract can be awarded by any MDA (Ministry, Department and Agency) without a Certificate of No Objection from BPP. The BPE has lied. When was the certificate issued and when was the contract awarded and executed before the payment was made?
“In fact, the former vice president in his memo of February 23, 2015 to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan only recommended the award of contract of N517, 694, 100.00 to an Asset Adviser (Ora Egbunike Associates).
“On his part, ex-President Jonathan on April 4, 2015, approved the award of contract to only the Asset Adviser. There is no memo on the legal services and the N500 million consultancy fees.”
Also, fresh documents obtained by The Nation showed that the BPP on September 22, 2014, and December 24, 2014, rejected the award of the legal service contract.
The September 22, 2014 memo reads in part: “This is to refer to your letter dated April 4th, 2014. Please find herewith a revised Due Process Review Report No. BPP/DPR/SP/REPROT/2014/012C dated September, 2014 on the above mentioned project.
“The Director-General’s attention is further drawn to Section 12.30 of the revised Review Report for consideration and necessary action.
“In view of the above, Due Process Certificate of ‘No Objection’ cannot be granted to the Bureau of Public Enterprise for the Appointment of Messrs J. K Gadzama & Partners LPP with N929,613,188.94 for legal services and Ora Egbunike & Associates with N517,694,100.00 for asset evaluation.
“However, Due Process Certificate of ‘No Objection’ can be granted to the Bureau of Public Enterprises only for the Appointment of Messrs Ora Egbunike & Associates with N517,694,100.00.
“The Legal Advisory Services for the winding up of PHCN is no longer required based on the advice of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice vides letter reference no. HAGF/BPP/2014/VOL.1 dated 11th September, 2014.”
In another letter on December 24, 2014, the BPP advised the BPE against going ahead with the procurement of the legal service for the winding up of PHCN.
The BPP, in the letter signed by its Director-General, Mr. Emeka M. Ezeh, said no instruction was received from the AGF nullifying the earlier directive.
He said the BPP was “therefore constrained by the directive of the HAGF, hence cannot reverse the earlier verdict.”
The letter said: “The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) having examined the request wishes to draw the attention of the BPE to Paragraph 14 of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation (HAGF)’s letter to the BPP referenced that; item 1,3,5,6 and 8 of the scope of work for the Legal Advisor unnecessary for the liquidation of the PHCN.
“Similarly, any of the remaining items 2,4,7 and 9 which are not contemplated by the procedure described in Sections 457 -468 (and there is hardly any contemplated) would equally be unnecessary to accomplish the liquidation”.
“It can be deduced from the above citation that the HAGF’s position on this procurement clearly indicates that legal advisory service is not needed as all constituent items (1-9) under unnecessary as listed by the HAGF constitute all items under the legal advisory service, as such; no item is left for BPP’s consideration for a further review.
“Moreover, I am to reiterate my earlier opinion that the proposed engagement of consultants for provision of legal advisory services for the liquidation of PHCN and valuation of PHCN’s non-core headquarters assets is inconsistent with the provisions and spirit of the EPSR Act and the proposed agreement to this effect should not be executed by the parties”.
This is the conclusion of the HAGF letter, contrary to BPE’s agitation for a revised scope of work.
“The BPP wishes to further draw the attention of the BPE to Paragraph 2(v) (i) of the minutes of meeting between the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) on engagement of advisers for the winding up of PHCN, procurement for selection of consultants for training and counselling of old employees of PHCN and extension of CPSC Transcom International Ltd (BPE’S adviser for the privatisation of PHCN successor companies) held on Thursday, September 11, 2014, at the BPP Conference Room, wherein, a conclusion was reached that; the BPP will consider reversing its decision on the procurement under reference only when further instruction from the AGF nullifying the earlier directive is received.
“The conclusion reached at the meeting was consented to by both parties (BPP and BPE), and was in line with the AGF’s letter to the Bureau. Copy of the minutes of the meeting attached herewith please.
“The BPP wishes to state at the moment, no instruction is received from the AGF nullifying the earlier directive. The BPP is therefore constrained by the directive of the HAGF, hence cannot reverse the earlier verdict.
“In view of the foregoing, “No Objection” cannot be granted to the BPE to carry out renegotiation with Messrs. J-K Gadzama for Legal Advisory Services for the Winding up of PHCN.”
The BPE’s unreferenced letter, dated December 11, 2014, but which was received at the Bureau on the December 19, 2014, requested the BPP to grant “No Objection” to carry out renegotiation with Messrs. J-K Gadzama in line with the new scope of work as advised by the HAGF.
The BPE’s stated: “We write to draw your kind attention to Paragraph 5 of your letter under reference where it was stated that the legal advisory services for the winding up of PHCN is no longer required based on the advice of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
“Please refer to the Paragraph 4 of the letter from the office of Attorney General dated 11th September, 2014 where it was mentioned that; “This is however subject to the fees of the consultant for legal advisory services being reviewed to a realistic sum to reflect the actual services to be rendered mindful of the fact that the liquidation of PHCN is merely notional and will not involve most of the services outlined in the Consultant’s Scope of Work”.
The Bureau observes that the advice of the Attorney-General of the Federation means proposed a winding up option (voluntary winding up) under sections 457 – 468 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990 (CAMA). This was also stated in paragraph 12.3.3 of your letter under reference.
“In compliance with the directive of the Attorney-General of the Federation, a revised scope of work for the Consultant based on his advice has been prepared by the Bureau preparatory to renegotiation with the legal advisory consultant.
Accordingly, we request you to grant the “No Objection” to carry out the renegotiation with Messrs. J-K Gadzama in line with the new scope of work as advised by the Attorney General of Federation.”
BPE’s defence
The BPE however explained its position on the N1.45 billion row in a statement by its Head, Public Communications, Mr. Alex E. Okoh.
The statement reads: “The BPE therefore wishes to clarify certain misconceptions on some of its transactions as follows:
•That the contract sum of N929, 613,188.94 – legal fees for the winding up of PHCN.
•That the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) at its meeting held on Thursday, May 9, 2013, considered and approved the award of a contract to Messrs J.K. Gadzama & Partners as the Consultant, Legal advisory Services for the winding up of PHCN Plc in the sum of Nine hundred and twenty nine million, six hundred and thirteen thousand, one hundred and eighty –eight naira, ninety-nine kobo (N929,613,188.94) only for a period of six (6) months after obtaining a BPP ‘No Objection’.
•That the Office of Attorney-General had earlier objected to the necessity of the procurement, but later withdrew its objection and endorsed the engagement of Messrs Gadzama & Partners for the legal advisory services vide a letter presented to the NCP ref: HAGF/BPP/2014/Vol.1, dated 17th, September 2014.
•That consequently, the Council at its meeting held on April 16, 2015, finally approved that BPE should immediately proceed to execute the contract with Messrs J’K’ Gadzama & Partners as the Consultant, Legal Advisory Services for the winding up of PHCN Plc in the sum of N929,613,188.94 based on the “No Objection” earlier granted by BPP.
•That the legal consultancy is to notate the over 500 court cases pending against PHCN to NELMCO and also provide routes of title to purchasers of PHCN non-core assets as well as wind down PHCN among other terms of reference.
•That payment of N500million to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation as consultancy.
That the OAGF via memos with reference numbers: OAGF/SD/ABJ/247/1V/984 dated October 18, 2013 and OAGF/SD/247/V/1032 dated December 5, 2013, had written to the Office of the Vice President to be reimbursed N500 million as expenses the office incurred for the handling of the payment of the labour liabilities of the workers of the PHCN.”
The liabilities according to the statement included: payment for the engagement of an Information Technology (IT) consultant, who had been conducting integrity and quality checks on data for payment submitted by the BPE; payment to a consultant, who undertook an IT-based reconciliation between its (OAGF)’s record of payment and reports received from the paying banks and purchase of consumable items like toner, papers, compact disk, flash drive among others stationeries.
Others were: cost of adverts on the payment exercise in several national newspapers and payment of allowances to staff of the OAGF, who worked overtime including on Saturdays and Sundays to ensure the payments were effected without delay.
“The OAGF had argued in the memos that the approval of the amount was necessary because of the meagre overhead allocations in their 2013 and 2014 budgets and the exercise had exerted on financial position of the office. Based on this, the NCP gave approval for the disbursement of the sums. Note that government does not pay consultancy fees to its agencies; it only covers the cost of getting the job done.”
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First Lady: don’t pay any money to see President
First Lady Aisha Buhari has warned influence peddlers never to collect money from people who want to see the President.
She spoke on Saturday night during “an appreciation dinner at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in honour of All Progressives Congress (APC) women and youths who played a major role in President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the March 28 election.
She said: “There is nothing people did not say about the past administration. It is not Jonathan that is not good but the people around him.
“So, the people that are going to be around President Buhari have to be very careful because this election ended peacefully.
“We are praying and hoping that people around him should know that it took him 12 years to get to that position and they must know that they are coming to serve the masses, not President Buhari in person.
“It is the people that are around him that will determine the political health of our state.”
Stressing that the Buhari administration would run an open government, Mrs. Buhari said it would be run in clear departure from what obtained in the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration when people were allegedly asked to pay money in foreign currency before they could see the President or his wife.
She said: “I will like to inform you that in the past regime, whether it is true or false, only God knows, some people were going round and parading themselves as Personal Assistants.
“If you wanted to see the First Lady, you would pay $30,000 or $50,000 and if you were seeing the President, you would pay all that you have gathered in your lifetime.
“This will not happen in our regime. Whoever asks you to give a single penny in the name of coming to see the President or his wife is not our staff. He is not an APC member, it is a lie. Don’t be deceived.”
Noting that she did not take part in the campaigns of her husband in the first three times he contested and failed, Mrs Buhari said her active participation in the last electioneering made the difference.
According to her, APC National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu encouraged her to play an active role in the Buhari campaign.
She said: “Many people did not know why I was not appearing for the last three campaigns. I appeared only this time and I think it made a lot of difference. A lot of people said my husband earned four million votes as a result of my campaign.
“We were not sure but with the popularity of my husband, we thought then that he needed female support to cancel the all sorts of gender problems people have been attaching to him, like saying he kept me under a purdah.
“He had never kept me under a purdah even for a moment since I got married to him.
“Even now, by the recent campaigns, it was Bola Ahmed Tinubu who insisted that I should come out and support my husband. Not that I never liked supporting my husband but it all depended on the people around him; that was before.
“And now too, it is the people around him that showed that they wanted me to participate. We did and we have seen the difference.”
She said Buhari was the pillar of her success, despite the generation gap between the two of them, as he even encouraged her to go to school.
“My husband is a gender-sensitive human being, having so many girls as his own biological children and then having me as a wife; you can see the generation gap. He allowed me to go to school. To cut the story short, he is the pillar of my success.”
When Tinubu continued pestering her to join the campaign train, Mrs. Buhari said, she sought her husband’s approval.
Mrs. Buhari first appeared at a rally in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
According to her, the greatest challenge she faced during the campaigns was security.
She recounted how the wife of Zamfara State Governor told her how supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stopped their convoy from returning to Gusau, the state capital, up until 4am at a point.
She said she had her own experience when she joined the campaign train to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who was the chairman of the event, thanked Mrs. Buhari and other women for making his job as the Director-General of the Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Organisation easy.
He recalled that before the President’s wife joined the campaign, some Nigerians were asking for her and after she joined their attention shifted to whether Buhari had a certificate or not.
He said: “Before you (Mrs. Buhari) joined us, they were asking for his wife. When we presented his wife, they were asking for his certificate.
“When we presented certificate, they said he was sick in London. Our president is strong and healthy. He visited 35 states during the election.
“Thank you for your reply when they asked if women will want to go and give food to their husbands in prison. You made our jobs easier.
I wish all women who took part in the campaign God’s blessing.”
The National Women Leader of APC, Hajia Ramatu Tijani, advised the party leadership to ensure they deliver on the change they promised Nigerians.
She said that the dinner was organised to appreciate those who made the change possible by touring all parts of the country to campaign for the party.
She said: “This is the night for those who share our dream for change. It is for those who toiled across the country for victory. This event is meant to appreciate those who made the change possible.”
Tinubu was represented by Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who read his brief remark titled: “This change is about women.”
Others at the dinner included the Vice President’s wife Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo; Senate President Bukola Saraki’s wife, Toyin; wife of the House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara’s wife, Gimbia and APC National Chairman’s wife, Victoria Odigie-Oyegun.
Also at the dinner were wives of APC governors, APC female deputy governors; wives of former governors on the platform of the party and other top officials of the party across the country.
