The Nation Newspaper

Tag: implementation

  • Experts list hurdles to IFRS implementation

    Experts list hurdles to IFRS implementation

    Income taxes, employee benefits, business combinations and share-based payments pose challenges for banks in the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), The Nation has learnt.

    The Managing Director, IFRS Strategic Consultants Nigeria Limited, David Raggay, who confirmed this in a statement, said these areas, termed, accounting for financial instruments, remain a hard knot for banks to crack.

    He explained that for financial instruments, the difficulties arise from a mixed-measurement model promulgated under the relevant standards. For instance, there are four standards in issue by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which relate to financial instruments. They are: IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation; IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement; IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures; and IFRS 9 Financial Instruments.

    Chairman of Publicity Committee, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Chukwuemeka Eze, said IFRS presents some daunting challenges for tax consultants, especially where the tax free areas in the old system contradicts with the IFRS format.

    Eze, who spoke with The Nation yesterday, said the method of computing in the IFRS differs from the old system. “The IFRS may not have given a headline in areas such as taxing profits, salaries of directors or other remunerations,” he said.

    He said that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), CITN and other stakeholders in taxation are already looking at ways of harmonizing and addressing these challenges.

    Former Chairman of the IASB, Sir David Tweedie disclosed that IFRS 7, which bothers on disclosures, will lead to greater transparency about the risks that entities run from the use of financial instruments. This, combined with the new requirements in IAS 1, will provide better information for investors and other users of financial statements to make informed judgments about risk and return”.

    The key objective of IFRS 7 is to provide disclosure requirements that enable users of financial statements to evaluate: the significance of financial instruments for the entity’s financial position and performance; the nature and extent of risks to which the entity is exposed; and how the entity manages financial risks.

     

  • ‘Fed Govt starts 2013 budget implementation’

    ‘Fed Govt starts 2013 budget implementation’

    The Federal Government has started the Implementation of the 2013 budget, with the release of N400 billion first quarter capital vote, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Jonah Otunla, has said.

    In a statement, the Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Paul Nwabuikwu, said the N400 billion capital was released “to give fresh impetus to the execution of projects captured in Budget 2013.”

    He said: “Of this amount, N120 billion had been frontloaded to cater for two important initiatives: N75 billion for retiring bonds which have come due. This is in line with the new debt management strategy which focuses on reducing the stock and flow of debt in a proactive manner and N45 billion for the payment of Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s (PHCN) workers.”

    Otunla, who spoke at the end of the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, yesterday, said that the implementation of the 2013 budget was triggered after the FAAC meeting where the three tiers of government collected their cheques from the Federation Account.

    Last week, the Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had hinted that the implementation of this year’s budget would take off after the FAAC meeting this week.

    At the end of the FAAC meeting for last month, N886.402 billion was shared among the three tiers of government.

    This amount comprises N450.263 billion statutory disbursements to the federal, state and local governments; N62.707 billion as Value Added Tax (VAT); N173.505 billion augmentation for the month; N35.549 billion from SURE-P; N7.617 billion refund by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and N156.761 billion arrears of January, 2013 augmentation (December, last year account).

    From the statutory allocations, the Federal Government received N209.856 billion or 52.68 per cent of the net sum, states on their part, got a cheque of N106.442 billion or 26.72 per cent, while the 774 local governments received N82.062 billion or 20.60 per cent on the net statutory allocation.

    However, the House of Representatives said it has uncovered a plot by the Executive to undermine the implementation of the budget.

    The Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation (BOF), Dr Bright Okogwu, allegedly instructed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to ignore the 2013 Appropriation Act and work in accordance with a yet-to-be-seen amended Act.

    The House has, however, summoned the Budget Office chief to appear before the Appropriation and Finance Committees and explain the content of the memo.

    Minority Whip, Mr Samson Osagie (ACN, Edo) who raised the issue under a matter of urgent public importance, said MDAs were directed by Okogwu to implement only the amended part of the Act.

    “The action of the DG of Budget Office is an infraction on the powers of the National Assembly, as well as an attempt to stop at nothing, but to blackmail the legislature.

    “We must sound a note of warning here that no proposed amended budget shall be implemented by the MDAs, other than what was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President,” he said.

  • ‘How workers frustrate NHIS implementation in states’

    Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has accused workers of frustrating state government’s willingness to implement the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

    Uduaghan, who made this known in Asaba, while contributing to discussions at the First National Health conference organised by Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), said the workers do this through their refusal to embrace the scheme.

    According to him, NHIS may not be replicated in the states, unless the workers agree to contribute to it.

    He said he was aware that a legislation to compel every employer and employee in the country to be enrolled on the scheme was in the offing, adding that beyond a law, advocacy was needed to make the scheme operational at the state level.

    According to him, relevant government authorities need to carry out serious advocacy and enlightenment on NHIS beyond just enactment of an act to compel workers to register in it.

    He said NMA had a big role to play in the acceptability of the scheme.

    Uduaghan urged NMA leadership to organise sessions to educate their members on the need to embrace the programme by agreeing to contribute from their salaries.

    The governor noted that workers in the state were quick to accept contributing to the Retirement Pension Scheme “not just because it is lawful, but because it has direct financial benefit to them.

    “With the pension, the workers quickly accepted to contribute because they know that they will get the money when they retire,” he said.

    On ways to achieve universal health coverage in the country, he called for training of physicians on preventive medicine, especially for those working in degraded environment.

    “The environment in states in the Niger Delta has been adversely affected, with water, air, soil and everything polluted,’’ he said.

    He noted that in such areas, ailments among the people were more in their psyche.

    The governor, therefore, said they need not just regular curative medication but more of counselling on preventive methods.

  • ICAN seeks nationwide implementation of cashless policy

    With an estimate of N3.5 trillion circulating yearly within the unbanked and under-banked (constituting over 10 million traders), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria(ICAN) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the cashless policy outside Lagos to bring more cash into the system.

    In addition, the institute said spreading the policy outside of Lagos will help the government in its anticorruption and anti-money laundering campaign.

    Addressing the institute’s 17th Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) annual conference, ICAN President, Mr Adedoyin Owolabi said when cash remains outside the banking system ,the ability of banks to create credit and supply productive capital to the economy will diminish.

    His words: “Bringing cash into the banking system produces an equal increase in bank reserves, enabling banks to facilitate more consumer and commercial loans, thereby stimulating consumption and business growth.”He stressed that the institute supports the cashless policy not only because it can promote transparency of transactions through the provisions of audit trails but also because it can increase the size of the informal economy and access by government to loanable funds.

    On the AAT scheme, Owolabi said it has generated interest among school leavers ,including undergraduates of higher institutes in other disciplines. This, he attributed, to the scheme’s certificate acceptability by employers of labour and rising demand for the programme across the West African sub region.

     

  • Fed Govt begins implementation of housing for teachers

    Fed Govt begins implementation of housing for teachers

    The Federal Government has begun the full implementation of the Housing for All Teachers Scheme (HATS), with a view to ensuring that teachers have access to affordable shelter.

    Minister of State for Education Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, who spoke in Abuja yesterday when he received the report of the Ministerial Committee on HATS, noted that President Goodluck Jonathan was committed to the welfare of teachers.

    He directed the Legal Unit of the Federal Ministry of Education to perfect the land titles sent in by states to ensure the building of houses by accredited developers takes off.

    The minister said by next month construction would begin in states where land allocation issues have been concluded between the Federal Government and such states.

    He said: “We are committed to this project. By January, we will commence work through the developers in all states where land allocation matters have been concluded.

    “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria on the delivery of this project. No developer is allowed to source funds from commercial banks. This is to ensure that the houses are within the reach of teachers.”

    Wike hailed the committee for setting the implementation of the housing for all teachers in motion, assuring teachers that government would ensure their welfare.

    Presenting the HATS report to the minister, the Chairman of the committee and Director of Procurement, Federal Ministry of Education, Mallam Shehu Aliyu, said some states have made available plots of land for the implementation of the programme.

    He recommended the verification and validation of the developers appointed by the past HATS committee, using the guidelines by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

    The HATS committee has the representatives of the NUT, Federal Ministry of Education and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria as members.

     

  • Ken Saro-wiwa: Groups seek implementation of UNEP report

    A coalition of civil society organisations and the Ethnic Minority Battle for Group Freedom (EMIROAF) yesterday urged the Federal Government to implement the report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to remedy the environmental degradation of Ogoniland.

    They spoke at the 17th Memorial Lecture of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was killed on November 10, 1995, by the late Gen. Sani Abacha-led military government.

    The Chief Executive of the Centre for 21st Century Issues, Mrs. Titi Akosa, said the late activist died fighting for his people.

    She said: “He died for this cause, to ensure that those who polluted Ogoniland through oil exploration were brought to book.

    “Sixteen years after, we can see that he fought for the right cause. The water in Ogoniland cannot be drunk because it contains hydrocarbon, yet the Federal Government has not taken any step to implement the UNEP report.

    “Are we going to sit down and allow the Ogoni people to die? Should we put business and profit above human life? Should we make business out of environmental degradation? We stand for equity and justice for our people. We need to speak up and ensure that the recommendations of the report are implemented.”

    EMIROAF Secretary-General in Nigeria Alfred Ilenre said the late Saro-Wiwa was clear in his writings, words and actions that Nigeria’s formation had serious fundamental defects that questioned its validity as a nation state.

    Illenre said: “The late Ken Saro-Wiwa was of the opinion that lumping together nationalities with different historical, biological, cultural, linguistic and ethnic background without their free and informed consent assaulted human sensibility.

    “Many of the threats to Nigeria’s security since Independence in 1960 stem from the central government’s imposition of arbitrary policies on the federating regions/states.

    “They include the contrived 1999 Constitution; reversal of the revenue sharing formula, which appropriated too much money to the centre, more than it has the capacity to manage; the imposition of the supervisory local government system, which displaced the efficient part-time councillorship management committee system in Southern Nigeria; the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP); the abandonment of the more effective, self-reliant and dependable Parliamentary System for the corruption-ridden Unitarian Presidential System.”

  • Budget: Senate slams Education, Housing for poor implementation

    Budget: Senate slams Education, Housing for poor implementation

    The Senate yesterday expressed worry that the 2012 budget implementation is still below 50 per cent, 41 days to the end of the 2012 fiscal year.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije and his counterpart in the Committee on Housing, Land and Urban Development, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, expressed the disappointment of the Senate over the development.

    The lawmakers spoke separately at the 2013 budget defence of the Ministries of Education and Housing, Land and Urban Development in Abuja.

    Chukwumerije noted that while it was commendable that the level of allocation to the education sector for 2013 went up, it was regrettable that the level of implementation of the 2012 budget remained below 50 per cent.

    He said while the scenario holds true for all the sectors, its impact on the education sector is most severe.

    Chukwumerije said it is of importance that the executive arm of the government appreciates the imperative of releasing funds in time.

    He said the oversight visit of his committee to a number of institutions identified the three main deficiencies in the areas of infrastructure, faculty and content.

    The lawmaker noted that while funding may not be adequate to deal with the deficiencies, it is the intention of the committee to evolve and find a solution to the contents and access to content problem.

    According to him, the ultimate goal of an academic institution is to deliver effective content.

    The total budget allocation proposed for the Education sector in the 2013 budget estimate is N427.515 billion, as against N409.531 billion allocated to the sector in the 2012 budget.

    This amounts to an increase of about N17.984 billion for 2013.

    But Senator Chukwumerije regretted a decrease of N6.692 billion in the proposed capital estimate of the Education Ministry, saying the sharp decrease is not healthy for a sector that needs improved funding to address decayed infrastructural facilities, renovation of dilapidated hostels, classrooms and laboratories in tertiary institutions.

    He noted that although the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF) is assisting in intervening in the funding of special projects in tertiary institutions and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in basic education and secondary institutions, there is need to increase the capital cost of institutions.

    The committee, he assured, “hopes to look into this unnecessary shortfall in capital cost to reposition our institutions in world ranking and provide an enviable learning environment for our children.”

    Chukwumerije appealed to the executive arm to complement the intended early passage of the 2013 budget by the release of the amount appropriated by the National Assembly.

    Senator Ibrahim said from the document available to his committee, what has been released to the Ministry of Housing, Land and Urban Development is N18.3 billion.

    The amount, he said, is below 50 per cent of the total allocation to the ministry for 2012.

    Ibrahim lamented that going by the submission from the ministry, the budget performance is only 43 per cent.

    He said he wondered how the budget performance of the ministry would be improved when it remained only 41 days to the end of the fiscal year.

    He alleged: “The Minister of Finance keeps lying that the budget performance is 56 per cent.

    “But Madam Minister (referring to the Minister of Housing, Ms Amal Pepple), you will agree with me that your budget performance is 43 per cent.

    “The Minister of Finance keeps lying to Nigerians about budget performance.

    “The Ministry of Finance is a big magician. It fiddles with figures.

    “Those in the Ministry of Finance think they know everything when they don’t know anything.”

    The committee was not comfortable that the ministry spent N85 million on trips to allegedly supervise a project meant to cost N20 million.

    According to the committee, the ministry should have reduced the number of trips to save money for the project.

    The committee was informed that the ministry has over 40,000 land cases.

    Head, Legal Department of the ministry, Bose Bakare, also said the ministry has nine lawyers to handle the cases.

    She told the committee that the court cases are mostly scattered in Abuja, Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Enugu and Oyo states.

  • Deputy Speaker assures on implementation of views

    HOUSE of Representatives Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha has assured Nigerians that their views would form the frame work for the new constitution.

    Ihedioha spoke at Mbutu, Mbaise Local Government in Imo State during the constitutional Review Session.

    He encouraged Nigerians to contribute positively to the review.

    The Deputy Speaker, who is also the secretary of the National Committee on Constitution review session, said the essence of organising the review outside the National Assembly was to capture the views of the people.

    He said the constitution would not be complete without the views of the people at the grassroots.

    Ihedioha promised that whatever decision reached would not be manipulated.

    State creation and rotational presidency dominated discussions at Ohaji-Egbema/Oguta Federal Constituency, held at the Oguta Civic Centre in Oguta Local Government.

    The participants, who unanimously voted for the creation of 12 more states with three in the Southeast, argued that the zone is marginalised in the present arrangement.

  • ‘2012 budget’s implementation very embarrassing’

    ‘2012 budget’s implementation very embarrassing’

    The President has presented the 2013 Budget proposal to the National Assembly. What are your views?

    The timing of the Budget presentation is appropriate because it was done in the nick of time. This will afford the Senate and the House of Representatives sufficient time to study and brainstorm on the content, with a view to ensuring early passage as the case may be.

    It is a good development, because this is a clear departure from the past when the Budget proposal s were presented almost at the tail end of the year, leaving little time for proper deliberations and scrutiny by the lawmakers.

    As it were, the Budget document as presented by the President remains a proposal until both chambers of the National Assembly study it and make necessary amendments, where necessary, based on the priorities and needs of the masses. As you are very much aware, the National Assembly has the constitutional mandate to harmonize the budget proposal, at the end of which it will be returned to the President for his assent as required by the constitution and the Appropriation Act.

    Are you saying that the National Assembly will tinker with the budget and make amendments?

    Yes, of course. We have the constitutional obligation to do the best we can to make provisions for the basic needs of the masses. It is a collective responsibility.

    Let me remind you that in 2012, the President presented a Budget of N4.7 trillion. However, after the necessary appraisals and reviews, the National Assembly scaled the budget value to N4.877 trillion. With all intents and purposes, it was a modest increase, based on the realities of the moment at that time.

    The budget proposal for 2013, however, is N4.92 trillion as presented by Mr President. This figure represents an increase of about 5 per cent when compared to the proposal for the year 2012. Combined Defence and Security vote is N1.055 trillion, representing an increase of N135 billion over this year’s allocation.

    What are some of the other general features of the 2013 budget proposal?

    Education sector was allocated N426.53 billion, Health got N279.23 billion, Works is allocated N183.5 billion, while Agriculture and Rural Development was allocated N81.41 billion.

    There were a number of fiscal policies in the Budget proposal aimed at boosting economic growth and general development of the nation.

    As the vice chairman of Senate Committee on Water Resources, how much was voted for the sector as Capital expenditure in the 2013 budget?

    The total amount proposed in the 2013 budget as capital expenditure for Water Resources is N39, 876,340,812., that is N39.8 billion.

    In the 2012 budget, the capital expenditure for Water Resources was N79, 388,019,069., that is N79.3 billion. You can see that we have a short fall of about N40 billion in the 2013 budget proposal.

    Remember that when the 2012 budget was presented last year, I complained that the allocation to the Water Resources sector was grossly inadequate, but this year again the proposal for 2013 is even far less when compared to the previous year.

    Ordinarily, a sector as important as Water Resources should attract much higher allocation, considering the ever rising need for potable water for domestic use in all nook and cranny of the country and of course for irrigation and animal consumption.

    The sad incident of flood disaster across the nation is not and cannot be an indication that Nigeria has gotten more than its requirement of water that would warrant the cutting down or reduction of funds for the provision of water.

    There is a fundamental difference between potable water for domestic use and sanitation on one hand and flood water on the other.

    I think the only consolation we have here is the capacity of the National Assembly to effect some amendment and review the budget proposal as presented.

    How would you assess the level of implementation of the 2012 budget?

    With all sense of modesty, the level or percentage of the implementation of the 2012 budget is very low. We are now in the month of October, with only two months to the end of the year but the 2012 budget has not been implemented up to 40 per cent by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Surprisingly, almost everywhere, the necessary funds required to match the budget proposals have not been released. It is very embarrassing.

    In some cases, as at the end of September, 2012, the MDAs have not been able to secure the release of up to 30 per cent budget funds. You will then begin to wonder the reasons for the disconnect between budget proposal and the actual release of the required funds to accelerate national development.

    If budgets are drawn up and there are difficulties in sourcing the approved funds to execute identified or listed projects, then what is the essence of budgeting in the first place? It becomes a mere waste of time and energy, as well as resources and of course short changing the people when you fail to make the required funds available for the practical implementation of such budget proposals.

    Certainly, something is wrong somewhere, otherwise the question of failure to release budget funds to the appropriate implementing agencies should not arise.

    Why is it so?

    It is the responsibility of the Executive arm of government to ensure the prompt release of funds for the implementation of budget proposals.

    I am not very sure, but it appears there are elements of ineffectiveness and lack of sincerity on the one hand and lack of proper coordination between the various agencies; probably that is why it has been consistently difficult to implement budgets to an appreciable level.

    This inadequacy is directly undermining the capacity of the nation to make any meaningful progress, while the masses are always at the receiving end because the funds voted for their welfare and development are routinely held back without any verifiable justification, only to be mopped back into the federation account at the end of each year. In some cases, it becomes even very difficult to identify where these unspent budget funds are retired to or what becomes of it.

    As I said earlier, the 2012 budget in particular has not been implemented up to 40 per cent. For instance, I am a member of the Senate Committee on Health; we had interactive session with all the Chief Medical Directors of Federal Medical Centres in the country at the end of September and early October this year. None of them have been able to secure the release of up to 30 per cent of the funds voted in the 2012 budget for their various institutions. You can only imagine the negative effect of such development to the Healthcare delivery system.

    Everywhere, the story is the same, no one has been able to secure up to 50 per cent of funds allocated in the budget as at October, 2012.

    There have been insinuations that funds to finance the 2012 budget have been used to offset the expenses of President Goodluck Jonathan election in 2011. What is your reaction to this allegation?

    I doubt very much, it is simply an idle talk and illogical for anyone to make such a wild and unsubstantiated allegation or claim.

    Before and after the 2011 general elections, the revenue accruable to the Federation Account has been stable, there was no national emergency that warranted extra-ordinary expenditure by the government and as I speak with you, we have more than $40 billion in the nation’s external reserve. By this simple analysis, how can you then substantiate claims that the budget funds for the 2012 fiscal year were dissipated upfront to foot election expenses? I doubt very much.

  • ‘House is serious about 2012 budget implementation’

    ‘House is serious about 2012 budget implementation’

    Has the position of the House of Representatives changed its position on the 2012 budget? Is the House capable of carrying out the impeachment?

    There are some issues that made us resolve that Mr. President must meet a certain level of implementation of the 2012 budget. He brought a proposal which the House sat and examined and later invited various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to come and defend the same. After our meeting with the MDAs, the clean copy of the resolution was passed across to the president, so, if it was presented to the president and he signed it to law, then the law must be implemented. We alleged then that it was not performing well but the presidency debunked it and later agreed with us that the budget performance, as at July, was 30%, n they later claimed it has risen to 70% implementation.

    Now, the Speaker has directed all the committees to invite all the MDA to come and tell us how far they have gone on the level of the implementation of their budget. If we discover that the level of the implementation of the budget is still not up to our expectation, I tell you we go ahead with the impeachment procedure. The House is serious about the implementation of the 2012 budget.

    The Southwest is clamouring for regional integration. What is your view on this?

    Regional integration is an essential part of what I’ll call true federalism. This is when you have a weak centre and this will avail each region the opportunity to develop and grow at its own pace and enjoy the benefit of autonomy. But it is unfortunate that we are not really practicing fiscal federalism. If we allow states to take absolute control of the local government administration and create state police which are the components of true federalism, it will help to evaluate the performance of the each region. Furthermore, no region will speak in one voice that the federal government will not recognise. So, am in total support of regional integration and autonomy that is the only solution to our problems.

    Early this year, you moved a motion in the House to upgrade and rehabilitate Ibadan airport for the benefit of the people of Oyo State and it was said to be included in 2012 budget, why is this project not carried out?

    This is one of our complaints to the executive. The House resolved affirmatively on a motion and any individual should know that the resolution should be carried out without further delay. National Assembly resolved that the Ibadan airport should be upgraded and renovated to befitting standard and up till now the renovation and upgrading has not been done. Though, the money has been earmarked for the project and it has been included among the seven airports that are to be renovated across the country but the fund has not been released. My concern now is that the project is taking too long because it was included in this year’s budget and the year is going to an end. However, I hope work will soon start on the airport.

    As 2015 is fast approaching, do you think the defection of Senator Rasheed Ladoja to PDP will affect the electoral chances of your party in Oyo State?

    Senator Ladoja contested the last election under the platform of Accord; Chief Adebayo Akala also did on the platform of PDP. But to God be the glory Senator Abiola Ajimobi emerged as the winner. I can say this authoritatively that all of them contested with all seriousness. Either Senator Ladoja defected to PDP or all PDP members defected to Accord, with the way the present governor is carrying out his assignment in the state, ACN need not campaign in 2015 before they vote for us. All these people had ruled this state one way or the other in the past, and we all know their scorecard. By the time the present administration concluded its good work, our people will see the difference between somebody who want to serve his people and the past administrations in the state.

    Recently the Oyo State Government sacked over 3000 workers in the civil service. Don’t you think the people will see ACN as the enemy of the masses?

    Our people in Oyo State are more intelligent than that. Am sure they will rather see the present administration in the state as the right government. When the noise was too much, the state government set up a committee to investigate if some of the people who were sacked have genuine case, to our surprise some of these people could not come because they knew they were actually at fault. Falsification of age, falsification of result, some are collecting salary without working. So that is why the present administration decided they should leave the office for those who are young with genuine result and capable of doing the job. By the time they finish the exercise and more people are employed with all seriousness and authentic results, those who were complaining will later commend the effort of Governor Ajimobi for sanitising the civil service in the state. So, I think instead of them condemning the courage of the governor on his effort to put things in order in the state they should commend him.

    Do you think the performance and the strength of the ACN can stand the 2015 general election at the federal level?

    ACN is a very strong party both at the federal level and in at various regions. We are going to take the mantle of the leadership of this country come 2015. Though we may need to collaborate with some other opposition parties like CPC, ANPP, APGA among others which our leaders are discussing at the national level now. We want to come together and chase away this monster called PDP because every one of us can now see that the party cannot do it. PDP has been in the power for close to 14 years now and nothing good has come out of it. Educational system is not working, health system is zero, security system zero, water zero; so, we can now ask a question that what are these people doing to improve the standard of living of the masses? The answer is, nothing. The coalition of opposition parties this time around is going to work out and in 2015, we are going to chase them out of Aso Rock.