Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
IN APRIL of this year, the Federal Government announced that the railway line it is building to Maradi, a city in the Niger Republic, would begin operations in 2023.
Nigerian taxpayers will pay $1.8 billion for the project. It is being paid for with foreign loans, which means that we and our children will have to pay for it. The dog will consume excrement, while the goat will suffer from rotten teeth. There is no proof that the National Assembly, which is constitutionally empowered to control and monitor our national purse, approved this project. The Assembly has not compelled the president to explain his actions.
David Hundeyin, a publisher and investigator, published an official document from the Federal Ministry of Finance on Twitter early last week, revealing that President Buhari approved the purchase of ten Toyota Land Cruiser V8 cars for the government of Niger Republic for the sum of N1.145 billion.
Shortly after this revelation, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed confirmed the spending. She justified it by saying it was approved to assist our northern neighbor with security. The justification fell flat because, aside from the inflated price, Toyota cars of this caliber belong to the luxury line.
Nigerians are surely looking forward to the end of this regime in ten months so that they can open the books and get answers to so many questions. One example is the regime’s proclivity to dip into our treasury and play “Big Brother” without due process.
It gave one million US dollars to the Afghan government in April of this year without appropriation. Which law allows a Nigerian president to recklessly spend our money, especially when we have so many needs of our own?
For example, our colonial Eastern rail network is still paralyzed. Yet, in June 2021, President Buhari’s only justification for the costly gift to Niger Republic was the presence of his family! This is a classic case of misplaced priority and financial misappropriation, both of which are crimes.
In this debt-ridden country, university lecturers have been on strike for more than six months due to the government’s inability to meet its financial obligations. We don’t even have enough to deal with our own security issues, and what little we do have is squandered on flights of fancy. There is nothing wrong with assisting a needy neighbor, but it must be done legally.
Unfortunately, our National Assembly, which was established to keep the Executive in check on issues like this, has abdicated its responsibility. Our rubber-stamp National Assembly has made itself obsolete.
When legislators return from recess, they must continue to do the work for which we pay them.
