The Nation Newspaper

Tag: States

  • More states support The Nation’s Economic Forum

    More states support The Nation’s Economic Forum

    More states are supporting The Nation’s Economic Forum billed for Thursday and Friday at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau states joined the train at the weekend.

    The Economic Summit has been described as historic, coming immediately after the passage of the 2016 budget.

    Expected to participate are federal ministries of Finance, Solid Minerals, Agriculture, Power, Works and Housing.

    The private sector has an important role to play in the Forum. While the Bank of Industry is expected to deliver a paper on issues affecting SMEs, the US-Africa Chambers of Commerce, plans to deliver a paper and also bring its influence in agriculture accross European countries and America to the Forum.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will lead the Forum with a keynote address while Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode will host the event.

    The National Forum on The Economy is being organised by Vintage Press Ltd, publishers of The Nation, and CEEDEE Resources as a response effort to the current initiatives to reposition the economy.

    The Forum which has as a theme “National Economy : The Way Forward”, will feature conferences and exhibitions on Inter and Intra Regional Competencies, and potentials of the participants.

     

  • Should states have their police

    Should states have their police

    A fresh wave of violence has hit parts of Rivers State, with 35 persons killed in the last two months. Many of the victims were beheaded. The police appear incapable of dealing with the problem. The affected communities live in fear of attacks. Is state police the solution? ADEBISI ONANUGA asks.

    In the past two months, there have been killings in Rivers State. Hardly a day passes without people being killed. Life has become so cheap in some parts of the state as  people are being decapitated and their heads taken away.

    Thirty-five people have been killed in some communities. Eleven days ago, masked gunmen invaded Omoku, headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government, and beheaded the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ward 4 Chairman Franklin Obi. They took his head away.

    His wife and 18-year-old son, Bestman, were also killed. The killings are coming ahead of Saturday’s legislative rerun.

    Also last month, 25 persons were killed in Omoku, 10 of them beheaded and their heads taken away by masked gun men.

    Rivers State Police Commissioner Musa Kimo said the police will arrest those behind the dastardly acts and prosecute them to deter others. On March 8, there was tension in Buguma following the killing of an APC member, Ofinijite Amachree.

    Amachree was burnt alive in Buguma in Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. Between March 5 and 6, five persons were clubbed to death.

    Amachree’s murder took place barely 48 hours after Obi was beheaded.

    Four APC members were killed in Obibi, Etche Local Government, while Gabriel Cookey was clubbed to death in Opobo, headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro.  A man, popularly known as Kpom Kpom, was killed and burnt.

    The killings in Rivers State communities are not limited to politicians.

    On February 14, a fight between rival cult groups left no fewer than 18 persons dead in Omoku. According to eye witnesses, a cult group, the Icelanders invaded the community around 11.00 p.m, killing and injuring others. Among those killed, according to eye witnesses, were a couple and two brothers of the same parents.

    It was learnt that many of those killed were beheaded, with the killers allegedly making away with their heads.

    One Elder John Awo, who hails from the community, said that the killers operated freely, despite the presence of security operatives and check points on major junctions.

    On Ndoni Street, an eye witness, Benedict Ajie, said he heard gunshots on the street at about 9 pm, and by dawn he found that at a house opposite his own, two of his kinsmen, two young brothers, had been shot dead.

    He said on Ndoni Street alone, eight persons were shot dead that night.

    Days after the Omoku killings, a former member of the Rivers House of Assembly, Monday Eleanya, who represented Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Constituency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was shot dead as he was driving out of his residence on Ada-George Road in Port-Harcourt. The deceased had just defected to the APC.

    On January 5, masked gunmen invaded Elibrada Carnival and killed two suspected cultists.

    It was gathered that after the unidentified gunmen laid siege to the community, one of the boys that had been terrorising Emohua was picked.

    His remains were discovered later, at Elibrada Junction, his head was  severed from his body and placed separately on a clean George wrapper. His body was found in the bush.

    The killings followed the Supreme Court’s pronouncement upholding the governor’s election. Observers are worried that the police appear incapacitated to check the increasing violence and the beheading in some of the communities. Are the police helpless?

     

    Lawyers’ views

     

     A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), believes a centralised police cannot enforce law and order adequately everywhere.

    “I can’t see how just (Inspector-General of Police) Solomon Arase can be expected to guarantee the safety of all Nigerians. It makes no sense.

    “Whereas you could remove police from the exclusive list, enable the 774 Local Governments – not even states – to have authority over municipal policing, and then define what each person can do.

    “In America, the FBI deals with Federal cases. Other police, such as the famous New York Police Department (NYPD) deals with New York issues,” he said.

    Agbakoba said without state police, even governors have no control over law enforcement in their domains as the police do not take orders from governors.

    “As we stand today, the only responsible sovereign is President Buhari and the ministers. I was at a conference where Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State governor) was also speaking and I told him that he’s not a sovereign.

    “I reminded him that former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi was not allowed to get into his house by Joseph Mbu (former Rivers Commissioner of Police). This shows that a Commissioner of Police can actually be the sovereign of the state.

    “If the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State wishes to arrest the governor, he can do so. You can then talk about immunity, but the commissioner can do so.

    “When Asiwaju Bola Tinubu wanted to remove the market in Falomo, rightly or wrongly, the police put two tanks there. So, a country where sovereignty is only in the Federal Government is problematic.

    “They (Federal police) can’t see everything. The nature of our federalism creates a lot of inefficiency. “

    A member of the Ogun State Judiciary Service Commission, Abayomi Omoyinmi argued that the Police have failes on several occassions.

    “The confidence is low and the urge to serve is lacking,” he said.

    He said officers’ welfare should be addressed and the government should recruit more hands.

    Former Chairman, NBA, Ikeja Branch, Monday Ubani said the recent killings in Rivers State attest to the fact that matters have snowballed out of the hands of the security forces.

    He added that rerun election taking place next week has added more impetus for anticipated violence and killings.

    Ubani regretted that Rivers State has become a theatre of the absurd.

    “The killings and the frequent eruptions of violence all over the state has made that state the unsafest  for now unless something drastic is done to change that negative perception,” he said..

    “Can we safely conclude that the security agencies in Nigeria have failed to tackle the spate of grievous insecurity in Rivers State? One is clearly tempted to shout ‘yes’.

    “What more evidence should we demand when on daily basis lives are lost, properties destroyed, communities sacked and people are scattered all over the place,” he asked.

     

    The way out

     

    Agbakoba said not only is state police required, but that there should be municipal policing.

    He believes the police should be removed from the exclusive legislative list and placed in the concurrent list so that states can have their own police.

    Said he: “They (Federal police) can’t see everything. The nature of our federalism creates a lot of inefficiency.” He added that country where sovereignty resides only in the Federal Government is problematic.

    Omoyinmi said state policing may be the solution.

    “In any case some states in the country have taken full responsibilities financially in making sure that the police in their state are not neglected in the performance of their duties of preventing crimes and providing security for life and properties.

    “I will ultimately support the regional policing to be experimented for sometime and may be state police after about a decade of regional police,” he said.

    Ubani said state police can be the panacea for insecurity.

    “State police is desirable in a multi cultural and multi religious country like Nigeria but one must be careful to qualify it to be that the State Police Force must be neutral, patriotic and selfless not under the whims and caprices of the governor or party in power.

    “If these measures cannot be guaranteed it may be more dangerous and deadly than what we are witnessing presently. State Police can work in a country where institutions that will checkmate the excesses of the governor are very independent and effective. Can this ideal situation be guaranteed?

    “There is no space here to enumerate what we as a nation stands to gain in having an impartial, independent and highly monitored State Police that will serve generally the interests of citizens and the State. A trial may convince us.”

    In the short run, the former NBA Ikeja branch Chairman advised that the Nigerian police must demonstrate capacity immediately as there is evidence that they have not tackled this graven insecurity appropriately and effectively.

    “In addition to the Police to man Rivers State, the Nigerian  Army must be deployed  in the interim to curtail this present madness otherwise all the citizens in Rivers will become endangered specie, if they are not already.

    “If these measures are not deployed promptly to stem this insecurity it may spiral into a full blown state of lawlessness and war that may necessitate the declaration of state of emergency which may not be in the interest of the citizens and the state,” he stated.

     

  • Dambazzau: Fed Govt ‘ll partner states for better security

    Dambazzau: Fed Govt ‘ll partner states for better security

    Minister of Interior Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd) has pledged that the Federal Government will partner with states to make the nation more secured and safe for local and foreign investors.

    Dambazzau, who spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State and Ikeja, Lagos State when he visited Governor Ibikunle Amosun and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as well facilities and infrastructure under his ministry, said the task of securing the country should not be left with the Federal Government.

    Speaking at the Oke-Mosan Governor’s Office in the Ogun State capital, he identified the nation’s porous borders and light arms smuggling as responsible for the internal security challenges being contended with.

    The minister assured Nigerians that technology would be deployed to the borders to make them make more secure.

    Dambazzau said there would be no genuine development for any country if its environment was not secured, “hence the commitment of the Federal Government to make Nigeria safe and secured internally”.

    He noted that the level of involvement of his ministry through five service organisations – the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Federal Fire Service (FFS) – in internal security was “enormous”.

    According to him, the Federal Government, through the ministry, has deemed it necessary to foster a closer relationship with the states to move the country’s internal security forward.

    “Without security, there can be no development. We want to secure our environment so that Nigerians can sleep with both eyes closed and make the country comfortable for investors – local and foreign – to thrive,” Dambazzau said.

    Amosun hailed the minister for the visit and assured him of the state’s support to make the country safer.

    He noted that if not for insurgency by Boko Haram, Nigeria was relatively safe.

    He added that the internal security of the country must be taken seriously by people entrusted with the task.

    He said given the fact that Ogun is a gateway state and one with the highest number of land borders with the Republic of Benin, “it requires more security presence to police the borders”.

    The governor urged the ministry to relocate the about 100 years old Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, from the city centre.

    When the minister visited the Lagos House, Ikeja,  Ambode sought the support of the Federal Government to facilitate the relocation of the Ikoyi Prisons.

    He urged the minister to revisit the agreement on the relocation of the prison, assuring that the state was willing to provide land for the construction of a modern structure for the facility.

    He also urged the minister to revisit the partnership between the Federal Government and the state, especially in combating the frequent fires in the state and reducing the influx of illegal immigrants.

    On his part, Dambazzau hailed the government for the N4.7 billion security equipment purchased for the police last year, saying such gesture was unprecedented in the nation’s history and a sign of seriousness about the security of lives and property of residents.

    The minister, who is in Lagos on a three-day tour of facilities and infrastructure of security agencies, said the state is the vanguard of support for the ministry, adding that the state’s gesture was well noted and appreciated.

    During his tour of Falck Prime Atlantic Training Centre in Ipara, Remo, Ogun State yesterday, the minister said the deployment of technology to the borders has become imperative because Nigeria’s borders are porous and expansive.

    He said: “The porosity of our borders is a general problem because we have close to 5,000 kilometres of borders and most of it is on land. We are looking into the situation. Certainly, one thing I’m very sure is that we will apply technology to monitor the expansive borders.

    “The step will check unnecessary incursion into the country, particularly those who come in here with bad intention – smuggling small arms and light weapons, drugs and engage in human trafficking, and all the cross-border illegalities. These are priorities for the Ministry of Interior because most of the internal security problems we are having have to do with accessibility and availability of weapon, and of drugs. We will check this at source, and if we do this, about 50 per cent or more of internal security challenges will be solved.”

    Owing to the standard of Falck Prime facilities, the minister pledged not to send personnel in his ministry overseas for training.

    “I’m very impressed with the facilities we have here for training particularly in the area of fire fighting. As we have such facilities here, so we don’t need to send our personnel outside this country,” he said.

  • Minister cautions states against building airports

    •’It’ll serve only rich Nigerians’

    Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi has advised states to initiate projects to profit the  poor rather than pursuing ventures serving only the rich.

    Amaechi, who gave the advice at the weekend in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, while fielding questions from reporters, noted that airports were  elitist projects and would not benefit the poor.

    The minister, who was on an assessment visit to projects executed by the Ogun State government on behalf of the Federal Government, added that the country has many unviable airports.

    His words: “Governors should focus on things that would improve the lives of the poor, not the rich. It’s the rich people that fly planes. How many poor people know where airport is, let alone flying an aircraft?”

    “I believe that the construction of airport should be backed by the growth of the economy. There are airports that are built just for the governors to land and take off. That won’t be the idea for me as a minister of Transportation.

    “I’d prefer that airports that are built would be backed by economic demand. We would not discourage Ogun State if you like to build an airport, but we would like to advise that they should look at the economics of an airport,” Amaechi said.

    But he promised the state  of Federal Government support, if it wants to build an airport.

    The miniser said the Federal Government would complete new terminals in four international airports in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.

    He said he was in the state to ascertain some federal roads built by the government.

    Amaechi announced that a railway line between Lagos and Calabar as well as Lagos and Kano would begin this year.

    “I am convinced that most of the roads have been built. By the time we write the report, we have engineers, we have people from the Public Procurement Department, they would assess the cost and put it in the report,” he said.

    But Governor Ibikunle Amosun solicited the support of the minister in ensuring the completion of the abandoned airport project in Ewekoro Local Government Area.

    “It’s being built by the Federal Government.  In fact, it is the oldest airport they have in Nigeria. It was done in 1940/41; that was what they were using during the World War and that’s why we have the Commonwealth cemetery there. Somehow, after the war, nobody said anything about it.

    “But 12 years ago, Federal Government started again. Everything has been done. Contractors have even been mobilised to site before they stopped funding it.

    “Ogun State is the industrial  hub of Nigeria. There is no nation that would develop if the industries are not there. Even in the radius of five kilometres, in the United States, we have about four airports, we have examples in London.

    “But for us, it is not just for the governor to land; people would want to move their goods and services, people will want to come and that’s why we need an airport here. And in any case, the airport in Lagos, where can it expand to? It’s congested,” the governor said.

  • Pension Act: ‘26 states yet to comply 10 years after’

    Pension Act: ‘26 states yet to comply 10 years after’

    Ten years after the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme, only 10 states have fully implemented it, the Nigerian Lbour Congress (NLC) has said.

    Speaking with reporters in Abuja, NLC Deputy President, Comrade Peter Adeyemi, said there was an need for civil servants in the affected states to be enrolled in the scheme.

    He said: “Despite the fact that the problem of retired teachers at the state and local government levels, arguably kick-started the agitation for pension reforms in the country, after the return to civil rule, when it eventually became a reality in 2004, public servants in the states and local governments across the country were excluded from coverage.’’

    Adeyemi added: “Though the 2014 amendment to the Pension Reform Act rectified the omission in the 2004 Act, the fact that only 10 states out of 36 states have completed the process of legislation, and full contributory schemes are in place as at last quarter of 2015, shows the effect of the non-inclusion of states in the earlier reforms, evenas the Pension Act of 1990, took care to have nationwide coverage.”

  • NASU warns states over salary arrears

    NASU warns states over salary arrears

    •Threatens showdown

    Governors still owing workers, despite the bailout funds from the Federal Government, may soon face an industrial action. The Non Academic Staff of Universities and Educational Institutions (NASU) has urged the governors to pay up with immediate effect.

    The union in a resolution adopted after the quadrennial delegates’ conference, last  weekend, warned that the bailout funds should be used to pay the arrears of salaries owed workers. It also mandated the governors to, henceforth, ensure effective and prompt payment of workers’ salaries.

    The statement, which was jointly signed by the Deputy President  and Secretary,  Adegoke Adeniyi and Damola Adelekuný, condemned the delay in the payment of workers’ salaries by some governors.

    “Union views this negative, anti-worker agenda as an inhuman act, which has brought untold hardship on the workers and invariably on the populace,” the statement said.

    It, however, praised the giant strides of President Muhammad Buhari in providing bailout funds to affected states to offset debts owed to workers, noting that the singular act of Mr. President has endeared him to the hearts of Nigerian workers.

    The union also urged workers of the affected states not to compromise the payment and to closely monitor the disbursement of the funds to forestall any attempt by some governors to use the funds for other purposes.

    The union also expressed dismay on the deplorable conditions of Nigerian Public Libraries and the National Library of Nigeria due to neglect by government and decline in individual and corporate support.

    It also frowned at some governors’ concession of e-library to private operators and other ministries as against its usage by the library boards.

    It noted that for the country to develop and for the present government’s clamour for eradication of illiteracy to succeed, urgent attention must be given to resuscitation of libraries in Nigeria.

    “The Conference-in-Session, therefore, called on all tiers of government to make it a priority by providing adequate funds for this education sector since they are not created to generate revenue but to render services to the populace and also implored the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) to intervene in the pathetic situation in public libraries”, the union added.

  • States‘ aversion to joint ventures

    The desire to address prevailing governance inconsistencies led the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to design, in 2007, the State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM) aimed at helping states promote good governance and accelerate development by adopting innovative and good practices from peer states. Despite this positive development, it’s paradoxical that Nigeria’s 36 States continue to seek foreign and domestic investors for their enterprise and development needs, while shirking inter-state joint ventures. Practice-based evidence reveals that Nigerian states are relatively passive and averse to inter-state collaboration on development matters.

    Interestingly, shared vision, need for cost-effective funding and the belief in integrated development, informed the founding of the South-East Nigeria Economic Commission (SENEC) and the Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo and Delta Commission (BRACED), in 2006 and 2009.  However, in the south-east geopolitical zone, the efforts started in 2006 to establish the South-East Nigeria Economic Commission (SENEC), were literally dead on arrival, hardly receiving any sustenance beyond getting the imprimatur of the south-east governors. Indeed, Governors Sullivan Chime, Peter Obi, Theodore Orji and Ikedi Ohakim had all signed the MOU establishing SENEC in March 2009. Thereafter, the SENEC became moribund, existing only in name, having failed to achieve its collective cardinal goal of promoting “economic competitiveness and sustainable development of the south-east geopolitical zone within the national and global economies.” Similarly, the BRACED Commission’s aim to “harmonize the policies of the States, drive the States‘ desire for economic cooperation and integration and help set them on a path for rapid economic development” floundered.  Yet the SENEC and BRACED bloc of states retain their common vision and shared aspirations as opposed to the unorganized bloc of states in the other five geopolitical zones.

    The SENEC and BRACED Commissions still represent futuristic and productive inter-state economic and developmental cooperation models, capable of yielding immense benefits, in a cost-efficient and synergized manner.  Had the commissions been fully established as special purpose vehicles (SPVs), they would have democratized development, rationalized public finance and expenditure, enhanced common security, promoted collective interests and addressed an array of unmet needs and infrastructure deficits in areas such as roads, electricity, heavy haulage, water, and removed hurdles that despoil the business environment. Their respective impact at the grassroots would have been immense. However, leadership groupthink, political differences, divergent party affiliations and loyalties — less so ideologies — continue to subjugate such common aspirations. Rather than pool ideas, fiscal and material resources in positioning common interest infrastructure based on comparative advantage, each state governor within the SENEC and BRACED orbit elected to go it alone. They did so even as they zealously paraded a common front in their respective zonal Governors’ Forum. What compels this faux policy thinking is the faux belief that the governors stood to personally derive political leverage and popularity through unilateral brand-name ventures, than through inter-state joint ventures.  This mindset is a toxic public policy fallacy that overlooks “a burden shared is a burden halved” maxim. Oddly, most incumbent governors still believe that the notional size of their annual State budget, translates to their States being more prosperous than States with smaller budgets; even when their budgets are underperforming and underfunded. Equally overlooked, is the fact that most State budgets are not results-based, reality-based or policy driven, even as the internally generated revenue improves.

    Additionally, lack of focus on issues-oriented governance, distributive policies and how best to cost-effectively help people meet their needs, have left many governors vulnerable. This may explain, for instance, why Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue State would be absent when President Buhari flagged off the construction of the 260km super highway leading from Cross River State to Katsina-Alain, Benue State, recently. Benue State, being a major agricultural producer with a vast value chain, stood to benefit the most from that Public Private Partnership (PPP) project initiated by neighbouring Cross River State.  The highway, a strategic national asset, is not only designed to serve as an evacuation route to and from the Bakassi Deep Seaport, but offers a high-value multiplier-effect and enhanced infrastructure for regional economic growth, to Cross River and the contiguous states, including Benue State.

    Examples abound of inter-state joint ventures that would have yielded higher returns on investment, employment and economic and social development, than states partnering with foreign or domestic investors or going it alone. Meanwhile, some states continue to vaunt the numerous memorandums of understanding (MOUs) they signed with investors, but hardly of any signed with their geo-political partners. Something is amiss with this public policy disposition. Some existing case studies offer examples of egregiously reduced numbers of inter-state joint ventures, especially in agriculture, our foremost niche sector outside oil. A majority of Nigeria’s 36 States are invested in the eleven river basin schemes created in 1976, primarily to promote all-year-round agriculture. Yet the schemes have failed due to the beneficiary states not taking full ownership of them and appreciating their utility and long-term value in assisting the states’ bridge “the gap between the rural and urban centres by taking development to the grass roots and discourage migration from the rural areas to the urban centres.” Hence from the Anambra-Imo Basin to the Osun-Ogun Basin and to the Sokoto-Rima Basin, Nigeria has lost enormous accruable development dividends in enabling sectors like hydro-electric power generation, water for irrigation, mechanized farming and sourcing of potable water. Ironically, these sectors still feature prominently on the priority to-do-list of most states.

    In the south-east zone, Anambra and Imo remain unlinked to Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi by rail lines. Yet a joint-venture on a regional rail hub linking Aba-Owerri-Onitsha-Enugu, would tie all the states in the zone to the national rail grid, thus maximizing benefits, improving transport and heavy haulage capacity of the states, while extending the longevity of their respective capital-intensive road networks.  Similarly, a joint-venture between Anambra and Delta states, in which the Asaba airport is upgraded to international status and linked by light rail to a terminal in the Onitsha Industrial Harbour River Port Complex, would create a twin-city and twin-state partnership with infinite possibilities. The trade and commerce benefits would be immense considering the seamless movement of commercial air cargo into Onitsha-Nnewi-Awka (ONA) Industrial Axis.

    Inter-state joint ventures are neither charities nor altruistic gambits; yet they promote states’ interest and the material well-being and social cohesion of the people in cost-effective ways. Unfortunately, these benefits are being foreclosed on by the crass competition between states. Such a disposition led to the collapse of the Nkalagu Cement Industry, a joint asset of the south-east states, at a time when cement is a high-value, strategic commodity tied inextricably to overall international infrastructural development. Whereas concessions and instant gratifications possible with private investors are generally absent when dealing with peer state governments, joint ventures remain efficient, effective and valuable policy options.  Regrettably, such inter-state ventures are now rare and, for most state governments, no longer form integral components of their public policy formulation or budgetary processes. It begs the question though, how states willing to engage PPP investors, can be trenchantly unwilling to engage their neighbours in joint ventures.

    Obaze, MD/CEO of Selonnes Consult, is a strategic public policy adviser and immediate past Secretary to the Anambra State Government.

  • ‘Why some states are yet to establish CPS’

    The non-compliance by some sate governments to establish the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as stipulated in the Pension Reform Act, 2014 is a sign of regulatory weakness by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), an Actuarial Scientist and Chartered Insurer, Dr. Pius Apere, has said.

    In a paper titled: “Key challenges of Nigerian pension industry and possible solutions – From an actuarial perspective”, he said there was the need by the Commission to be strict with the state governments.

    According to him, the actuarial valuations of the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) defined benefit (DB) Schemes required by PENCOM at the point of implementation of the new CPS have not been carried out even for those state governments that have already established their CPS.

    He highlighted them as delayed or non-payment of pension entitlements and misappropriation of existing pension funds, low standard of living or high poverty incidence among pensioners due to pension increases not in line with salary inflation or no pension increase at all and too frequent verification of pensioners by Pension Transitional Arrangements Directorate (PTAD) (Section 42 of PRA 2014) leading to pensioners dying during verifications.

    Proffering possible solutions, the actuarist said the the establishment of PTAD and various penalties for pension funds mismanagement introduced by PRA 2014 would address some of the lingering challenges of pensioners in the public service pension administration in the country.

    He said: “There is need to create pensioners’ biometric database that is suitable for future actuarial valuation, demographic and financial projections, which would also eliminate ghost pensioners. There is also the need to adopt a pragmatic approach to pensioners’ biometric verification process through a system of self-verification by pensioners capable of automatically updating the pensioners’ database having conducted an initial face-to-face verification in order to minimise the frequency of subsequent face-to-face verification exercise.

    “PenCom should put in place an automation of pension and gratuity calculation and payment system to ensure that pension increases are implemented on a timely basis relative to increase in workers’ salaries and also allowing pensioners to receive their benefits as at when due. The Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for the Federal public service should be emulated at the State and local Government levels,

    “A periodic actuarial valuation of the old DB pension scheme as required by law needs to be carried out in order to ascertain the value of the pensioners’ liabilities at a given date as the scheme runs off. This will enable a realistic annual pension budget estimate to be made for the government(s) which will reduce the insufficient funds being allocated for pension payment. This would help in the administration of PTAD in minimising the delays and arrears in pension payment.”

    He added that PTAD should also set up a realistic pension stabilisation fund (to be invested) with the primary aim to stabilise the pension/gratuity payment system which is always in arrears. This will ensure that money is readily available to pay the arrears of pension liability.

    PenCom said 21 states  have enacted  laws on the CPS, while 14 were  at  various  stages of   adopting  the scheme.

    The Commission said one state is, however,  yet to commence any action towards  implementing the CPS.

     

  • A tale of two states

    A tale of two states

    Perspicacious Ekitis, if any remains at all, should ask themselves where El Rufai got  the tens of  billions he is going to spend providing free education in Kaduna State but Fayose must inflict this punishment on poor Ekiti parents.

    On these pages last Sunday, I showed how President Goodluck Jonathan, eager to ensure his own victory at the 2015 Presidential election, suborned the entire Nigerian army to rig the 2014 Ekiti gubernatorial election for candidate Ayo Fayose of the PDP. As should be expected with an order from the Commander-in-Chief, Major-General Kenneth Tobiah Minimah, the Army Chief of Staff, a Cross Riverian, unerringly delivered Ekiti to Ayo Fayose. Since his ‘victory’ and inauguration on October 15, 2014, Governor Fayose has shown abundantly, that he is a product of the gun, and not of the ballot box, no matter how many times he repeats 16:0, 20: 0. He can, of course, take consolation in the fact that he is ruling over an awe-struck, fawning and adoring Ekiti people. Concerning this emerging Ekiti sociology which tramples all the qualities everybody once knew Ekiti for, some young researchers must show interest in what is certain to be a rewarding academic exertion.

    Two momentous events happened this past week. The first: concerned with education and how it has plummeted in Ekiti under governors who did not deliberately encourage cheating at public examinations as we  learnt in the course of the sittings of the Fayemi Education Task force, governor Fayose took the decisive decision of conveying a 3-hour education Summit under the lead of a highly respected monarch, a former Chief Justice of the state who cannot  be described  as a novice in matters of Education. Fayose evidently needed such a highly regarded Oba to lean on even if his intentions were not pure.  Then the second, in faraway Kaduna State,  in those far flung places where those of us in these parts humour  ourselves into foolishly believing they know nothing, the new governor of example, the stormy petrel, no nonsense and,  take no prisoners Nasir  El Rufai,  literally re-invented the wheel. It is not that fees had ever been a major part of the school architecture in the North, but here, indeed, was a John the Baptist, in the depth of his free education programme.

    Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai is an educated governor.  He could have read any of Medicine, Engineering, or Chemical Engineering and he, indeed, had a scholarship from the Kaduna Polytechnic to read Mining Engineering at the Camborne School of mines in the U.K which he declined and opted, instead, to read Quantity Surveying at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.  Nobody will therefore be surprised that he appreciates the value of education and its place in the development of a people, state or nation. There was no way he could have introduced school fees in Kaduna State.  I quote below, how newspapers reported what El-Rufai did in Kaduna State in this regard: “The Kaduna State government yesterday instituted free education across all government owned primary and junior secondary schools in the state. According to the state Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai who announced this, his administration would spend N9 billion annually on free feeding of over one million primary school pupils. He further stated that the free education in junior secondary school will gulp N600 million yearly noting that the programme will save parents N3.7 billion for them to channel to other family demands. He added that, 5,000 tailors would be engaged to sew free uniforms which will be distributed to pupils across the state. He mentioned that,  (not  surprisingly) the free education introduced by the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration in the state was a fraud to milk parents dry as the programme did not work.”

    And what did governor Fayose do in Ekiti, leveraging on his 3-hour Education Summit? Here, I must say that we have variations. While his spokesperson gave some ludicrous figures of   N2, 400 and N3000 per term for primary and secondary schools respectively, figures for which Fayose would never even as much as consider a minute’s summit, parents of new secondary school students claim they had been asked to pay N35, 000, besides the cost of   chairs, desks, bags, school uniforms and books that the parents will have to bear. Even if N2400 per term is correct for primary schools, you are still talking of a lot of money for some parents. Add to that, the cost of chairs, desks, books etc.

    These patently illegal charges will not stand in Ekiti as long as the Lord liveth. Some concerned individuals are already working at calling governor Fayose’s attention to the provisions of the Universal Child’s Rights Act, already domesticated in the state and they may, if he refuses to withdraw the charges, head to court. The Act sets out to “Empower our children with Children’s Rights Education so that they can build a global culture of respect for human rights as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child. Then each child can fully develop into critically literate, rights- respecting citizen who will collaborate with others to uphold human rights and question the root causes of social injustice in the pursuit of global peace.”

    Besides that act is the UBEC Law, flagged off 29, September 1999, by President Olusegun Obasanjo and being executed by the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to eradicate illiteracy, ignorance and poverty as well as stimulate and accelerate national development, political consciousness and national integration. By the law, years 1-9 of schooling in Nigeria is free of all charges as the federal government intends to make it a world class education intervention and regulatory agency for qualitative and functional basic education in Nigeria, and one which will operate as a monitoring agency to progressively improve the capacity of states, local government agencies and communities in the provision of unfettered access to high qualitative basic education in Nigeria. It also has the objective of providing unfettered access to nine (9) years of formal basic education which will be FREE to every Nigerian child.

    I have gone all this length just in case the governor or even the summit acted out of ignorance of these extant provisions. I shall not be surprised, however, if Governor Fayose knows all these but still decides to use all manner of nomenclature to rake in some free money he could spend without question. Perspicacious Ekitis, if any remains at all, should ask themselves where El Rufai got  the tens of  billions he is going to spend providing free education in Kaduna State but Fayose must inflict this punishment on poor  Ekiti parents.

    Fayose revokes Ayo Orebe’s house

    In a classical case of the son being punished for the sins of the father, governor Ayo Fayose this past week revoked my son – Ayo Orebe’s sale agreement with the Ekiti Housing Corporation all because, as chairman of the tenants’ association he, with the executive, went to court when the governor barricaded their homes, he with a 3 day old baby. Fayose wants the case withdrawn to give him a free hand to send them packing. This, in spite of Ayo, a banker, paying monthly to his primary mortgage institution and the governor rejecting the tenants’ payment terms of N30, 000.00k per month.  My family is happy that  the ‘Daramola Option’ hasn’t been contemplated. But even then, he who the gods will destroy, they first make mad. Some three weeks ago, I contacted  Wole Olanipekun, SAN, about this probability, asking him to  talk to  the governor and  informed Femi Falana, SAN, as soon as it happened. Let Ayo Fayose continue to add to his long list of cases none of which has a statute of limitation. He is neither God, nor is four years eternity.  Post Buhari, a thousand SANS will not be able to help the likes of Fayose and the consequences of his disregard for Nigerian courts will be fully visited on him. Even while the case is in court, the world now knows  he will still send his thugs to evacuate the family even with a month old child. He will have his comeuppance as palaces in South Africa or Dubai will have no more effect than they did in the Ibori case.  And what is more, government being a continuum, since none in Ekiti – not  Obas,  not  nobility whose hero he is,  nor  his beloved Okada riders – can  advise or restrain  him,  Ekiti people should  know  that be it 20 years,  they  will  end  up paying  for all of Ayo  Fayose’s impunity and  infractions in office.

  • States to share N535.5b

    States to share N535.5b

    Another “bonanza” has landed for states. They are to share N535.5 billion —the Federal Government’s reimbursement of the cash spent on federal roads.

    The decision was taken at yesterday’s National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the State House, Abuja.

    The meeting was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele told the meeting that 18 states – up from 11 as at last month – had benefited from the Special Intervention Fund aspect of the presidential relief package.

    Emefiele said some other states were being processed for the soft loan. This is part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s relief package designed to help states pay backlog of salaries and ease their financial challenges caused by the drop in allocation from the Federation Account.

    [ad id=”403656″]The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, DMO, Mr. Abraham Nwankwo, told the NEC that the second phase of the debt restructuring offered to the states was in effect, with 13 new states now being considered. Twelve banks are involved.

    This is in addition to 11 states whose debts were restructured last month, according to Nwankwo who also told the Council 23 states are now involved in the restructuring. A total of over N322 billion of states loans were restructured last month, about N252 billion have been restructured this month.

    The presidential relief package has three core elements. These are:

    • The sharing of about $2.1b in fresh allocation between the states and the federal government. The money was sourced from recent LNG proceeds to the federation account, and its release okayed by the president leading to the sharing of federal allocation twice for month of June.
    • A Central Bank-packaged special intervention fund that will offer financing to the states, to the range of about ranging around from N300B. This is a soft loan available to states to access for the purposes of paying backlog of salaries.
    • A debt relief program designed by the Debt Management Office, DMO, which is now helping the states restructure their commercial loans put at over N660B, and extend the life span of such loans while reducing their debt-servicing expenditures.

    Yesterday’s NEC meeting also received an ongoing report from its Ad-Hoc Committee of five governors on the management of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and related Federation Account issues. The Committee told the Council that it has observed a lack of transparency and accountability in the operation of the Federation Account, adding that there were no checks and balances in the running of the ECA in the recent past.

    The five governors on the Ad-Hoc Committee are Adams Oshiomhole (Edo); Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe); Mallam El Rufai (Kaduna); (who presented the report to Council) Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom) and Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos).

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi briefed correspondents at the end of the meeting.

    He was accompanied to the briefing by Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

    Ajimobi said: “Another issue discussed is on refund of expenses incurred on repair of federal roads by states. As listed here, we have 13 states that have fully complied with the reimbursement requirements, we have eight states that have partially complied, 21 states without compliance and the total sum of claims to be re-inbursed is exactly 535, 596, 386, in other words, N535.5 billion.

    He said N13 billion had been disbursed to states as at 2013 and that the challenges faced had to do with inadequate funding in the ministry.

    He also said that 26 state governments have applied for restructuring of their bank loans amounting to N500 billion.

    While 11 of the states have concluded and submitted all relevant documents, he added that 13 states are involved in the second phase to begin soon.

    He said: “The other major item that was discussed had to do with the restructuring of bank loans to state governments, and the restructuring was done into FGN bonds and the DG of Debt Management Office (DMO) reported as follows: That 26 states applied for the loans, that 11 states have concluded and submitted all relevant documents, that 13 states are involved in the second phase to begin immediately. And the total money involved in the restructuring stood at over N500 billion.”

    According to him, the Accountant General of the Federation told the Council that the Excess Crude proceeds balance was over $2.257 billion as at 15th September.

    He also said that the council was informed that fertilizer used by farmers increased by over 271 per cent towards food security in the country.

    He said: “Lastly, we discussed the issues of the current and future agricultural policy direction. And the Permanent Secretary made a very lucid presentation and it was extensively discussed and he gave us information on data base of farmers in proceeds production capacity of food storage and grains increased fertilizer.

    “And he told us specifically that fertilizer used by farmers increased by over 271 percent which was commendable, but the conclusion was that there was the need for more interaction with the states and local governments and their approach in agriculture should be bottom-top approach,” he stated

    The governor said that the Council was also briefed about the planned agricultural training programme that the ministry of agriculture intends to pursue.

    According to him, 12 states and FCT have been selected for the first phase, while the second phase would include non educated youths to be spread across states by geopolitical zones.

    The 23 states whose debts have been restructured into bonds are: Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba and Zamfara.