The Nation Newspaper

Tag: process

  • Process is restructuring

    Process is restructuring

    Then a year opens with sobriety, it sometimes portends a glum ending. But what a better way to start than with humour, and we had that with two important events. The first was the appointment of board chair persons and members. Those who flayed Buhari for being mister Go-slow had to shut their lips. The man delivered with over a thousand names.  They shut their lips with a sort of laughter leaking out like fart of the corner of their mouths.

    The critics had nothing to say except to thank him for also humouring them with significant features. One was good news. Some persons became chair persons of more than one board or even members of more than one board. This differentiates this government from that of Jonathan a few years ago. When Jonathan opened the year with double fuel price increase, some hailed it as double portion. It was snide humour. They rang up the Christian lingo. Everyting na double double. No one was laughing, except the marketers and insiders of the government on the take in the new largesse.

    It was back-handed humour, devastating, anti-democratic, cynical. Now, it is a different kind of double double. This time the people were spared that back-handed odium. The double portion belongs to a few, those on the board. The rest of us are not on board yet. Even though in democracy, all should benefit, at least some people are getting their double, double. The rest of us are awaiting the double, double, although we are seeing such in the cost of living.

    The other beneficiaries are the dead. Democracy is not only about the living. It is for everyone, whether alive or not, so we can embrace the dead as bosses. When Jesus was buried, some women went to the grave to look for him on the third day, and the angel appeared and asked: “why seek you the living among the dead?”

    Usually no one goes to the cemetery to wake up the dead, but to bury them. Except of course, we want to do some miracles. So, it has happened, we have not sought the dead among the living. We have actually woken them up. Senegalese Poet Leopold Senghor would be ashamed of his line, “O dead who have always refused to die.” In this case, they died and were spirited them out of their graves.

    The dead are always with us. The past is not past. This is a new version of zombie. Not the one Fela bequeathed. The Abami eda gave us a foolish, sheepish toady, following after every instruction. These ones heard the voice and they were going to be ogas.

    We should not pretend we have not had zombies in office. They are sometimes called ghosts, or ghost workers. They occupy positions, and only appear at the end of the month or other special occasions where largesse flows. They get salaries, allowances, even travel to the United States, even though no immigration documents embrace them. How can you document a ghost on an air plane. The government pays for the airfares and hotels, but that is it.

    It was so in Lagos until Asiwaju Bola Tinubu became governor and audited the system. When the government called for all the ghosts who did not come physically to get their salaries, the ghosts or the dead shrank back to their cemeteries.  So the living were found among the dead until the audit. Hence Buhari was angry and he wants the dead to be sent back to their graves. They have been in limbo.

    The last feature was an act of generosity. While party faithful were waiting to be appointed, the list contained some PDP chieftains and sympathisers. Loyalty is sometimes not as important as perfidy, especially if you like one or two of the outsiders. If you do good to those that are good to you, you don’t show love, said Jesus. May be that is why those who suffered for the party should take a back seat and let the enemies enjoy a little. That is the quality of mercy, which as Shakespeare said, “droppeth like a gentle rain upon the place beneath.”

    The other new year gift was the president’s speech. It said many things, but we must say from the tone that it appears he just was elected six months ago. I make that deduction from the way he started listing plans about railways and power and agriculture, etc. But the most important part was that we should focus on process rather than structure. I blame the speech writers only a little. No one should be too worried about those lines.

    The speech writers who wrote against restructuring did not understand the history of structure in politics and governance. So, I say, Nigerians should forgive the writers for they know not what they write.

    The idea of structure in political iconology became serious in middle 20th century with a term called structuralism, when French philosophers defined it as “structure is more important than function.” With Claude Levi- Straus leading the way, it became championed by what historians call the gang of four, Jacques Derida, Louis Althuser, Michel Foucault  and Roland Barthes. They showed so much fidelity to structure that they exposed the imperfection.  A new movement called Post-structuralism followed and it showed that even within a function – like a process – is a structure. That is, there are many structures as there are functions. A structure is not dead. A process is a function, so there can be many processes. Those familiar with Hegelian dialectics understand why even sociologists and political scientists believe that structuralism is now an intellectual dinosaur and anachronism. So, if the speech writers called for process then it means they are asking us to interrogate the structure.

    To call for process in that speech is to commit a contradiction of questioning the present structure. A process is dynamic. That means the structure is also dynamic.  Structuralism has been sentenced to death by intellectuals as rigid and ahistorical. Hence another French philosopher Jean Piaget said: “there exists no structure without construction.” Any structure that is experiencing construction is going through function or processes and is therefore being restructured. Without knowing it, the speech writers made the president to call for restructuring. Chikena.

     

     

    In Touch Awards concluded

                   Family of the Year

    That award goes to the presidency where the DSS and NIA did not see eye to eye in the homestead. The EFCC became the area of battle, and DSS called for Magu’s job not to be approved while the NIA wanted him. The president seemed unable to bring this disarray under control. The also-ran was the PDP, who fought a big fight between the Makarfi-led faction and that of Sheriff. Even when Sheriff lost the battle, the party turned on its own flesh during the convention and alienated the vital sector of the electorate: the southwest. A piggish fellow in a gubernatorial garb dismissed the southwest as a factor in the electoral sweepstakes.

                Fashionista of the year

    That goes to Senator Dino Melaye. In a bid to show he did not go to school without a certificate, he donned a graduation gown in a burlesque show as though a ceremony was on to now graduate him. This is apart from his various appearances as an internet impresario in lurid and other extravagant colours and combinations.

                 Town crier of the year

    The winner is Ayo Fayose, Governor of Ekiti State. He cried and many are surprised he did not get hoarse. His biggest threnody was when President Buhari was sick and he said so many unprintables. He even tried to invite himself to London not to see the queen but the President of Nigeria. He even claimed he had the medical report. He strangely was quiet when Buhari returned in a blaze of new health.

     

  • DPR digitalises oil marketers licensing process

    DPR digitalises oil marketers licensing process

    The Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR)  yesterday launched online license processing to checkmate illegal marketers responsible for diverting petroleum products and operating without genuine license.

    At a seminar organised for interaction and education of all independent patroleum marketers on online license processing in Kaduna, the Department said transiting from analogue license processing to digital is necessary, in order for petroleum marketers to do their businesses with ease.

    Speaking to reporters shortly after the event, the DPR Northwest Zonal Operations Controller, Alhaji Isa Tafida said with the introduction of online lincense processing, it will be easier for domestic investors to come in and do their business, and “whatever requirements is needed to be obtained for your organisation is there online.”

    He said the online processing will prevent physical contact between DPR officers and oil businessmen, adding that, “you don’t need to come to me or anybody and start begging to process your license; you can do that by opening your computer in your room and filling the required documents.”

  • How to process restructuring

    In the statements emanating from the Buhari presidency soon after the president returned home a couple of weeks ago, Nigerians were told that, in effect, the president was not sure how restructuring should be processed – especially who was to do what? The National Assembly, it was said, has the duty of undertaking amendments to the constitution; and the National Assembly and the National Council of State were the two institutions in which national discourses should be conducted. It was also said that this president, being an elected president in a democracy, could not possibly decree restructuring like a military ruler. Whether deliberately or inadvertently, the presidency made the process of restructuring look confused, tangled, and even intractable. In reality, it is not. If a president recognizes that it is his duty to lead his country through the kind of mammoth national debate that Nigeria is now going through concerning restructuring, he would not, and should not, give in to any confusion – he would do his duty. We Nigerians expect President Buhari to step forth and do his duty. We have the right to demand it.

    Yes, it is time for President Buhari to get into action. The time of debate over whether we should or should not restructure our federation is over. Of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, virtually all Nigerians of note from the South-west, South-east, South-south and North-central support and demand restructuring. From the North-west, some of the topmost notables support and demand it – including one of the most experienced citizens in the governing of Nigeria under our present constitution, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and, very significantly, the Sultan of Sokoto. The Sultan has given his huge voice to some of the key points that the proponents of restructuring have been repeating – first, that restructuring does not divide or break up Nigeria, and second, that restructuring will redress the power and wealth imbalance that threaten Nigeria with conflict and disintegration. It is by no means presumptuous to claim that the proponents of restructuring have won this debate resoundingly. Repeat: It is time for President Buhari to embark on the process of leading us through the process of restructuring our country, in the best interest of our country, and in the best interest of all of us Nigerians.

    Since the president has said that he is in doubt about how to work on this important project, any Nigerians who may have any idea to suggest to him should now suggest it. I hereby offer a suggestion, and it is a suggestion from my knowledge of how a country similar to Nigeria once handled the task of restructuring its federation. I refer to India – the Union of India.

    India is similar to Nigeria in important particulars. Like Nigeria, India is made up of very many nationalities. Like Nigeria, India needed to restructure its federation after independence (in 1947); the nationalities were demanding self-determination and some measure of autonomy. Religious differences added to the tension. As no response to the self-determination agitations were forthcoming, the northern, predominantly Muslim, provinces seceded and became Pakistan and, soon after, Pakistan broke up into Pakistan and Bangladesh. What remained of India was still very large – it is the largest country in territory in the world today, and it has over 2000 nationalities. Increasingly in the country, demands began to be voiced for restructuring, so as to let different sections manage their affairs and development in their own ways. Most of the foremost politicians, including Prime Minister Nehru, opposed restructuring, for fear that it would result in the breaking up of India. In fact, Nehru threatened that if it was decided to restructure, he would resign as Prime Minister. But that did not reduce the demand. The demand kept escalating. At last, the Prime Minister and most of the big politicians surrendered to the wish of their people, and the road became clear to restructuring.

    Therefore, in 1953, Nehru’s government set up a States Reorganization Commission charged with the task of charting the process of restructuring. The commission started with the principle that the nationalities (called the linguistic nations) of India were the fundamental component entities of India, and therefore the real makers of the Indian Federation – which they ultimately named the Indian Union (Union of the nationalities of India). On that basis, they established the further principle that the structure of the Indian Union, as well as the governance of it, would respect the integrity and culture of the nationalities.

    To delineate the federating units (that is, the states) of the Indian Union, the commission decided that each large nationality would be one state, and that small contiguous nationalities in other parts of India would join hands together to form states. Also, no small nationality would be split by any state boundaries, and each nationality would be intact and undivided in the state to which it belonged. Furthermore, no small nationality would be forced to join any particular state; each would be free to choose the state it wanted to join. On the basis of all these criteria, 28 states were formed. Each was a viable state, capable of competently managing its own affairs. Even in the states comprising different nationalities, respect for the integrity and culture of each nationality was to be the way of life, politics and governance.

    The commission then dealt with the very important issue of the sharing of power and resource control in the Union. Most of the powers and resource control that had belonged to the central government were taken away from it and given to the state governments. In any sharing of funds between the Union Government and the State Governments, the State Governments (plus their Local Governments) were to receive a much larger percentage than the Union Government. (Now, the proportion is 85% for the states and 15% for the Union).  Indian scholars call these changes a copious exercise in power devolution.

    As a result of these changes, India quickly settled down and became a progressively stable country. For such a large country with so many ethnic or linguistic nationalities, India is doing very well indeed. Gradually, the various nationalities became contented to be part of India, and India is widely recognized as the world’s largest democracy today. Also, the states of India became progressively powerful and dynamic centres and agencies of socio-economic development. Up to the early 1950s, India was a frightfully poor country, and garish pictures of countless beggars in the streets of Indian towns regularly shocked the world. Today, all of that has changed. India is becoming one of the world’s economic super powers.

    Nigeria is by no means naturally less endowed than India. In fact, in some respects, Nigeria is naturally more endowed than India. The imposition of a unitary structure on Nigeria, Nigeria’s rigid system of central control, the consequent impunity, corruption and confusion characteristic of Nigeria’s system of governance, the inevitable hostilities characteristic of Nigeria’s inter-ethnic relations and the input of tenacious religious pressure by some nations on others – all these not only make Nigeria’s leadership strangely primitive, they make Nigeria’s image grossly incompatible with the image of countries in the modern world. As long as these last, Nigeria will not only continue to fail to make serious progress in the world, she is very likely to continue to generate more and more poverty, more and more deprivation, and more and more conflicts for her citizens, and she is very likely to continue to stumble until she disintegrates. President Muhammadu Buhari holds the decisive key today. I do not insist that he should take Nigeria through exactly the process that Pandit Nehru took India in 1953. All I ask as a Nigerian is that he should take some dutiful action as Nehru did in 1953 to guide his country out of a dark night of impending implosion to the light of survival and revival. He can do it. Will he do it?

     

  • NASS and the 2017 Budget process

    The vetting of the 2017 budget by the National Assembly entered a crucial stage last week with a public hearing conducted by the joint committee on appropriation of the Senate and House of Representatives. The positive appraisal of the National Assembly’s handling of the 2017 budget so far is arguably a direct attribute of reset thinking by its leadership. One thing is clear: Unlike previous episodes of budget consideration, the process this time has witnessed smooth sail.

    Right from the day of presentation of the appropriation bill by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 14, 2016, the budget has remained scandal free. There have been no stories of the budget developing wings and disappearing into thin air; no issues of ‘padding’ or ‘stuffing’ or ‘insertion’  by unauthorized means; ministers and lawmakers have not been found engaged in hot exchange of words over who did what. The spirit and eagerness to get things done and done differently for the good of the country has been palpable. Standing committees of the National Assembly have given ministries, departments and agencies ample opportunity to defend their proposals.

    The fact that the 2017 budget is cruising home seamlessly is soothing to the heart of all and sundry.  The National Assembly under the leadership of its chairman, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has amply demonstrated its commitment to a paradigm shift in attitudes and mind-set by rising above the din of past omissions and commissions to do things differently.

    Courageous innovations were articulated and introduced to smoothen rough edges of the sometimes amorphous budget process. For instance, to avoid the 2016 experience, the National Assembly constituted and inaugurated the public sector budget reform committee comprising senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of the executive arm of government, the academia and civil society organizations. Headed by the former Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, the report of the committee and the committee’s recommendations, have in no small measure, contributed greatly to this year’s seamless budget defence in the growing understanding between the executive and the legislature.

    One of the major recommendations of the committee was the opening up of the budget process to members of the public. That may have been informed by the pressure for open and inclusive budget process by Nigerians. The implementation of the recommendation to open up the budget process may have given rise to the hugely successful national public scrutiny of the budget last Monday through Wednesday.

    The idea behind the public hearing was to give Nigerians the opportunity to scrutinise the document and air their opinions about the line items. The three-day event has been adjudged successful and rewarding by observers. Issues about the budget and how to make it better to serve and improve the lot of ordinary Nigerians most especially during a time of economic recession were critically interrogated.

    Another innovation in the handling of the 2017 budget by the National Assembly was that critical standing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives held  joint sessions to give MDAs an unencumbered opportunity to defend their budget proposals. The new arrangement did not only save time and cost on the part of the National Assembly and the executive, it made for greater collaboration between the stakeholders. Above all, the arrangement would also facilitate the early passage of the Appropriation Bill. This is because the two chambers would have nothing to harmonize or reconcile. It also presents early signals that will translate to more collaborative and beneficial working relationship between the Executive and the legislature.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, has already assured Nigerians that the National Assembly is working to produce an implementable 2017 budget. Goje also alluded to the success of the national public hearing for the 2017 budget, saying that a total of 44 stakeholders made submissions at the hearing. He added that the 2017 special budget hearing was the first of its kind in the history of parliamentary/legislative practice in the National Assembly.

    The level of excitement and enthusiasm shown by stakeholders, especially Civil Society Organisations, he said, was quite unprecedented and encouraging. The pension, health, education and agricultural sectors, Goje said, came up and were given serious emphasis as the areas the country should pay urgent attention to. The challenge in the areas of pension payment, administration and general matters of non-performance, he added, was so clear and must be accorded top and effective priority.

    What may be described as the clincher of the novel exercise was the point Goje said was repeatedly made that “the National Assembly must reassert itself as the possessor of the power of appropriation in order to produce the budget of the people at all times.” He further said that “all proceedings we took have been properly documented and will be presented and considered by the joint committee to enable the National Assembly produce an implementable budget for Nigeria and Nigerians.”

    While declaring the public hearing open, Saraki did not lose sight of the observations of some stakeholders. “As most of you may have observed, while government has made efforts to ensure that provisions in the budget proposal align with the arching goal of pulling the economy out of recession and laying the foundations for diversified growth, certain provisions are clearly off the path. The budget must address the critical issues setting back our national growth and development,” Saraki said. Apart from assisting to pull the economy out of recession, Saraki was equally particularly interested in seeing the budget help in the creation of jobs and promotion of the non-oil sector.

    For the Senate President, “the 2017 capital budget proposal is intended to support activities that will help to speed up the diversification of the economy and the promotion of the non-oil sector, as well as create jobs for our youth. Accordingly, it is expected that “Made-in-Nigeria” (that is, domestic production of food, materials and other commodities) will be encouraged. In addition, 2017 capital budget proposal is intended to engender private sector partnership in infrastructure as well as other critical sectors of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing and services.” Indications are that the 2017 budget will perform better. If the budget is passed in March as promised, chances are that implementation of the budget will begin immediately.

    The success of the public hearing especially flowing from the quality of interventions made by members of the public and other critical stakeholders has placed the legislative actions on the 2017 budget far above its 2016 counterpart. It must be said that the handling of the 2017 budget has taken a higher ground against the 2016 budget, which was first reported ‘missing,’ padded’ and later said to have been withdrawn. These absurdities are completely absent this time around. It may be argued that the sheer controversies that buffeted the 2016 budget may have affected the overall implementation and performance of the fiscal document as well as other economic variables notwithstanding.

    Overall, Nigerians have not only thumbs up for the National Assembly and its leadership, they have called for such open processes and citizens’ participation to henceforth be a regular feature when national budget is being considered. Such open house budget hearing, it was also noted, should always be held months before the annual budget presentation to a joint session of the National Assembly by the executive. This it is reasoned, would make room for some of the cerebral interventions,  from such array of experts and ordinary Nigerians as witnessed during the just concluded public hearing to be incorporated by the executive during the collation of sectoral allocation for the capital budget and to the various MDAs.

    It would make for a true budget document that would be in tandem with the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians, reduce waste, promote transparency, accountability and make for a more implementable budget. There is also a consensus among analysts that the open budget consideration process pioneered by the 8th National Assembly will be one of the glaring legacies of the current leadership if transparency and openness is thus institutionalized in the budgeting process of the country. That is the way to go!

     

    • Onogu is Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President.

  • AEDC launches business process reform project

    The Management of Abuja Electricity Distribution (AEDC) has launched the company’s Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project, which is a two-year project aimed at instituting a better work culture, greater productivity and improved customer service delivery.

    The 76 employees, who were selected as ‘Change Champions’, with the special task of driving the reform project, were also unveiled at the launch.

    Managing Director Ernest Mupwaya urged workers to strive towards excellence in their respective duties. He enjoined them to ensure honesty, integrity and be “customer-centred” in line with the company’s values.

    A statement at the weekend by AEDC’s Head of Public Relations and Media, Ahmed Shekarau, said Mupwaya reminded the workers they cannot continue to do things the same way and expect different result.

    He also reminded them that with the privatisation of the power sector, customers’ expectations from the company were high, stressing the need for them to adjust for improved service delivery.

    Coordinator of the project Mrs. Clara Musama announced that in the first phase of the project, which began last April, 136 business processes were mapped, 20 of which are totally new processes and are now ready for implementation.

    She added that some of the processes were being tested in the field.

    Mrs. Musama said the approved processes were arrived at after 40 workshops between April and November, and announced that a new company-wide organisational structure, which is aligned to the new processes, will be implemented soon.

  • ‘How to ease process of acquiring C of O, others’

    •3,000 certificates awaiting collection in Lagos

    Stakeholders in the land and housing sector in Lagos State have applauded reforms put in place by the state government.

    At the quarterly interactive stakeholders’forum organised by the Lagos Lands Bureau in Alausa Secretariat, Lagos, the participants lauded the Permanent Secretary, Land Bureau, Mr. Bode Agoro, for the reforms.

    These reforms include the deployment of professionals to achieve optimum performance, minimising abuses, especially those relating to corrupt practices and red tape; reforming mode of payment, placement of templates for the conduct of business in the Bureau, and introduction of the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS).

    Others include the reduction from  30  days to 21 days at the most, the processing of Governor’s Consent; digital mapping of the state to complement the effect of EDMS; reduction of payments on consent fees, capital gains tax, stamp duty and registration fees; and the establishment of the Directorate of Land Regularisation to eliminate the defective ratification procedure, among others.

    A participant, Mr. Olusola Ayeni, however noted that to make land registration easy, tax requirement should not be a prerequisite.

    He   said  not many land owners, especially those in rural areas, pay tax.

    “I believe that the government would make more money from land registration if tax is not part of the requirement. The issue of tax is a difficult thing all over the country, but if this is removed, people will be ready to come forward, knowing full well the benefits that accrue to a land with title document,”Ayeni explained.

    Another participant, Samson Alade, suggested that a letter of allocation and a certificate of occupancy (C of O) could be issued together. He said its adoption would erase the practice of issuing letters separately, and crash the processing fee.

    “I am of the view that the certificate of occupancy alone is enough to serve the needed purposes, instead of subjecting the people to double payment,” he said.

    But the stakeholders were unanimous that the Bureau should have field workers who will inspect land before registration, instead of the situation in which government officials wait at the Lands Bureau office for land owners.

    “Many people have a wrong notion about civil servants. They see them as being hard, extortionists, and overly officious with many negative impressions. More than that, people lack financial wherewithal to be coming repeatedly without successfully getting their transactions done, particularly those that are not residing in the metropolis. So, if officials can be visiting them and make the charges as low as possible, the government revenue will increase and people will have value for their property,”said Kayode Oyedele, another participant.

    Agoro assured that the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led government was determined to make life easy for the people.

    He said the government had introduced proactive policies on property perfection and registration to develop to make life easy for the people. These policies, he noted, led to some reviews, which has helped in preventing abuses in town planning and urban protection laws.

    The Permanent Secretary said in line with Governor Ambode’s commitment to prompt issuance of C of Os to property owners, more than 3, 000 of the document were already signed, waiting for collection by their owners. Fifty-six of the documents were collected at the forum.

    “Some documents that don’t qualify to be registered find their way for registration, creating a lot of hiccup in Land Bureau, thereby making it possible for illegal land acquisition by fraudulent persons. But with quality control department that has now been put in place, every application will now be filtered to determine their originality,” he added.

    Also, Land Regularisation Director, Mr. Taofeek Adenuga, said every survey must reflect the reality on site; hence the government would incorporate surveyors, town planners and others, to assess the status of land.

    “It’s time we are seeking cooperation and suggestion from all stakeholders, especially those of you who will need our services. We would want all of us to be on the same page so as to make land administration fast, cheap and less cumbersome,” Adenuga said.

  • PDP: Abrupt end to another peace process

    PDP: Abrupt end to another peace process

    Hopes that the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since its unexpected defeat in the hands of the then opposition All Progressives Party (APC) at the 2015 Presidential Election, will soon be over have been dashed once again, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports.

    The crisis into which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) erupted after it was kicked out of the presidency during the 2015 Presidential Election by the All Progressives Party (APC) is not about to end. Contrary to widespread expectations within and outside the party that the reconciliation efforts embarked upon by the two warring factions about a month ago, will put an end to the lingering leadership tussle, facts emerged during the week that the process had ended abruptly about a week ago.

    Sources within the party lamented the turn of events while contending that beyond the two main factions in the struggle for the soul of the party, there are other splinter groups allegedly fueling the rumpus within the former ruling party. These interest groups, The Nation learnt, are unprepared to honour proposed terms in the effort to restore lasting peace in the PDP.

    Following two failed attempts at conducting a national convention and numerous court cases, the Senator Ali Modu Sherif-led faction and the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee had, weeks back, agreed to seek an out of court political solution to the disputes rocking their party. The announcement was received with joy by many party stalwarts while political analysts gave the peace deal a good chance to survive.

    Several meetings were held and a number of promising press statements emanated from both camps, fueling the belief that the peace process was sure to bring to an end the much desired peace for the troubled party. However, signs that all may not be well yet started emanating about a week ago. And by the close of the week, it was no longer news that the planned accord has once again failed to materialize.

    Speaking on the development last Friday, Sheriff blamed Makarfi and his team for the collapse of peace talks. He warned that nobody should hold him responsible for the inability of the two factions to arrive at an amicable solution to the crisis in the party. According to him, the peace process failed because Makarfi refused to agree on the terms of reference to the members of the proposed reconciliation committee that was to be set up penultimate Tuesday.

    But his claims have severally been debunked by the Makarfi camp. According to the Caretaker Committee, Sheriff and his group have never been committed to the peace process. Sheriff, they claimed, aborted the inauguration of the Reconciliation Committee by refusing to secure the venue he earlier assured the committee he will make available for the inauguration.

    While Sheriff said he was ready to step aside as one of the conditions that would restore peace to the party, he accused Makarfi of refusing to agree to the condition that he should disband his Caretaker Committee for peace to reign.  Sheriff spoke through the Acting National Publicity Secretary of his faction, Bernard Mikko, during the week

    Mikko said the position of Sheriff’s camp is that in order for true reconciliation to be achieved, it would be better for the two antagonists to step aside and allow neutral persons to run the party in acting capacity pending the time when substantive national officers would be elected. “The reconciliation process appears to have relapsed due to Makarfi’s insistence not to disband its committee when Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is inclined to stepping down at the next unity convention that will usher in new executive members of the party,” he explained.

    But the Makarfi committee said there is no sincerity in the position being championed by Sheriff and his camp. They said the decision of how best to achieve lasting peace should have been left for the Reconciliation Committee agreed to by the two camps. “It is that Reconciliation Committee they prevented from being inaugurated,” a party official told The Nation.

    The scheduled inauguration of the peace panel had failed to hold in Abuja penultimate Tuesday. This had immediately cast serious doubt on the new reconciliatory move aimed at resolving the crisis in the party. The inauguration of the committee failed to hold despite the presence of some party chieftains including state chairmen and other stakeholders of the party at the venue of the event.

    Likewise, the two key actors in the conflict, factional Chairman, Sheriff and the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee, Makarfi, who gave assurances earlier that the inauguration of the joint peace panel would take place as scheduled, also failed to show up. However, stakeholders within the party believe that the reason for putting the inauguration of the reconciliation committee on hold may not be unconnected with the fact that the two sides did not outline the terms of reference for their assignment.

    Another school of thought said a high court judgement sacking Eyittayo Jegede as the PDP governorship candidate in Ondo and replacing him with Jimoh Ibrahim was responsible for the failure of the committee to be inaugurated.

    The Ondo factor

    The Nation also leant that the struggle for the gubernatorial ticket of the PDP in Ondo State is another major factor in the development. According to reliable sources, the failure of the peace process is largely due to the inability of the two camps to concede the Ondo ticket to the other.  It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) named Jimoh Ibrahim as candidate of the PDP for the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State last Thursday.

    Auguta Ogakwu, secretary of the commission, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja. The statement said Ibrahim and Alabi Omotayo, his running mate were cleared on court order. Ibrahim is the candidate of the Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the party. Eyitayo Jegede, whose name was dropped by INEC, emerged candidate of the Ahmed Makarfi faction.

    And in spite of the peace process ongoing then, the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction promptly rejected Jimoh Ibrahim as the party’s candidate for the Ondo governorship election. This, sources said, angered Sheriff, who claimed the action was against the agreement reached by the two factions earlier that none of them should issue statements against the other.

    But determined to stop the candidature of Ibrahim, the Makarfi faction approached a court seeking a stay of execution against the judgement that gave Ibrahim the ticket. “This move ended all talks about peace process as the Sheriff faction pulled out of all talks, citing the return to court by the other camp as a breach of all terms of reconciliation.

    “We all agreed to discontinue all court processes and avoid instituting new ones. But they went to court to stop a judgment that came out in our favour. Ibrahim went to court as an individual. But they went to court against the party. That is a breach of all agreements and we feel there is no sense in pretending the peace process is still on course,” a party official said.

    To further compound the issues at hand in Ondo and finally scuttle the peace process, a High Court sitting in Akure, on Wednesday, October 26, issued a restraining order against INEC from recognising Ibrahim as the PDP candidate. “That is INEC’s candidate and not PDP’s candidate and it is unfortunate that the INEC that is supposed to be an unbiased electoral umpire has allowed itself to be used by those whose intention is to truncate the nascent democracy we have in this country,” he said.

    Responding to the judgment, Sheriff said it is unfortunate that PDP leaders can claim to be in a peace process while also procuring judgements against the very party. He appealed to party members and other stakeholders not to blame him or his faction for the collapse of the peace process because, according to him, it is the Makarfi faction that breached the terms.

    More confusion

    Following his declaration as the PDP candidate, Ibrahim said he will soon be flagging off his campaign. He assured that the presentation of flag will be done by Sheriff in Akure at a yet to be determined date. Feelers from Sheriff’s camp also confirmed his readiness to storm the Ondo State capital to flag off Ibrahim’s campaign.

    But in a brazen disregard for both the judgement and INEC’s eventual position on who the candidate is, the Makarfi-led faction on Wednesday flagged off its governorship campaign for its candidate, Jegede, ahead of the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State. The move came after the completion of court processes asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to stay execution of its earlier judgment declaring businessman Jimoh Ibrahim the candidate of the party.

    “The least INEC could have done in the circumstance was to maintain status quo and stick to its own earlier decision pending a superior order or Judgment from a superior court. But that did not happen in this case. This singular decision of INEC has generated sporadic reactions from the electorates in Ondo State leading to violent protests and damages.

    This could have been avoided if INEC had adhered strictly to the letters and characters of the Electoral Laws and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. PDP warned that external forces should not seat in Abuja and set Ondo State ablaze. “Whatever authority in Abuja, whether it’s the Executive that is using the Judiciary or vise versa, must realise that they cannot for selfish political reasons toil with the fate of millions of people in Ondo State.

    “Who emerges governor of the state should be the decision of the electorates themselves through the ballot and not from any organ of the Federal Government in Abuja. It is a known fact that Ondo people are politically sophisticated and any attempt to truncate the will of the people will be resisted vehemently. References should be made to the 1965/66 and 1983 political violence in the west that brought about the collapse of the 1st and the 2nd Republic. We should therefore be careful not to repeat history,” the party said in a release during the ceremony.

    The resultant political tension in Ondo State this week shows convincingly that the much awaited peace in PDP is still elusive. How this situation will affect the party in November and beyond still needs to be seen.

  • How to clean up budget process, by Jibrin

    How to clean up budget process, by Jibrin

    Ousted Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin ( APC, Kano ) has said  transparency in the nation’s budgeting process is the only means to avoid manipulations and padding of the document.

    Jibrin, in a statement yesterday said e – parliament, one of the key points on the Legislative Agenda of Speaker Yakubu Dogara is the an effective way of making the budget process responsive.

    Among other factors he listed,  Jibrin said e – parliament would allow Nigerian to follow the due process.

    The statement reads: “The most important reform here is to ensure that budget estimates and details are returned to the floor of the House at the same time for passage.

    “This will check the fraudulent insertions by some standing Committee Chairmen and Principal Officers in the process of budget passage.

    “It is such gap that allowed Speaker Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa, Leo Ogor and few other committee Chairmen to perpetrate such monumental fraud in the 2016 budget.

    “On the mismanagement of the internal budget of the House, the most important reform the House must embark on immediately is to ensure that the internal budget of the House must be circulated to members and made public so that Nigerians can see the expenditure of its elected officials.

    “The running cost of members must be adjusted to a reasonable amount and made public but most importantly, the administration of the running cost must not be exposed to abuses as presently obtained.

    “If these measures are carried out, we will not see such secrecy in running cost and monumental fraud in the management of the finances of the House and award of fraudulent and fictitious contracts under the watch of Speaker Dogara and the Chairman Houses services, Babanle Ila.

  • Fed Govt to adopt simple planning process

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo-Udoma, has said the Federal Government will adopt a simple planning process to achieve inclusive growth and development in the country.

    He spoke while fielding questions from some participants at the Annual Public Lecture of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) in Abuja.

    Senator Udoma said the country would learn from Ethiopia’s experience which recorded 10 per cent growth rate for over 10 years in the agric sector.

    He said he had visited the country to learn the secret of their success and was ready to replicate it in Nigeria.

    “I went to find out from Ethiopia how to achieve this and how they did their planning and the processes. I found out that they consulted farmers; they went down to the grassroots and made their planning very simple,’’ he said.

    The minister said Nigeria’s plans are too complex and that the nation has top economists, who put the plans in a language that many do not understand.

    “We need to do simply plan; we need to make use of a language that everybody can understand and we need to consult with economists.

    “We encourage them (economists) to simplify it to be able to achieve inclusive development. We want a simply plan, a plan that will consult extensively, a plan that everybody will understand, a plan that will be internalised by everybody,’’ he said.

    According to him, making the plan simple is the only way the country can achieve inclusive growth and development.

    The topic lecture tilted: ‘Strengthen Budget – Plan link for inclusive development in Nigeria.’ was delivered by Prof. Mike Obadan of the University of Benin Foundation for Education and Development.

  • Fed Govt urged to key into process technology

    The Federal Government’s efforts to overhaul the petroleum industry has been commended. Giving the commendation was the Principal Consultant, Lonadek Oil and Gas, Dr Ibilola Amao, who said process technology must be given  given urgent  attention to exploit the abundant natural resources including oil and gas, which the country is endowed with.

    Process technology is basically taking crude and putting it into a process whereby it is translated from its natural state to finished products. Amao said lack of process technology strategy was the end result of poverty, unemployment and lack of value creation ravaging the nation’s economy.

    She stated that the energy and power equation would be solved when gas is utilised appropriately to drive the Independent Power Projects (IPPs), adding this would ensure uninterrupted power supply in the country. According to her, with process technology in place, crude and other mineral resources would rather be refined in-country and be exported as finished products

    The oil and gas sector accounts for about 35 per cent of gross domestic product while petroleum export revenue represents over 90 per cent of total exports revenue. Economic analysts say Nigeria is losing so much money by exporting the crude to other countries and importing them as finished products. “According to them, when you export crude you are at the same time exporting other by-products” she said.

    Amao, who spoke with The Nation on telephone, said Nigeria is wasting money exporting crude oil blaming the development on lack of process technology strategy. “With process technology strategy in place, our refineries and the petrochemical plants would be working. We will be optimising our natural resources, and with this, the country would become an industrial and agro-based economy,” she said.

    She said the country does not have enough qualified personnel to understudy the experts and also lack  the zeal and passion to acquire knowledge. If this development is not checked, she noted, technology transfer would only be  a mirage, documented on paper with little or no result.

    “We really need to get carrier counseling in place, people with the right passion to acquire technology and deploy them with a strategic roadmap that will give the succession plan a minimum number of years,” she said.

    She also said there was the need to address the calibre and number of human resources in the regulatory arm of the hydrocarbon industry in the country. This, she said, would help to address some of the anomalies that currently plague the industry. She said some of the regulatory bodies such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR); Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB); Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) charged with the responsibility of developing, communicating and enforcing regulation as well as supervising compliance through monitoring and evaluation, are, however, do not focus on certification, competency and field development.

    According to her, some of the regulatory bodies do not have the right manpower to do their jobs effectively, which she said makes it possible for people to practise what they like and get away with it.

    “We really need to be focused on the development and socio-economic transformation of the nation, but if you and I go about soliciting for our own comfort and our private well-being, we will continue to be in economic decay in this country,” she said.