By Adeleye Kunle
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has petitioned President Muhammad Buhari, requesting that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Commission, ICPC, investigate state governors for alleged looting and mismanagement of public funds.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba criticized governors’ recent recommendations to revive the nation’s ailing economy in a letter titled: Reviving the Economy: Our Response to Governors Prescriptions.
The recommendations include eliminating PMS subsidy/under-recovery estimated at N6-7 trillion, early retirement of civil servants aged 50 and above, implementing the reviewed Oronsaye Report, ceasing government budgetary financing, converting its N19 trillion debt into a 100-year bond, ceasing PMS subsidy, eliminating NNPC’s federation-funded projects, capping Social Investment Programme (SIP) and National Poverty Redemption Programme (NPRP).
However, the NLC dismissed the majority of the proposals in its letter as not only selfish but also cruel.
“While we agree that the economy requires revitalization,” the letter says, “we are dismayed by some of the governors’ prescriptions, which smack of extreme selfishness and insensate cruelty.”
It strikes us as unrealistic, insensitive, and hypocritical. Governors have always been vocal opponents of the culture of rainy-day savings. Despite the fact that this reckless culture predates your administration, few of them have anything to show for all the money they have amassed. What assurance do we have that the additional sum on top of the principal popularly known as subsidy (the majority of which is shrouded in mystery and crime anyway) can be put to effective use if there is little or nothing to show for the principal sums or revenues collected over the years? In addition, we find it repugnant that petrol subsidies in Nigeria cause economic distortions while doing the opposite in the United States and Western Europe.
“The truth is that removing the small benefit that the average Nigerian receives may have unintended consequences that we would be better off without.”
“The solution to subsidy and ballooning deficits is domestic refining, effective refinery management, and creating an enabling environment for effective and efficient public sector leadership in the construction and management of local refineries.” The 1999 Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution, as amended, states unequivocally in Chapter Two that the commanding heights of the economy, as well as the resources of the economy, should be held in public hands, and that the country’s resources should be managed in such a way as to ensure maximum benefits to the people of Nigeria.
“We recall you having the foresight to provide massive bailout and budget support funds to enable governors to clear backlogs of salaries and pensions, for which we workers remain grateful.” During the Covid-19 pandemic, you also halted repayments. There could be no better demonstration of understanding and empathy by a leader, but the governors abused it all because few of them used the funds for the intended purposes. Giving and taking, not more than 20% of these funds were properly channeled. In the past, ICPC did a good job of tracking down how these funds were used, which is partly to blame for the current financial situation. As a result, we strongly urge you to direct the ICPC and EFCC to retrace and make public how the governors diverted and misused these funds in order to achieve full recovery.”
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