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Tag: LGs

  • On the new lease of life for LGs

    On the new lease of life for LGs

    Sir: A recent Supreme Court judgment granted financial autonomy to Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Areas.  The judgment which stressed that Nigeria’s 774 local government areas should control their finances was ground-breaking in many ways. It was also a judicial attempt to correct a historical injustice.

    Despite the valiant attempts of the drafters of the constitution, the flaws inherent in Nigeria’s federal structure have hit the local government especially hard. Local governments have remained at the receiving end of executive recklessness and legislative cowardice in many states.

    Working closely with state legislators, many governors who desire to govern their states as they deem fit, recognise the danger posed to their greed by the local government.  They are also acutely aware that they cannot properly line their pockets with state funds without suppressing the local government areas.

    So they usually rig local government elections to put their stooges in office or refuse outright to conduct elections, filling local government positions with their stooges as caretaker chairmen. .

    The result of this chilling chicanery is crippling underdevelopment that has continued to mire the grassroots in poverty and underdevelopment despite their undeniable status as the livewire of democracy in Nigeria.

     In many ways, the Supreme Court judgment is a victory for Nigerians at the grassroots, who have long been victims of the shameful failure of Nigerian leaders to get their acts together. The judgment has renewed hope that with better resource control and allocation to local government areas in the country, Nigeria’s prodigious resources will pour into areas where they are needed most. 

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    However, this surge of optimism must be tempered by the fact that though a battle has been won, the war is far from over. A key cause of Nigeria’s lethargic national development is executive disregard for judicial decisions. This often manifests in either ignoring court judgments entirely or obeying them only partially or in breach. Judgments that compel the executive to act in a particular way are frequently ignored or obeyed only in part, often with no serious consequences. The fear is that this far-reaching judgment which seeks to finally free local government areas from the shackles of state governments will be met with disdain.

    To prevent this from happening, Nigerians must maintain resolute vigil against the pseudo-democrats and despots they have as governors who constitute the greatest threat to the local government system in Nigeria. This should be done in salutary recognition of the place of the local government areas in Nigeria as the government closest to the grassroots and rural areas.

     Many rural communities in Nigeria are without basic infrastructure, clean water, decent healthcare or quality education. Neither do many of them have any access to decent employment opportunities. To add insult to injury, insecurity has compounded the woes of those who live in rural areas. Indeed, many who live in rural areas can argue that Nigeria rather than give them anything has taken all they had.

     The Supreme Court judgment is a historic opportunity to bring good governance to local government areas. It is a rare opportunity to breathe new life into the grassroots, which have contributed more than other areas to the growth of democracy in the country. It is time to repay those who live in rural areas for their unwavering faith in Nigeria’s democracy. The debt owed them for the invaluable contributions to the growth of democracy in Nigeria can only be repaid by good governance.

     To achieve this, free and fair elections must become the norm at all local government areas. This would ensure the transparent administration of local government areas. This would also bring about accountability in the use of public funds available to local government areas.

     Nigerians must prevail on state governors to abstain from usurping the powers of local government areas within their states. Now that the constitutional authority and autonomy of local government areas in the state has been reaffirmed, the powers, and duties of the local government areas can no longer be subject the whims and caprices of state governors.

     It is also another achievement for Tinubu administration which obtained the judgment in court and is showing signs that Nigeria may yet get it right.

    •Kene Obiezu,keneobiezu@gmail.com

  • LGs can now breathe

    LGs can now breathe

    The judgment of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to the country’s 774 local governments has raised fresh hopes that the third tier of government will again rise to its statutory duties. But, that is not all there is to the matter.

     The renewed optimism is premised in part, on the sterling performances of the local government councils in the past, especially immediately after the return of civil rule in 1999 in contrast with the morbid inactivity the tier of government was thereafter embroiled in. Any alteration in the relationship between the state governments and the local councils that has the prospects of enhancing the operational efficiency of that tier of governance is bound to elicit positive feelings.

    Such was the case last week when the Supreme Court granted copious reliefs to the local governments in the suit brought by the federal government against the state governors on the autonomy of the third tier of government.

    The seven-man panel of the apex court in the judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, declared that ‘a democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable’ and that the use of a caretaker committee amounts to a state government taking control of the local government in violation of the 1999 constitution.

    The Supreme Court ruled that the state government has no power or control to keep the local government council money or fund and that the council is entitled to local government allocation. In arriving at the decision, the apex court recognised that local government funds could either be paid through the state governments or directly to the councils.

    But it held that since paying through the states has not worked, ‘justice in this case demands that LG allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGs’.  The court then issued an order of injunction restraining the defendants or their privies from spending local government allocations.

    Other decisions of the court included a declaration that no state government should be paid any money meant for the local government and a directive for immediate compliance with the judgment.

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     By the judgement, the dispute over the financial autonomy of the local government councils has been finally laid to rest. Before the ruling, the federal government was remitting funds meant to the local councils through the joint accounts operated by the state and local governments.

    But the state governors frequently withheld funds accruing to the councils, devising sundry guises to deprive them of their share from the federation account. That unwholesome practice went on for nearly two decades despite the fact that the constitution clearly recognises the local councils as the third tier of government with clearly defined functions.

    Unable to get a fair share of the funds accruing to them, the councils became a ghost of their former selves incapable of performing even the routine functions assigned them in the fourth schedule of the constitution. Efforts by the last National Assembly to amend the constitution to grant financial autonomy to the councils met a brick wall when the bill was sent to the state assemblies for concurrent legislation. That effort was sabotaged by the state governors by mounting pressure on the state assemblies to vote against that visionary piece of legislation.

    That stalled the amendment and gave the governors unfettered access and control over local government funds. The yawning infrastructural gap, insecurity and decay in basic services provided by that level of governance, is a measure of the harm inflicted by the hijack of its funds. Not only did the governors corner and divert the funds, there was no conscious effort to address the array of debilitating challenges assailing the people at the grassroots.

    Ironically, the boundaries of the 774 local governments coincide with the boundaries of the country. By extrapolation, when you develop all these local governments, development would be evenly spread across the country. But the state governors, buoyed by the high level of corruption in public offices would rather hold on to LG funds.

    It was against this background the federal government approached the Supreme Court for its position on the vexed issues which have now been resolved in the favour of the local councils. It is a landmark judgment with a lot of promises for the tier of governance closest to the people.

    By the ruling, funds accruing to the LGs from the federation account will now be directly sent only to democratically elected councils. Caretaker committees appointed by the governors are now illegal and will be denied allocations from the federation account.

    The implication is that a local government council is deemed to exist only when it is manned by democratically elected officials. If the governors want the funds accruing to their LGs to be released, they must conduct election into those offices or have such funds withheld. This has put effective check to all the subterfuge designed by the governors in conjunction with their state assemblies to corner the funds of the LGs.

    There will neither be room for the frequent dissolution of the local government councils when no state of emergency is in place, nor further delays in conducting elections at that level of governance. The ruling will put a check to the alteration of the tenure of the councils by the states working in concert with their assemblies.

    The fate of Local Council Development Authorities LCDAs and Development Centres remains uncertain with emerging developments. The governors will have to devise ways to fund or have them abrogated outright.

    The tenure of the councils varies across the states. There will be no further attraction in manipulating the tenure of the councils to achieve hidden ends. The LGs stand better for it. But that is not all.

    It is one thing for the LGs to be granted financial autonomy, effectively unchaining them from the stranglehold of the governors and another ball game for it to translate to effective and efficient delivery of public goods and services. The fight for LG autonomy was premised on the ground that being closest to the people, functionaries at that level will better understand the peculiarities of their environment and work to address them.

    They must rise to the challenge of the confidence reposed at that tier of governance as the fulcrum for accelerated development of the rural areas. In a country where corruption in public places is the rule, fears have been expressed as to whether elected officials at that level will turn out substantially different. That is left to be seen. But there are two things that will stand as a check against their excesses.

    The first is their closeness to the people. With the periodic publication of the revenues accruing to the councils, it will be possible for the people to get the councils account for the monies they received. Verifying projects at that level will be quite easy. Again, local government chairmen do not have immunity against prosecution while in office.

    So, they can be easily investigated, held accountable for their misdeeds. This is bound to serve as a deterrent against misuse of funds and abuse of office. The immunity clause is largely responsible for the financial rascality of some of the governors. In all, the financial autonomy of the LGs is envisaged to unleash a quantum leap in efficient performance of the plethora of functions assigned it in the fourth schedule of the constitution.

    In the days ahead, we expect to witness substantial progress in the construction and maintenance of roads, streets, functional and better run primary education and healthcare, markets, drains and parks among others. It should be a win-win situation if the LG officials understand the enormous responsibilities and trust placed on their shoulders by the Supreme Court ruling.

    But the dispositions and conduct of the governors could also stand as obstacles. The conduct of local government elections by the State Independent Electoral Commissions SIECs is at issue.  What we have had as elections at the LGs these years, is better described as democracy in its most aberrant form.

    Those elections have neither been free nor fair. They do not satisfy the standards of credible democratic engagement as opposition parties are virtually schemed out through diverse guises. That deprives the system the plurality of views for which democracy draws allure against other forms of governance construct.

    Something has to be done to open up the democratic space at that level of governance. The governors could still use their control of LG elections to financial advantage. SIECs in their present form are an impediment to the autonomy of the local governments.

     The continued relevance of the SIECs is one area the federal government should again call its legitimate means of redress into quick action.

  • FG, States, LGs share N649.198b monthly allocation

    A total of N649.198 billion has been distributed as federal allocation for the month of December, 2018 to the Federal,State Governments and Local Government governments

    The technical sub -committee of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in a communiqué on Friday read by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Idris Ahmed, put the gross statutory revenue received at N547.462 billion.

    The amount is lower than the N649.629 billion received in November by N102.167 billion.

    Ahmed noted that federation crude oil export sales dropped by 1.7 million barrels resulting in a drop in federation revenue by $83.54 Million regardless of a significant increase in price from $72.84 to $81.06 per barrel for the month.

    “There was also Shut-in, Shut -down and Closure of production at various Terminals due to fire leakages and flooding,” the AGF said.

    Revenues from Value Added Tax (VAT), Import and Excise Duties and Royalities increased marginally while Company Income Tax (CIT) and Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT) decreased significantly.

    The total revenue distributed for the month (including VAT and Exchange Gain Difference) is N649.198 billion.

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    Therefore, from the Net Statutory Revenue, Federal Government received N255.202 billion representing 52.68%; States received N129.442 billion representing 26.72%; Local Government Councils received N99.794 billion representing 20.60%; while the Oil Producing States received N45.524 billion also representing 13% derivation revenue.

    The cost of collection, transfer and FIRS refund came up to N 21.530 billion.

    Furthermore, from the Revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT), Federal Government received N14.510 billion representing 15%; States received N48.365 billion representing 50% while the Local Government Councils received N33.856 billion also representing 35%.

    The AGF maintained the balance in the Excess Crude Account remains $0.631 Billion.

  • How the LGs may vote

    How the LGs may vote

    AKOKO North West

    All things being equal, this is a zone that shouldn’t be up for contest between Akeredolu and any other candidates, being a part of his senatorial base, the Ondo north senatorial district. But all things are not equal and some permutations point t the fact that the votes here will not go to Akeredolu in bloc.

    The local government will is the home of the AD deputy governorship candidate, Gani Dauda, and a political stronghold of, Segun Abraham, an aggrieved APC aspirant who is still in court challenging Akeredolu’s candidacy. Thus, it is obvious that the AD will make appreciable impact there if the story that Abraham and other angry APC chieftains in the area are not working for the APC candidate, is correct.

    Also, there are talks about the Akoko people preferring a core Akoko person to be governor other than an Owo person like Akeredolu. The political rivalry between the Akokos and the Owos dates back to the second republic and played out in 2012, when Akeredolu, then ACN candidate, lost to Mimiko in nearly all Akoko towns.

    But be that as it may, the popularity of APC as a party this time around and the presence of other political bigwigs in the area to support Akeredolu, may ensure a slight victory in Akoko North West for the APC. PDP will not be left out in garnering some votes as Mimiko’s political family is well represented in the area. But since he is not the one standing for election, the support waned long ago.

    Battleground

     

    1. Akoko South West

    Considering the massive support the APC candidate has in this area, he is looking very good to win the majority votes there. Also working for him is his 2012 showing in the LGA. Back then, Aketi won the council ahead of Mimiko and Oke. He is also acceptable to the people of Akoko West who are very passionate about the Akoko agenda.

    Although the PDP is well rooted in the area, the agitation for power shift will work against the party here. The fact that Mimiko, who is very popular among the people is also bowing out after two terms, is not helping the PDP. For the AD and Olusola Oke, this is an LGA where they will have to struggle for votes.

    Verdict: Leaning APC

     

    1. Akoko South East

    Another battleground LGA for the progressive parties. Here, Akeredolu may again, like it happened in 2012, find it difficult to ride on the crest of home advantage, to victory. Oke, who defeated him here during the last governorship election, appears to have a large followership in Akoko North East. The emergence of his deputy governorship candidate from a neighbouring LGA has further positioned him to give a good showing here.

    Battleground

     

    1. Akoko North East

    But for the crisis that trailed the primary election of the APC, this is a zone that would have gone to the party with bloc votes. The presence and popularity of APC chieftain, Olusegun Abraham, who is from Ikare Akoko, the council’s headquarter, is overwhelming and would have raked in the votes seamlessly.

    Consequently, should Abraham’s kinsmen and supporters here carry their hurt till election day, and with PDP not likely to make an appreciable showing here, AD and Oke may reap the bulk of the votes here. And if one considers the fact that Akeredolu found it difficult to win the LGA back in 2012, it may be convenient to say AD is the party to beat in Akoko North East.

    But it also may be too early to write off Akeredolu and his party. Being from the north senatorial district, the quest for power shift may help his cause in a way. And the presence of some APC heavyweights is also expected to result in good showings for Akeredolue and his party.

    Verdict: Leaning AD

     

    1. Akure North/Akure South

    Like most of the LGAs in the central senatorial district, the uncertainty bedevilling Jegede’s participation in next Saturday’s governorship election has thrown open what ordinarily would have been a closed contest in Akure. Akure is the birthplace of the PDP factional candidate and was expected to make mince meat of other candidates in the two local governments that make up the town.

    However, with their son and preferred candidate, Jegede, now shut out of the race and unable to campaign, pundits say Akure may dump the PDP on Saturday and instead, vote another party’s candidates. The emergence of Ibrahim as the candidate of PDP has robbed the people of Akure and the central senatorial district of having one of their own among the frontrunners for Mimiko’s job.

    Thus should Jegede fail to run or the rumored alliance between Mimiko’s camp and the AD candidate work out, Oke is looking good to benefit from the protest votes that the people of the two LGAs are expected to cast. Most people in the councils are in agreement with Mimiko’s position that it is the APC-led federal government that fueled the crisis that stopped Jegede from contesting.

    Thus, is is very unlikely that Akeredolu will enjoy the support of the voters in the two LGAs. And for Jimoh Ibrahim, winning in Akure, where he is seen as the spoilsport who was used to short change Jegede, is nearly an impossibility. And if the result of the 2012 election, where Oke put up a better performance than Akeredolu is considered, AD looks good to clinch the two councils.

    Verdict: Leaning AD

     

    1. Ondo East/ Ondo West

    This is another zone where the eventual decision of who to support by outgoing governor Mimiko will play a vital role. Jegede, but for the crisis that kept him out of the race would have reaped the majority votes here. As it is, whoever Mimiko aligns with will ride on his home boy status and immense popularity to sweep the votes.

    Battleground

     

    1. Owo

    APC will win Owo come what may. That is Akeredolu’s home base and he is well accepted there. Supported by a band of hard working APC chieftains and members who are eager to have the next governor come from their town, the APC candidate has left no one in doubt of his ability to mobilize his kinsmen on election day.

    Verdict: Leaning APC

     

    1. Idanre/Ifedore

    Another Mimiko stronghold. The two LGAs would have gone the way of PDP were Jegede to be the candidate. As it is today, this is another zone where the eventual decision of who to support by outgoing governor Mimiko will play a vital role. As it is, whoever Mimiko aligns with will ride on his home boy status and immense popularity to sweep the votes. Obviously, Ibrahim and the PDP cannot win in either of the two council areas.

    Battleground

     

    1. Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo

    Olusola Oke of the AD is looking good to win this LGA. Aside from the yearning of the people of Ondo south to produce the governor, Oke is the indisputable giant of the politics of the area. Since he moved over to the AD, the party’s rating in this LGA has shored up tremendously. He is expected to put up a better performance than he did in the area in 2012.

    Verdict: Leaning AD

  • Imo LGs without elected chairmen

    SIR: The last time I checked, Imo State – the Eastern Heartland –  was still earnestly yearning to witness an era where its 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) would boast of substantive chairmen to emerge via an electoral process. It’s noteworthy that the lingering anomaly has existed for nine years now. The immediate past governor of the state Ikedi Ohakim came up with a façade that seemed like an LG election towards the end of his tenure in 2011. The present administration led by Owelle Rochas Okorocha, having understood the foul play displayed by the former governor, thought it wise to disengage the elected officers who happened to be the product of the said façade as soon as it assumed duty in 2011.

    Since then, little or none has been heard as regards LG election in the state. Once or twice in the past, the citizens learnt of an arrangement targeted at the awaited electoral process all to no avail, in spite of all the wails from various quarters. Rather than substantive/elected caucus, what Imolites have invariably been witnessing at the local government level is transition or caretaker administration whereby some certain individuals under the auspices of ‘Transition Committee’ would be empowered to be at the helm of affairs in the respective LGAs.

    We are not unaware of the dangers inherent in suchlike practice especially in a democratic system like ours. A transition-committee chairman or councilor, who can be disengaged or asked to leave at anytime, is no doubt surrounded with limitations. There’s certain limits to which he/she is bound to operate as long as his/her reign lasts. Such administrator is obviously acting directly in line with the directive of the governor who he sees as his boss; suffice it to say that he’s equally one of the aides of the governor.

    Few weeks ago during a parley with Imo based journalists, the governor revealed that some individuals in the state had filed suits against him over the local government administration in the state and that he would only conduct election for the Local Government Councils if the legal barriers hindering the awaited polls are withdrawn by their sponsors or plaintiffs.

    If truly there are existing legal barriers, I enjoin the amiable governor to create a harmony between him and the aggrieved minds. He ought to set up a platform that would bring every warring party together, therein let them know the reason they must withdraw the suits for the interest of the state at large. Since the suits in question were filed over LG election, the plaintiffs wouldn’t hesitate to withdraw them if given an obvious and genuine reason to do so, or if they are told that the polls would be conducted thereafter without further ado.

     

    • Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor,

    Owerri, Imo State.

     

  • Nasarawa dissolves joint account committee with LGs

    Nasarawa dissolves joint account committee with LGs

    The Nasarawa State Government has dissolved the state’s Local Government Councils Joint Account Committee (JAC), to ensure that allocation to each council is shared in accordance with the constitution.

    Gov. Umaru Al-Makura told local government chairmen and members of the committee at a meeting in Lafia that “the essence of the JAC meeting is to ensure proper distribution and allocation in accordance with the distribution of FAC.

    “The function of JAC is to ensure every local government gets its own allocation as stipulated by the Federal Allocation Committee (FAC).”

    According to the governor, every local government figure is catered for from Abuja, but the cheque for local government allocation that comes to the state is for the total allocation of the 13 local governments in the state.

    He, however, explained that the joint account operated by local governments had become problematic, hence the decision to abolish the JAC.

    This, the governor stated, was to find a lasting solution to reoccurring delay and shortfall in the salaries of local government workers.

    Al-Makura added that the decision would also clear the air that the state government was using local government funds for other purposes.

    “There has been so much ignorance and speculation to stigmatise the state government. Nasarawa State has never had any joint account where money of local government councils are used to do any other thing,” he said.

    According to him, the independence of each local government with regards to allocation will prove a turning point as each local government will get exactly what is accrued to it directly from the Federation Account.

    “This is in line with the constitution and the councils would account as to how the money was spent. Every local government will have to fend for itself. If a local government over employs, it will be left to carry its burden on its own.

    “The kind of collaboration they were doing as a group will have to terminate from now,” he said.

    On the bailout funds, Al-Makura said it was untrue that the state government received N18 billion, adding that it got only N8.1 billion.

    Giving a breakdown of the funds, the governor said N4.3 billion was allocated to the local governments, while the remaining N3.8 billion was allocated to the state government.

    He noted that the money received by the councils was to enable them offset the backlog of salaries of local government workers for the month of July, August and September respectively.

    “The N4.3 billion is for all the 13 local government councils to offset the salary of two and half months. The bailout is for 50 per cent of July, 100 per cent of August and 100 per cent of September.”

     

  • Fed Govt, states, LGs share N490.2b for July

    • ECA grows to $2.257b

    The three tiers of government of the federation got a shock to their finances yesterday as they recorded a drop in the allocation they shared for the month of July from the Federation Account.

    At the end of the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, N490.222 billion was shared by the federal, states and local governments for July lower than the N518.533 billion shared in June.

    After deductions and refunds were made to the collecting agencies of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), N411.866 billion was shared by the three tiers of government with the Federal Government pocketing N202.111 billion (52.68 per cent); states went away with N102.513 billion (26.72 per cent) while  local governments received N79.033 billion (20.60 per cent). The balance of N28.209 billion was shared among the oil producing states under the 13 per cent mineral revenue derivation formula.

    The sum of N71.947 billion was shared as Value Added Tax (VAT) with the N10.792 billion or 15 per cent; states received N35.974 billion or 50 per cent and local governments got N25.181 billion or 35 per cent of value added tax (VAT) proceeds. N6.409 billion exchange rate gains was also shared by the three tiers of government.

    N6.330 was refunded to the Federal Government by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) furtherance to the decision to compel the NNPC to refund what it withheld from the Federation Account in the past.

    The reason for the drop in what was shared for July was attributed to the “shut-down and shut-in of production for maintenance and emergency repairs as well as the declaration of of force majeure by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)” as the major issues that negatively impacted crude oil revenue. Also there was revenue loss of $22.53 million as a result of the drop in average price of crude oil from $65.76million in May to $61.27million June, this year.

    Addressing reporters at the end of the meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance,  Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia said the accruals into the Excess Crude Account (ECA) increased  slightly to $2.257 billion.

    Also speaking, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) Alhaji Ahmed Idrissaid  there will be no exceptions or exemptions of any government agency from remitting all their proceeds to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

    Idris said the Federal Government is coming up with the guidelines for government agencies to comply with on their remittances to the Federation Account.

    He insisted that all agencies were already complying with the directive. The TSA,  he said will allow the Federal Government to know how much it has in its account to enable it control and manage its revenues.

  • FAAC allocation to states, LGs down to N400b

    FAAC allocation to states, LGs down to N400b

    The Federation Account  allocation Committee (FAAC)  funds to states and local governments for February are expected to decline to N400 billion, the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, Bismarck Rewane, has said. The FAAC shares the federation revenue among the three tiers of government.

    The FDC boss, who spoke after the Lagos Business School Breakfast Session with a team of economists, said the forecast showed that more states are to default in salaries payment as oil price declines and revenue allocations continue to tumble.

    The FDC boss said FAAC dropped from N580.38 billion last December to N500.13 billion in January, N400 billion in February and will fall to the new level this month as crude oil prices decline persist.

    The December FAAC figure, he said, is 33.8 per cent lower than 2014’s high of N755.95 billion recorded in June last year.

    Last July, FAAC was N654.6 billion; August, N611.7 billion; September, N603.5 billion; October, N593.3 and November, N628.8 billion.

    Crude oil price has continued to decline from about $110pb in June last year to about $60pb currently, and this has adversely impacted on Nigeria’s oil revenues and fortune of the naira. Stakeholders have called for diversification of the economy to shore up the revenue shortfall, taking its toll on the local currency.

    Rewane said that naira will stabilise at N225 parallel and N205 interbank while February headline inflation jumped to 8.4 per cent. He also sees the stock market fizzling while the Brent oil price rising to $65 per barrel before sliding back to $58.

    The economist sees the external reserves dropping to $29.5 billion from current $30 billion.

    He said inflation means different things to different people.

    “To the layman, inflation occurs when he is spending more money to purchase the same quantity of goods. To an economist, it is the general increase in price level over a period of time,” he said.

    It is also a monetary phenomenon that can be either desirable or undesirable, depending on its impact on other macro-economic variables such as unemployment, output, balance of payments, distribution of wealth, among others.

    The negative side effects of inflation, he added, include the diminution of asset values and portfolios, distortion of economic decisions, and the fact that it discourages savings and investment. However, inflation is not always a bad thing. Inflation, at a particular level, could be desirable especially in a state of robust economic growth. “A major objective, then, for a central bank is to find this balance between the positive and negative levels of inflation to ensure price stability in an economy,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is looking at the possibility of distributing the FAAC funds to states in batches, The Nation has learnt. Such plan, it was gathered, will reduce the impact of FAAC distribution in the financial market.

    The thinking is that by sharing the FAAC fund in batches, say, four times in a month, the impact of the fund on the financial system would be minimised. The bulk distribution of the fund causes distortion in the financial system.

    Analysts said many banks have come to rely on the FAAC fund, and are eagerly looking forward to deposits from government which currently stands at about N2.6 trillion of total banking sector deposits.

     

  • SURE-P scandal rocks Benue House

    The Benue State House of Assembly is boiling over the disbursement of N200 million released to the 23 local governments in the state for the execution of projects under the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P).

    Some members of the House were accused of collecting money from the LGs to cover up alleged mismanagement of the funds, prompting the Assembly to constitute a five man ad-hoc committee to get to the root of the allegation.

    The Committee which is headed by Christopher Afaor is charged with the responsibility of investigating the implementation of SURE-P projects in the state.

    It is expected to establish how much was approved for the local governments in the state by the federal government from 2012 till date and how much was actually released to them by the state.

    A source said the bubble burst when some legislators were excluded from benefitting from the largesse.

    A report earlier commissioned by the House on the implementation of the SURE-P in the state, according to sources, indicted some top government officials and four local government chairmen who were recommended for suspension.

    The report, it was gathered was not allowed to be presented for debate by the House and some members are now demanding that it must be tabled for discussion on the resumption of the legislature from recess.

    Attempts to speak to the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Yakubu Emanche, failed as did not pick his calls or reply text messages sent to him.

  • ‘We must liberate LGs from governors’

    ‘We must liberate LGs from governors’

    Hon. Yusuf Shehu, a Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) lawmaker, representing Daura Constituency in Katsina State House of Assembly is the Minority Chief Whip and House chairman on inter-Parliamentary Affairs. In this interview with Isah Idris, he reflects on the state of the nation, Katsina State as it celebrates 25 years of its creation, alleging that Nigerian governors have pocketed local government councils. Excerpts 

    Nigerians celebrated the country’s 52nd independence this year. But going down memory lane, many Nigerians believe the leadership of the colonial masters was better than the leadership of the Nigerian political class. What is your assessment of the country at 52nd independence.

    From what I have observed and experienced from 1960 to date, the colonial masters and earliest leaders of Nigeria succeeded because there was high level of discipline in their time and there was checks and balances and transparency in governance; there was not much corruption as we are experiencing in this nation today.

    Obviously, the present crops of leaders are not the serious type and most Nigerians are not disciplined, corruption is everywhere and that is what is retarding the progress of this nation. We don’t have good and credible leaders.

    In Nigeria, most of our governors and even leaders at the top are being appointed and installed, they are not democratically elected. Most of the elections in Nigeria are rigged except in few states where you can see something closer to free and fair election because oppositions are strong and firm.

    From all indications, this problem is not from only National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), the security agents are part of the problem and Nigerians are part of the problem. We have to be transparent in all our activities, especially our leaders and that is why we must involve Almighty Allah to intervene in the present predicament of Nigerians as we face global challenges.

    It seems the Executive has taken over everything from Judiciary and Legislature. As a lawmaker, are you convinced that the legislature is still capable of bailing out this country?

    Obviously, most of the lawmakers both in the national and states’ assemblies are not duly elected. Majority of them are stooges who hate free and fair elections. Except few, most of them are not even qualified to be there so that, it is mixture of the grains and the chaff. That is why the executive has pocketed the national and states’ assemblies. But there are some changes in the current National Assembly, particularly the Federal House of Representatives.

    Infant, people are presently optimistic in the House of Representatives and some states too are beginning to come of age so that not every executive’s wishes are allowed, because these things are in the constitution. I am therefore calling on the legislature to rise to the challenges to ensure that all budgets are fully implemented to the later un- like what we used to experience in the past. Most of the governors use money as bates to pocket the legislature. You can imagine a state with 100 percent single party membership such as Sokoto and few other states, there couldn’t be checks and balances.

    Local governments today are finding it difficult to embark on repairs, much less paying salaries. In fact, there is a near collapse of the local government system at the moment. What is responsible for this ugly situation and how can we reverse the trend?

    The national and state assemblies and Nigerians at large must rise up to see that we regain freedom and autonomy of local governments from the 36 state governors in the country. State governors have over time pocketed the local government councils through the instrumentality of ‘joint account’ for the state and local governments.

    Emphatically, this joint account must be phased out.

    So, when the local governments get their independence, it is then, they can do development projects. The governors should hands off from the council allocation, since the states have their own allocations, local governments should have their own allocations sent directly to them without interference from state governors.

    In 2011, there was an attempted merger between CPC and ACN political parties to take over government at the center and states but it collapsed. What is the possibility that it may succeed now?

    It failed because there was no time to discuss all the modalities for merger before the elections. Therefore the possibility for the merger to succeed this time is the fact that there is enough time for the two parties to negotiate why, when and how of the proposal. This is because the aim is to take over the center, especially the seat of president of the country and state governors.

    This project is a necessity because Nigerians are tired of PDP rule of gangsters. The problem that is being faced by ACN and CPC supporters are the same. So, as the two parties have started earlier with stronger teams negotiating for the merger, we are optimistic that it will be successful to enable Nigerians get relief from avoidable hardship being visited on the citizens by the PDP.

    There is all possibility for major opposition parties coming together since the overriding objective is to bail the country out of wood.

    Recently, the Katsina state branch of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), during a conference in Katsina state capital, raised an alarm on the poor state of health care system in the state. What is health committee doing to contain this situation?

    The government clinics and hospitals in Katsina state actually lack professional doctors and medical staffs.

    The government should employ qualified personnel to manage the state hospitals to guide against avoidable increase in death rate being recorded in public hospitals in the state.