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OBASANJO’S NEVER-ENDING
SPENDING SPREE
By Jide Ayobolu
Aug 16, 2006
The recent never-ending spending pattern of
the Obasanjo administration calls for concern. This is more so because,
this government is supposed to hand over power to another democratically
elected government, come May 2007, therefore what it ought to do is to
conserve funds as much as possible and not just dissipate resources on
frivolous and grandiose projects that is completely out of tune with the
needs and expectations of the generality of the people. And, the excess
money that the government has now, is not even as a result of the internal
dynamics of the economy to produce, thereby greatly improving the capacity
utilization of industry. Instead, it is a result of the upsurge in the
price of oil in the international market. Hence, the windfall ought to
have been put to a far more productive use, rather than expend it on
conspicuous consumption.
It would be recalled that when the Obasanjo
government came on board in 1999 it cancelled all the contracts awarded by
the Abubakar Abdulsalami’s government saying that, how can an out-going
government wantonly award such very huge contracts, but what his own
government is now doing is far worse than what the even the military
government did and it is very curious and rather disturbing that the
National Assembly is just keeping mute as all this inexplicable financial
jamboree continues unabated. Although the northern senators during their
last meeting in Kaduna warned about this sordid development in the scheme
of things but the collective Assembly as a very important arm and
institution of government has not done anything yet and this should not be
the case, as the national assembly would be seen as neglecting its
oversight functions.
Again, it is imperative to underscore the fact
that, the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission has
earlier raised an alarm that the NNPC has failed to remit all the revenue
it collects into the federation accounts as stipulated by the
constitution, up the now, the commission said that NNPC cannot account for
about N311billion, also very worrisome is the fact that the NNPC in
conjunction with the presidency are operating three illegal accounts,
chief amongst this is the excess crude oil account, from which the federal
government wantonly withdraws money at will for sundry purposes known to
it only, without recourse to the due process, rule of law and the national
assembly. Yet, people are not asking questions, and everything is going on
as if it is normal. It was in this reckless manner that the president
dipped his hands into the national coffers and unilaterally gave money to
Ghana as well as Sao Tome and Principe when Nigeria itself is bedeviled by
far-reaching socio-economic under-development that needs very urgent
attention, but which has been largely left unattended to.
The essence of holding public positions is to
render selfless service to the people; it is about the upliftment and
transformation of the socio-economic wellbeing of the people for the
better. What will the present occupiers of office gain, if they
deliberately create problems for the in-coming government? Is this how to
give the very best of service to the people that elected them into public
office to hold power in trust on their behalf? This is not how a
government is run, this not how to lay a solid foundation for the future,
this not how to prudently manage a complex economy like that of Nigeria?
This not how to consolidate the gains of democracy and enhance a
sustainable democratic culture. Politics of service, issues and values are
not about personal vendetta and settling selfish person scores with people
not minding the multiplier implications on the country’s political economy
and her people.
Perhaps the question should be asked why is
the government that has less than a year to spend in office be committing
billions of naira to the maintenance and construction of railine in the
country? The railways before now has been designated for concessioning by
the BPE, and many foreign investors have already indicted interest in the
process. In the same token the former finance minister had planned that
the payment of pensions and contractors will be done through bonds as this
will help in no small measure to stabilize the naira, as soon as she
resigned the monies were paid in cash. Then, why build a 42 storey
millennium tower that will cost N53 billion in Abuja when the master plan
says that no storey building should exceed 12 storey building? And, the
spending spree as continued unabated. All stake holders should therefore,
work in sync to put paid to this rather nauseating trend in the polity.
By Jide Ayobolu
No 19 Gongola Street
Garki 2
Abuja-Nigeria
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