http://saharareporters.com/news-page/we-would-not-watch-jonathan%E2%80%99s-administration-drag-us-bankruptcy-says-arg-premium-times

We Would Not Watch Jonathan’s Administration Drag Us Into Bankruptcy, Says ARG-PREMIUM TIMES
Posted: July 4, 2013 - 20:02

By Nnenna Ibeh
The Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, on Thursday demanded that the present administration, headed by President Goodluck Jonathan, be restructured following the administration’s failure to sustain the nation’s economy.

In a statement signed by its publicity Secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, the ARG alleged that the Federal Government has been scampering for funds in light of the nation’s dwindling oil revenues.

The group, while blaming the current administrative structure for the nation’s financial woes, noted that the Federal Government has failed to meet its financial obligations including unpaid arrears and then expressed its concern for states that depend solely on the federal allocation.
Speaking on a recent article Clarifying Nigeria’s Debt Status written by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and circulated in the media, the group criticised her failure to reveal the current status of the nation’s domestic debt while disclosing its foreign debts.

“Few weeks ago, the Finance Minster wrote an article titled, “Clarifying Nigeria’s debt status,” in which she gleefully told us that the country’s foreign debt stands at $6.67 billion (N1 trillion) but she forgot to tell us the current status of our domestic debt which in August 2011, she told us was $42.23 billion (N6.8 trillion). We feared she intentionally left out this detail as the value may be shocking,” Mr. Famoriyo said.

Mr. Famoriyo also expressed his group’s lack of surprise at Ms. Okonjo-Iweala’s admission- while demanding for the passage of an amendment budget to avoid non-payment of worker’s salaries by October- that the multi-billion naira contract awarded to Niger Delta ex-militants to guard petroleum pipes has not paid off. The country now records worse cases of crude oil theft.

Fearing that these are all pointers that the nation’s economy at this time is unsustainable, Mr. Famoriyo demanded that the governing structure that has so far allowed profligacy and unmitigated corruption be pulled down now to make way for a Sovereign National Conference which, according to him, will bring about efficient and transparent management of the country’s resources.

“We dare say that the time is now because we would not stand by and watch Jonathan’s administration drag all of us into bankruptcy. Finance minister reportedly complained that NNPC has refused to be accountable to the nation, what more portrays ineptitude?” he asked.

He further called on patriotic Nigerians to join the group in demanding for a restructuring of the present administration so that citizens can live good, healthy and productive life, in a country where no man is oppressed.

for how long will this campaign of calumny continue?

careytommy: for how long will this campaign of calumny continue?

for as long as we continue these politics of "turn by turn".

careytommy: for how long will this campaign of calumny continue?

What should set off alarm bells is now calumny
Why is nobody taking NOI and her boss to task i.e. accountability?
Is NOI not an economic hitman?
During OBJ's regime, she led the charge to repay spurious off debts to the west with the bait we can now channel our resources to infrastructure
Fast forward a decade later with no visible infrastructure, fresh mounting debt and an abacradabra economy which favours foreign investors but impoverishes many a local, she's still on this infrastructure tale and on a trip with her boss to burrow $3 billion afresh
Oil sales are falling, the flow of money is slowing down yet the politicians are getting fatter
Is the demand for fiscal accountability void of profligacy and corruption now to be called calumny

This gbawe of a guy just specialise in digging up questionable anti-GEJ articles.
This old man has become so predictable.
He is either spamming nairaland with untrue anti-GEJ news or unreal pro-Acn propaganda.

fiscalcliff:
What should set off alarm bells is now calumny
Why is nobody taking NOI and her boss to task i.e. accountability?
Is NOI not an economic hitman?
During OBJ's regime, she led the charge to repay spurious off debts to the west with the bait we can now channel our resources to infrastructure
Fast forward a decade later with no visible infrastructure, fresh mounting debt and an abacradabra economy which favours foreign investors but impoverishes many a local, she's still on this infrastructure tale and on a trip with her boss to burrow $3 billion afresh
Oil sales are falling, the flow of money is slowing down yet the politicians are getting fatter
Is the demand for fiscal accountability void of profligacy and corruption now to be called calumny

In all fairness, I think this administration is investing in visible capital projects but the problem of graft seems to undermine their efforts. Considering the huge recurrent expenditure, it only makes sense to burrow money to finance this capital projects to benefit the masses. Fashola is employing the same tactics in Lagos

solomon111: This gbawe of a guy just specialise in digging up questionable anti-GEJ articles.
This old man has become so predictable.
He is either spamming nairaland with untrue anti-GEJ news or unreal pro-Acn propaganda.

Why is Gbawe your problem and not the sad realities about your own country swimming in debt and your kids getting bankrupt even before birth...?

solomon111: This gbawe of a guy just specialise in digging up questionable anti-GEJ articles.
This old man has become so predictable.
He is either spamming nairaland with untrue anti-GEJ news or unreal pro-Acn propaganda.

How is Gbawe becoming predictable? So because he's trying to make Nairalanders aware that Nigeria is in a big financial mess, that now makes Gbawe anti-GEJ and Pro-ACN agenda? Come on now.

What about YOU Solomon who never admits any of GEJ's wrong doing and all you do all day is try to paint a false picture of the actual situation our dear country Nigeria is in? Are you not one of the laptop crew members who were employed to be GEJ's praise singers online?

@Post

We are in trouble as a nation. Nigeria which way?

Gbawe please continue being a true and patriotic Nigerian. Indeed GEJ will drag us to bankruptcy and while he and Okonjo Iweala are dead, our children will be paying the debt...Naija which way??...

solomon111: This gbawe of a guy just specialise in digging up questionable anti-GEJ articles.
This old man has become so predictable.
He is either spamming nairaland with untrue anti-GEJ news or unreal pro-Acn propaganda.

But what do you have to contribute to the article that wasn't written by the OP?

solomon111: This gbawe of a guy just specialise in digging up questionable anti-GEJ articles.
This old man has become so predictable.
He is either spamming nairaland with untrue anti-GEJ news or unreal pro-Acn propaganda.

mr man face the issue and leave the tissue.

You would have made a sense by bringing out a claim or fact to refute the allegation against the GEJ's government.

plaindealer:



Why is Gbawe your problem and not the sad realities about your own country swimming in debt and your kids getting bankrupt even before birth...?

dasparrow:

How is Gbawe becoming predictable? So because he's trying to make Nairalanders aware that Nigeria is in a big financial mess, that now makes Gbawe anti-GEJ and Pro-ACN agenda? Come on now.

What about YOU Solomon who never admits any of GEJ's wrong doing and all you do all day is try to paint a false picture of the actual situation our dear country Nigeria is in? Are you not one of the laptop crew members who were employed to be GEJ's praise singers online?

@Post

We are in trouble as a nation. Nigeria which way?

Katsumoto:

But what do you have to contribute to the article that wasn't written by the OP?

Guys, thank you all for the sense of perspective. Ignore that character. He has nothing to contribute. The truth, for every decent person who is appalled by how Nigeria is being led, is that we are sitting on another big scam that is episode number 2 of the fuel subsidy scam GEJ carried out with Allison-Madueke and fraudster cronies they both issued marketer license to. They cannot hide what is coming, allied to their appaling profligacy and greed, and it will be very disruptive for Nigeria when someone provides a powerful fan that will make us all smell the sh1t.

GEJ's crude actions vividly reveal his agenda. What on earth,as one example, is the mission of a President who ignored seasoned maritime authority (the Navy and other specialised and appropriately trained official forces) already being maintained by the wealth of Nigeria to give pipeline security contracts to Militant warlord who have only being rehabilitated recently with no way to establish their loyalty and with no competence evaluation done to establish their moral, physical and intellectual suitability? Is it not obvious GEJ wanted "partners in crime" with this unbelievably crude move? Are we surprise crude oil theft is now at a 3 year peak and robbing Nigeria of very serious income? We should all think of those getting rich from fuel theft to begin seeing what GEJ is planning.

Hs actions makes no sense as they are the sort unseen before and also because they always seem to be the direct opposite of what is required to deliver solutions. We can all remember that they made similar denial noise trying to quell rumblings about the subsidy scam from many voices that were insisting that Nigeria was being scammed blind until Senator Bukola Saraki officially set things in motion to reveal that GEJ, Allison-Madueke and all their affiliates had been secretly orchestrating the mother of all theft against Nigeria. They are at it again and the signs are obvious.

The main problem, and the reason the public are even hearing 'noise' similar to the fuel subsidy grumblings, is that GEJ is now becoming too crude and transparently partisan in pursuit of his shallow agenda. His buddies in greed are beginning to realise that this is a guy not conforming to the script. They know he will get all of them in trouble.

Nna wa oooo!!

Still on the fresh air sha....

This is serious.

Out of these dept how much do the ac.n stats owe?.of course the hypocrites would turn a blind eye to that. The dept owed by states also adds to the countries dept. Nigeria is not bankrupt a country with 47 billion dollar reserve cannot be said to be bankrupt.well let them keep critizing while the country continue to make giant strides

otokx: This is serious.

For those who are adult in reasoning, plenty of articles exist that chronicle the profligacy of GEJ that makes all we are seeing currently no surprise to those who have followed the antics of one of the most fiscally irresponsible and crude President I can remember. I always maintain that GEJ is heading a house of scams. Pensions, ECA depletion, rising domestic debt profile with not much to show in return, fuel subsidy scam, sheer profligate spending, bloated governance etc, etc ,etc. Nothing confirms this more than how it is Okonjo Iweala who shouted, while out of government, that our high recurrent expenditure would damn us to failure is now the same person who is doing nothing about this unfeasibly high recurrent expenditure as defacto prime minister.

Nairalanders look at the actions of GEJ from 2010 to note we were always due to arrive here. Also note the scathing criticism of the profligacy of GEJ that Okonjo Iweala spoke against while out of government only for her to now be ever ready to pretend and lie all is well when even a child knows the country is being bled dry with sheer fiscal irresponsibility, inane decision making and childish profligacy. See the article below to note that Okonjo Iweala who harshly criticised our rising domestic debt profile in 2010 is the same woman identified by this article as skilfully and deliberately failing to mention it today in her crude "all is well" ruse.

The article below is from August 2010 and it shows how GEJ's 2011 Presidential ambition was threatening to bankrupt Nigeria. Lo and behold, all manners of scams, not even indicated by the article below, were revealed once GEJ won. We are now 4 years along the road with National fiscal health worsening while they lie "all is well" as they glibly denied the subsidy scam initially. Deja Vu anyone? Is the action of handing lucrative pipeline protection contracts different to issuing marketers licence, literally, to roadside mechanics with no capacity, history or competence to engage in fuel importation? Can it be that the President does not learn or is it simply that this is a callous man ready to bankrupt the nation and ruin millions of lives to get what he wants? Nairalanders, please indulge me and read the article below. Sometimes we need our memories jogged so we can note 'patterns' of behaviour.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/elombah-perspective/jonathans-ambition-to-be-president-would-bankrupt-nigeria/460714959922

by Elombah Perspective (Notes) on Saturday, 21 August 2010 at 08:12
Now that President Jonathan has decimated the Excess Crude Account
• Jonathans Ambition to be President would Bankrupt Nigeria

Around August 2007, the newly elected governors of the 36 states of the federation met and clamoured for the release and sharing of the excess crude funds. The governors had been mounting pressure on the former President, Umaru Yar'adua to approve the sharing of the money from excess crude oil sales as provided by the constitution, saying that it would help them stabilise in their states which treasuries had been looted by some of their predecessors. According to them, injecting the excess funds into the economy would create job opportunities for the teeming army of unemployed youths in the country.
But the Federal government through the CBN, under Professor Chukwuma Soludo refused to budge stating that sharing the funds in the Excess Crude Account, ECA, may be disastrous for the economy.

[b]Fast-forward to February 2010. One of the first acts by Jonathan Goodluck upon being made acting president was to approve the disbursal of $2 billion from the country's windfall oil savings between the Federal and State governments. Fuelling suspicion that the disbursal was an attempt to quieten those who might otherwise seek to undermine him, a charge government and presidency officials then strongly denied.
At the inception of his government, President Jonathan Goodluck inherited about $7 billion in the Excess Crude Account.The excess crude account stood at over $20 billion when Yar'Adua took over in 2007 but his administration regularly dipped into the account. Relatively high oil price meant the money in the ECA remained at $20.1 billion at the end of 2008.
The account has a balance of $20 billion as at January 2009. By December 2009, Former President Umaru Yar'adua had reduced the Account to $7.8 billion.Then in February 2010, Jonathan Goodluck, then Acting President asked Federal, States and Local governments to share $2 billion from an earlier balance of $6.2 billion, leaving about $4.1 billion in the account.
In March 2010, he approved the disbursal of a further $1 billion from the country's windfall oil savings, leaving about $3.1 billion in the account. The move brings to $3 billion the total amount of Nigerian oil savings that Jonathan approved for disbursal to the country's 36 states and government agencies in one month!
Then on Friday, August 13 2010, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwanbo announced to journalists shortly after the monthly Federation Accounts Allocation Committee meeting, which was chaired by the new Minister of State for Finance, Hajiya Yabawa Lawan-Wabi that the remaining $3 billion in the Excess Crude Account was depleted and shared among the Federal and State Governments this month leaving only about $460 million in the account.
$2 billion of it was shared among the three tiers of governments while $1 billion was set aside for the proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund which is yet to be signed into law, he said.[/b]

The present administration is raising concern about Nigeria's commitment to fiscal discipline. There are growing concerns that so much have been taken from the Excess Crude Account without tangible improvement in the lives of Nigerians.
Nigerians are asking; why is President Goodluck Jonathan in a hurry to deplete The Excess Revenue Account accrued from revenue derived from Crude Oil Sales, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and Royalties over and above the budgeted benchmark of the Federal Government of Nigeria for each year.
The logic for saving excess crude revenue, according to the CBN is that the oil sector is highly volatile when one considers the past experience of oil boom and reckless spending of the 70s which caused depression around 1978 and forced the country to start borrowing.

While ECA was used to meet the shortfall in revenues caused by low oil prices in 2008 and 2009, the worrying signs in terms of fiscal deficit and depletion cannot be ignored.
Alarmingly, of the $17 or so billion withdrawn from the account since February 2009, it appears that only $5.3 billion was invested in any capital project – Yar'adua's emergency power project.
Even that investment has been somewhat opaque - Likened to Obasanjo's investment of $16billion on Independent Power Project, IPP - there was no evidence that Yar'adua's allocation actually went to Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.The remaining withdrawals have been shared among the federal, state and local governments. Likely, these have been spent on recurrent items.

Does it have anything to do with preparations for the 2011 election?

In an address titled "Safe-guarding Nigeria's Fiscal Health: Some Considerations for the Present and the Future", delivered to mark the 24th and 25th combined convocation ceremony of the University of Calabar, 08 April 2010, former Minister of Finance and Director at the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala pointed out that while ECA was rightly used to meet the shortfall in revenues caused by low oil prices, the worrying signs in terms of fiscal deficit and depletion cannot be ignored.
Warning against depleting Excess Crude Account, Okonjo-Iwealla stated that Nigeria's huge fiscal deficit, rising domestic debt, depletion of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and the distress in the banking sector are issues that urgently need the attention of Jonathan's cabinet.
Obviously, the absence of cranial matter between the ears of President Jonathan Goodluck means that nothing stops this warning from going in through one ear and escaping through the other ear.Alternatively, it could be that Jonathans Ambition to be President would Bankrupt Nigeria.
More than one hundred days into his presidency it is now apparent that President Goodluck Jonathan has the ambition to remain president beyond 2011 despite his party's zoning agreement.

Let me repeat for emphasis:
[b]At the inception of his government, President Jonathan Goodluck inherited about $7 billion in the ECA Account. $3billion and later another $1billion was shared among the State and Federal Government immediately Jonathan got into office as part of the agreement reached with the governors for them to allow him become Acting President leaving a balance of $3billion. And now, in preparation for the 2011 election, the balance has been squandered!
Nigerians have cause to be worried as our Federal Government's domestic debt amounted to N1.75 trillion naira or US$13.6 billion at the end of 2006 but by the end of 2009, it had virtually doubled to N3.23 trillion or US$21.8.
Today, foreign debt is also rising. Few years after repaying huge foreign debts, the country's external loan is to reach $9.4 billion this year based on a proposed 2010 borrowing plan of Jonathan's Federal Government.
In a letter to the National Assembly dated August 4, 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan requested the legislature to approve external borrowing of $5.242 billion in addition to the present $4.2 billion foreign debt owed by the country.[/b]

And observers are asking: what is going on?

Jonathan spends like a drunken sailor!

Not done yet, President Jonathan Goodluck has earmarked $154.3 million or N23.2 billion for the purchase of three new jets for the Presidential Air Fleet. The planes, which include a Gulfstream G550 and two new Falcons 7X Aircraft.
This notwithstanding that the presidential fleet currently boasts of eight aircraft - including a 70-tonne Boeing business jet bought in 2006 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Gulfstream V, and Gulfstream IVSP, and two Falcon 900s.
Not too long ago, the INEC under Iwu (Prof. Maurice Iwu) requested a paltry sum of N3 billion. Now, Professor Atahiru Jega is jumping the figure to N72 billion. Finally, N87.72 billion was approved for Jega.
This notwithstanding that a third world country like Nigeria, Bangladesh registered 80 million voters at a cost of $65 million in 2008 and today the good old Prof. Jega needs $500 million to register 65 million voters
Thirdly, As Nigerians cry out that the Federal Government has budgeted N10billion Naira for Nigeria@50 celebrations, Jonathan reduced it to N6.5 billion, then N9.5billion. Finally Nigerians learnt that N17 Billion would actually be spent on the jamboree.
Again I emphasize;
Nigerians should carefully monitor President Jonathan Goodluck. I have the feeling that by the time Goodluck Jonathan finishes with Nigeria, not only will the treasury be empty, we will be at the pre-1999 level of debt!

Goodbye to Excess Crude Account

President Olusegun Obasanjo created the Excess Crude Account in 2004 into which oil revenue in excess of budgeted benchmarks, which were invariably set below the high international market price the country enjoyed virtually all through his eight-year tenure, was deposited.There was much opposition to the account led by the Hamman Tukur of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on grounds that it was, at best, of dubious legality because our constitution stipulates that all revenues collected by the Federal Government should go to the Federation Account.
Obasanjo still went ahead presumably because the account would, at least ostensibly, enable the country save for rainy days.The account peaked around $20 billion in January 2007.
The logic for saving excess crude revenue, according to the CBN is that the oil sector is highly volatile when one considers the past experience of oil boom and reckless spending of the 70s which caused depression around 1978 and forced the country to start borrowing. That incident also ushered in the famous austerity measure and the rate of abandoned projects when the oil price crashed with nothing to fall back on as the country did not save for the rainy day.
However, the illegality of the Excess Crude Oil Account and the uses it is put into, are among issues everyone talked about, and yet nobody did anything about them. For years Nigerians, including the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), noted the illegality, but no action followed.
At one time a member of the House of Representatives condemned the National Economic Council's approval of an illegal removal of $5.3 billion from the Excess Crude Oil Account purportedly for emergency power projects under Late President Umaru Yar'adua.
Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon pointed out the illegality saying that the withdrawal violated Section 162 (3) of the Constitution which states:

"Any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments and the local government councils in each State on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
"More elaborate provisions are in Section 80 (1)
"All revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and from one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
(2) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of Appropriation Act or an Act passed in pursuance of section 81 of this Constitution.(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of the moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.
(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.
"Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, a member of the National Economic Council, equally condemned the retention of the illegal account from which he aided the award of $5.3 billion to the Federal Government.
He, like other Governors, usurped the powers of State Assemblies to allocate state funds for expenditure in Sections 120 and 121.Like General Ibrahim Babangida's dedicated accounts, the excess crude account was wantonly abused because there is no clear law on how the money should be used.
Between the President and the Governors, they can draw from the account as they please. An account that holds billions of idle dollars will not escape the attention of even an angel.

Today it is finished!
Good riddance?

elsdaniel@yahoo.com
DANIEL ELOMBAH

mitwitdot:

In all fairness, I think this administration is investing in visible capital projects but the problem of graft seems to undermine their efforts. Considering the huge recurrent expenditure, it only makes sense to burrow money to finance this capital projects to benefit the masses. Fashola is employing the same tactics in Lagos

I am really surprised that the ACN crowd of follow, follow conmen never give you e-slap to harrass and intimidate you for bringing their "exemplary" Fashola into the conversation
Quite a miracle!

@OP,

It should be obvious to you that some people feel cheated by being left out of the pipeline security contract. When we yorubas start growing cocoa and contributing as much as oil does to our national GDP, forex, revenue etc we can request cocoa plantation security contract.
How much of the cocoa revenue did we share with the Niger Delta people in the 60s?
We are currently just behaving like a bunch of shameless parasites!
Understood

Gbawe:

Hs actions makes no sense as they are the sort unseen before and also because they always seem to be the direct opposite of what is required to deliver solutions. We can all remember that they made similar denial noise trying to quell rumblings about the subsidy scam from many voices that were insisting that Nigeria was being scammed blind until Senator Bukola Saraki officially set things in motion to reveal that GEJ, Allison-Madueke and all their affiliates had been secretly orchestrating the mother of all theft against Nigeria. They are at it again and the signs are obvious.

Our elders say:

Eni ba ma da aso fun ni, ti orun re ni a koko nwo - when person promise us sey im go give us cloth, we go first look the dress wey im sef dey wear.

- Has SINator Bukola Saraki refunded all the depositors, including dying pensioners, of Societe Generale Bank that he and his father liquidated to fund his campaign to be governor and his sister to be SINator?
-Has SINator Saraki accounted for the billions he received as Kwara state governor every year for 8 years with very little to show for it?
- Does SINator Saraki collect N29 million monthly in defiance of RMAFC recommendations despite that workers for the SAME government are paid 18k minimum wage?
- How many bills have SINator Saraki sponsored in the past two years and what is their status? Abi he is no longer a law maker?

I can understand that it must be painful for him to see Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan PERFORMING and DELIVERING on his electioneering promise to turn Nigeria's fortune around despite the security challenges posed by Saraki's northern brothers.
He must imagine and be really missing how much of OUR money he could steal if he were the president as he did in Kwara state for 8 years!!!

solomon111: This gbawe of a guy just specialise in digging up questionable anti-GEJ articles.
This old man has become so predictable.
He is either spamming nairaland with untrue anti-GEJ news or unreal pro-Acn propaganda.

why dnt u treat the wound instead of chasing the flies?

It's a simple logic, but i think u lack it.

Is gbawe ur problem?

The truth is, he wld av had nothing to say if that aspect of Jonathan's administration is safe!

Where Is The Money?
By: Ayisha Osori on July 2, 2013 - 3:46am


inShare
Why should a country which earns US$80bn in oil revenues each year take any loans from the World Bank?  – Twitter question

 


Seven years ago, Nigerians learnt that the administration of President Obasanjo had successfully negotiated our debt with the Paris Club.  We paid $12 billion and discharged the rest of the debt, leaving the country almost free of any foreign debt. For many, it was a great move that restored national pride and would “clear the way for greater government spending on infrastructure, health care and education” since Nigeria would no longer have to spend tens of billions annually to service the debt. Others felt that if there was any sincerity, the $12 billion would have been better spent building infrastructure and investing in services. After all, despite how greedy and unscrupulous those in positions of power are, no one has been able to roll up the 3rd Mainland Bridge and put it in their pocket.


 Four weeks ago, we heard from the minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that our external debt had climbed to $6.67 billion. The Debt Management Office (DMO) projects that, by 2015, this debt would be $16 billion, and this does not include domestic debt. According to Dr Abraham Nwankwo, the director-general of the DMO, domestic debt is currently $7.12 billion and is projected to be $8.44 billion by 2015. These revelations came within the same period when Dr Okonjo-Iweala was quoted in the media as saying, “Our economy is in danger.” This is an escalation of the 2011 warning when Dr Okonjo-Iweala, Prof Nnaji and Mr Segun Aganga said “our economy is in trouble”. Yet, during this period, Nigeria has continued to earn about $80bn a year from oil revenue alone which, according to the Ministry of Finance, accounts for 58 per cent of our revenue. Where does all this money go?

 
There are two ways to look at the question. The first is the money that government admits to having, i.e., the money accrued from oil revenue or raised by the FIRS, Customs and the sale of oil licences etc. This is the money which allegedly ends up in the annual budget. The second stream is the money which no one admits to having, e.g., the $6bn Nigeria loses every year to crude oil theft, the $9.8bn in unpaid taxes NEITI says oil companies are owing, the government assets sold to insiders quietly under the table or the $23-27m from the sale of Nigerian assets in the US.


It is general knowledge that less than 30 per cent of our annual budget is actually invested in improving goods, services and infrastructure – the bulk of the money is spent on maintaining government. But what is less certain due to opaque budget regulation and disclosure is how much of this paltry allocation to capital expenditure is spent as it should. According to the Center for Social Justice, only 11.9 per cent of the quarterly released capital budget was implemented in 2012. This means if N100 was allocated to capital, only N11.90 was spent with no detail on where the balance of N88.10 went. Allegedly ministries, departments and agencies spend the last few weeks of the year in a mad rush to spend budget allocations because “the money will go back”. Go back where? Do these last-minute projects really count towards the capital investment or does the money provided in the budget end up with the second stream of Nigerian revenue which evaporates and is never accounted for?


Look around you. What are the glaring obvious results of the “increased investment in infrastructure and services” that was promised as a result of paying off the Paris Club debt? What can account for where the money has gone? What monuments to infrastructure development has the federal government built in the last seven years? Do we have a single world-class airport in Nigeria? Has any state, despite the billions in debt, managed to build a light or inter-city rail system?


Apart from worrying about our rising debt which cannot be linked to meaningful improvement in the lives of Nigerians, we must be concerned about whom we owe. Most of our current external debt is held by the World Bank -- the same World Bank which said in May 2013 that the economic rating of Nigeria had improved from a low-income country to a medium-income one. Why was it important to move our rating? Because our “improved” rating gives Nigeria the dubious privilege of borrowing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Yet, a month later, the same World Bank blasted the Jonathan administration for the increasing number of Nigerians living in poverty. According to the Nigeria Economic Report, it is a puzzle why “a decade of rapid GDP growth by official statistics…did not bring stronger welfare and employment benefits to the population”. Which is it? Is Nigeria now a medium-income country or a country where the majority are wallowing in poverty? And this is the same World Bank that will eventually tell our inheritors – our undereducated and unskilled children and grandchildren – to restructure their economy in order to pay back these loans, even though they won’t know where the money went.


We know the answer to the question even if those in power want to pretend otherwise. The answers lie in the luxury cars and grandiose mansions scattered around our cities and the most backward small towns which count for state capitals. Where is the money? is answered in the enviable position Nigeria holds as the second largest champagne market in the world and a leading consumer of private jets. It is answered by the exorbitant salaries and benefits of our elected and appointed officials and the steady displays of vulgarity of those in power with weddings and birthdays in Dubai.

 
As our oil revenue drops from decreased production, crude oil theft and declining need for our oil, this question will become increasingly important. As the population of Nigeria continues to rise faster than the development of its resources and services, and unrest and dissatisfaction increase, the demands for answers to this question will become louder. And as the next general elections approach, Nigerians must require those who contest to not only throw light on this issue but provide us with clear solutions on how we can address this problem and turn things around for Nigerians.

http://leadership.ng/news/020713/where-money

SLIDE waxie: why dnt u treat the wound instead of chasing the flies?

It's a simple logic, but i think u lack it.

Is gbawe ur problem?

The truth is, he wld av had nothing to say if that aspect of Jonathan's administration is safe!

Don't mind the bigoted and hateful tw1t. Did I meet with David Cameron and force him to demand that the GEJ government account for billions they have received as income with, glaringly, Nigeria having nothing tangible to show for such? Is Cameron now another "hater" of GEJ?

http://nigerianecho.com/?p=3969

David Cameron on Nigeria’s $100b oil money

Posted by olasope01 in COLUMNISTS, ENERGY, OPINION, PRESS STATEMENT on April 9, 2013 11:11 am / 58 comments / 1,582 Views
Pastor Taiwo (JP)’ Social Anaylist & Public Commentator

IT was pleasant news that David Cameron, Prime Minister of Britain was obliging to assist Nigerians to know what we never knew about our oil money that was never made public by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

At G8 Economic Summit in Davos on Thursday January 24th, 2013, Cameron expressed his concern over Nigeria’s oil and gas income. He averred that “l want this G8 to lead a big push for transparency across the developing world. To illustrate why, let me give you one example. A few years back a transparency initiative exposed a huge black hole in Nigeria’s finances, an $800m discrepancy between companies’ payments and government’s receipts for oil. This is leading to new regulation of Nigeria’s oil sector so the richness of the earth can actually enrich the people of that country.

And the potential is staggering.

Last year Nigerian oil exports were worth almost $100b, more than total net aid to the whole of Sub-Sahara Africa. Put simply unleashing the natural resources in these countries dwafts anything aid can achieve – and transparency is critical to that..

“So we are going to push for more transparency on who owns companies, on who’s buying up land and for what purpose, on how governments spend their money, on how gas, oil and mining companies operate, on who is hiding stolen assets and how we recover and return them.

“Like everything else in this G8, the ambitions are big – and I make no apology for that thirty years ago more than half the planet lived on the equivalent of $1.25 a day or less. Today it is around a fifth.” David Cameron said all these without apology to anybody who might felt exposed.

Data released by the Energy Information Administration of the United States Department of Energy, showed that out of $1.15trillion released from oil by the 12 OPEC member states, Nigeria gets $90b, being the forth highest in the team in 2012.The Federal Inland Revenue Service also collected about N5 trillion as tax in 2012. While in 2011 the total revenue from oil was $65b with N4.62 trillion realised as tax the same year. Yet with all these income from oil & tax, and increased in oil production of 2.4 million bpd with over $100 per barrel, Nigeria became a worst country for a child to be born and saddest people on earth with dilapidated infrastructure as our lots and ever increasing debts profile both foreign and domestic with nothing to show for it physically. While some serious OPEC countries who also made great money from oil at the same time as ours are recording tremendous progresses.

It is shameful that Quater with 1.7m population in 2011 released a plan to invest $150b of her oil wealth on infrastructure over 5years with already increased electricity generation from 2,200Mw in 2001 to 8,750Mw as of today. And Saudi Arabia with population of 28m people is planning to spend $100b to add 30,OOOMw to its 40,OOOMw currently generated. Venezuela is also investing her oil revenue into transportation, plus the construction of 1,000-kilomitre railway line at the cost of $l.lb.

World Bank experts had equally stated before that Nigeria get 90% of her total revenue from oil, and 80% of her total revenue is in the hands of 1% of the population. Why is looting of the treasury so endemic and our leaders flagitious about making the masses poorer in Nigeria.

It took the audacity of David Cameron to challenge our profligate leaders on the issues of $100b oil money accrued to Nigeria government last year alone, an equivalent of N15.6 trillion, and no response from the government’s poachers turned game keepers, ‘today’s men’, official minions and presidential vassals in defence of the great revelation from Britain.


Premised on this clarion call by Cameron, the president peregrinated to London on what God knows mission on Tuesday 5th February, 2013 probably to sort out things with David Cameron in London on his open determination to enforce transparency and expose corruption in Nigeria oil and gas income. It was derisible that no British official was at the airport to welcome the Nigerian President save the Nigerian Ambassador and other Nigerian officials in London.

David Comeron knew how much his country was given to the whole of Sub-Sahara Africa developing countries as aid, and was pained that what Nigeria government got from oil in last year alone was far greater than what all the aids can give, yet the money is not translated to better conditions of living for Nigerian masses in general.

His interest in letting the wealth of Nigeria gets to the generality of Nigerians is laudable and commendable. It was heroic for him to have addressed the G8 members on the need for them to help expose who owns oil and gas companies, who own lands, how the money from oil and gas has been spent and who are those people hiding stolen money and assist to recover them and return them.

The case of James Ibori that stole above $50b from Delta State that no Nigerian Court could cage him until Britain’s Metropolitan Police stepped into the case and got him convicted and incarcerated in London is enough to let our leaders cover their eyes in shame.

The money that can finance our national budget in the next three years are yet to be accounted for.

The government will need to brace up and speak out on this brazen allegation and make known to Nigeria public what happened to $100b or N15.6 trillion oil money they received last year because silence means consent and travelling to London now does not solve the problem, the cat has been let out of the bag already, for the news is already in the public domain, what we are waiting for is their explanation, whether David Cameron also gaffed like they carpetted the former Minister of Education, Oby Ejekwesili on her allegation that $67b was left in the treasury in 2007 i.e. $45b foreign reserves and $22b excess crude oil account had been sqandered by both Yar’adua and Jonathan’s governments ..

David Cameron can never be given to frivolity as I can say, being an international man and world elder state man, who can never be given to riddle chatter.

On Thursday 7th February, 2013 the report of the House Committee on finance an independent revenue generation and remittance to the consolidated Revenue Fund by government – owned agencies that was considered, alleged that many agencies of the government are not remitting their money generated from 2009 – 2012 to the tune of N8.8 trillion. What can we say of these agencies. Are they a disservice to the common interest of the common people of this nation or serving some notorious cabal.? The report revealed that in 2009, the agencies generated N3.06 trillion as independent revenue, but remitted only N46.8b or 1.53% to the treasury. In 2010, the agencies realised N3.07 trillion but remitted N54.1b or 1.76%.

@Gbawe you have forgotten that david cameron is also an ACN supporter and a boko haram sympathiser

lakhadimar: @Gbawe you have forgotten that david cameron is also an ACN supporter and a boko haram sympathiser

Dear lord. How silly of me. Thank you for reminding me about Olajide Mujahid Cameron The fact, for adults able to think critically, is that Cameron is just stunned about the revelation coming out of Nigeria under GEJ.

The fuel subsidy scam showed the world, beyond any doubt, what GEJ is.

Unlike in Nigeria where sentiments and ethnocentric/religious/sectional bias continue to hold Nigerians hostage, others can put two and two together to note that it is only the FG (controlled by GEJ) and the NNPC (headed by Allison-Madueke) authorised to issue marketers licence. If both meant the best for Nigeria, why were licences issued literally to roadside mechanics who did not even own a bicycle to transport fuel with or a barrel to store oil in?

It is such crude and openly anti-Nation scamming, perpetrated by those meant to lead the nation forward, that has shocked many leaders in Countries where they are not hostages to bias and sentiments!!! Today, those leaders are doing away with diplomatic decorum to openly condemn GEJ !!!!

Till today Cameron, the Prime Minister who dealt with UK rioters in days, continues to see GEJ dragging his feet over scammers who would have brought Nigeria to her knees if Saraki had not blown the whistle.

Of course it is natural, as leader of a Country with one of the largest aid donation to Nigeria, for the man to speak against the profligacy of GEJ and co that puts others under pressure to help out. Will you not happily give to a poor cousin who is hungry, diseased and suffering? Yet will you not be angry if you find out said cousin is only poor and unhealthy because an Uncle is frivolously spending millions on himself and his concubines that he should be using to ensure the well-being of your cousin?

**looks around**
Oh Dear Jesus, Jona Lickers Has Taken Over!!

**comment reserved**

Gbawe:

The fuel subsidy scam showed the world, beyond any doubt, what GEJ is.

Unlike in Nigeria where sentiments and ethnocentric/religious/sectional bias continue to hold Nigerians hostage, others can put two and two together to note that it is only the FG (controlled by GEJ) and the NNPC (headed by Allison-Madueke) authorised to issue marketers licence. If both meant the best for Nigeria, why were licences issued literally to roadside mechanics who did not even own a bicycle to transport fuel with or a barrel to store oil in?

It is such crude and openly anti-Nation scamming, perpetrated by those meant to lead the nation forward, that has shocked many leaders in Countries where they are not hostages to bias and sentiments!!! Today, those leaders are doing away with diplomatic decorum to openly condemn GEJ !!!!

Till today Cameron, the Prime Minister who dealt with UK rioters in days, continues to see GEJ dragging his feet over scammers who would have brought Nigeria to her knees if Saraki had not blown the whistle.

In your excitement to malign the steady, albeit slow progress of Jonathan's administration, you deliberately or mistakenly missed out on the news bit below:

Nigeria: Minister Reports on Subsidy Recovery

Nigeria's Finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed that more than N14bn in fuel subsidy payments have been recovered by the Government since it began auditing funds disbursed under the scheme.


Presenting the mid-term report on President Goodluck Jonathan's Transformation Agenda, which summarises the government's achievement over the past two years, Okonjo-Iweala said that irregularities and fraud in the subsidy scheme, uncovered in April 2012, revealed a culture of mismanagement and corruption at the core of Nigeria's government agencies and oil marketers that has prevented the government from being able to fully deregulate the downstream sector.

However, she added, the Government is taking steps to recover funds disbursed under false pretence. "We audited N1tr in the subsidy and found N232bn questionable. So far we have recovered about N14bn. We have tightened the payment process," said Okonjo-Iweala.

Irregularities in the fuel subsidy scheme were discovered in a major probe by a committee from the House of Representatives last April. The Government has introduced a new system, whereby oil marketers must now go through a two-step audit claim before payment of subsidies is made.
Goodluck Jonathan's administration is eager to remove fuel subsidies, arguing that they are a drain on the public purse.

Petrolworld

Governance nor be by gra gra media-friendly propaganda hype without LONG LASTING effective results. That is why POLICY matters more than the launching of recycled yoyo projects like toys for babies.

Panda (fake) may shine more than the original jewelry at the beginning. The panda go don fade long time while the original still dey shine dey go!!!

@Anonimi, so recovering N14billion out of N232billion almost a year after is something to rejoice over? How many PPPRA officials have been sacked and are they facing prosecution? How come we so much cherish mediocrity in this country?

Nigeria’s external debt rose to $6.53bn in 2012

The Federal Government, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory have borrowed a total of $860m (N134.16bn) in the last one year from external sources, information available from the Debt Management Office has shown.

Statistics from the DMO showed that the total external debt rose to $6.53bn as of December 31, 2012, as against $5.67bn on December 31, 2011, representing an increase of 15.19 per cent.

The breakdown of the external debt as of December 2012 showed that 80.7 per cent was owed to multilaterals, including the World Bank Group, International Fund for Agricultural Development, African Development Bank Group, International Development Bank and Economic Development Fund; while 11.64 per cent was owed to non-Paris Group of creditors and 7.66 per cent to others.

Further analysis of the external debt profile showed that the Federal Government had the biggest portion as it had borrowed $4.14bn as of December 31, 2012.

The 36 states of the federation, on the other hand, accounted for $2.38bn of the nation’s external debt profile last year.

This means that the states were responsible for 36.53 per cent of the country’s total external debt stock.

Among the states, Lagos, Kaduna, Cross Rivers and Ogun emerged tops according to the sizes of their borrowings.

Borno, Delta, Plateau and Taraba states are the least indebted states as far as external debt is concerned.

The Lagos State external debt stock as of December 31, 2012 stood at $611.25m, while Kaduna’s was $215.68m. Cross River State owed $113.03m and Ogun, $102.06m.

On the other hand, Borno owed $14.15m; Delta, $18.99m; Plateau, $21.93m; and Taraba, $23.03m.

Meanwhile, the debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio as of September 31, 2012 stood at 18.26 per cent and could hit 19 per cent for the year ended 2012.

The debt-to-GDP ratio is one of the indicators of the health of an economy. It is the amount of national debt of a country as a percentage of its GDP.

A low debt-to-GDP ratio indicates an economy that produces a large number of goods and services and probably profits that are high enough to pay back debts. Governments aim for low debt-to-GDP ratios and can stand up to the risks involved by increasing debt as their economies have a higher GDP and profit margin

Although Nigeria‘s debt to GDP is not yet at the 30 per cent threshold set by the government, two alarming trends are beginning to develop. The first is the rate at which the debt level is currently rising, and the second is the rising cost of government’s borrowing.

While Nigeria is still a fair distance from reaching the 30 per cent threshold, analysts have warned that it is important for policy-makers to recognise these trends and learn from the country’s past mistakes and those of European countries.

Reacting to the debt position, the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismark Rewane, said there was a key difference in Nigeria’s debt and those of other advanced economies.

“Instead of using debt for investment in government capital expenditure projects or fundamental transformation of essential services, the majority of Nigeria’s debt has been used to plug holes in its budget, while the rest has been spent on recurrent expenditure,” he said.

Rewane said the nation’s increasing debt-to-GDP ratio had not been matched by investments in infrastructure projects or by increased spending on healthcare and education.

“If the government deficit is spent on infrastructure, basic research, public health and/or education, it can increase its potential output in the long run. There are also issues surrounding the crowding out effect of the private sector,” he added.

The Federal Government alone borrowed a total of N914bn from domestic sources in the last one year.

The DMO statistics showed that as of December 31, 2012, the Federal Government’s domestic debt stock stood at N6.54tn, which is N914.69m higher than the 2011 figure of N5.62tn.

The latest statistics on domestic debts showed that the Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds accounted for N4.08tn or 62.41 per cent of the total domestic debt.

Nigeria Treasury Bills accounted for N2.12tn or 32.47 per cent of the government’s total domestic debt, while Nigeria Treasury Bonds accounted for N334.56bn or 5.12 per cent of the debts.

The National Assembly recently approved external debt borrowings for some states and that will change their external debt profiles when the draw down begins.

Similarly, the Federal Government, in the last six months, concluded arrangements for some external debts that would take its borrowings from outside beyond $10bn when they are fully drawn down.

The Medium Term Expenditure Framework 2012 – 2014 showed that the Federal Government would also resort to the domestic debt market to raise N633.85bn in 2013.

The MTEF, prepared by the Budget Office of the Federation, stated that the Federal Government would run a deficit of N833.85bn in 2013 and 76.01 per cent of this would be funded through borrowings from the domestic debt market.

Other sources of funding the deficit are N50bn to be obtained from signature bonuses and N150bn to be obtained from the Stabilisation Fund/Excess Crude Account.

Given the size of the domestic debt, the government in the 2012 budget provided a total of N511.98bn for its servicing.

The amount proposed for servicing of domestic debt is expected to increase to N543.38bn, reflecting the increment expected in the volume of domestic debt in 2013.

Source

Fashola Tackles FG over $600m World Bank Loan


Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola

By Onwuka Nzeshi

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, Tuesday approached the House of Representatives Committee on Loans, Aids and Debts, seeking an intervention in an alleged attempt by the Federal Government to halt a $600m loan facility the state had with the World Bank.

Fashola who met with members of the House Committee on Loans, Aids and Debts, told the lawmakers that it was improper to halt a running loan facility, particularly when the loan had been factored into the 2013 budget proposal of the state.

In a petition presented to the House Committee Tuesday, the governor said the loan was procured on the understanding that Lagos State would access $200 million in three tranches over a period of three years, spanning from 2012 to 2014.

He however expressed surprise that after the state had accessed the first tranche, there were indications that the Federal government was no longer prepared to guarantee the loan.

Fashola, who stormed the National Assembly with his retinue of aides, was also joined in the protest by several members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the meeting.

According to Fashola, the sudden refusal to guarantee the loan could frustrate the plans of state to deploy the borrowed funds to boost its infrastructure development plans.

“We have a commitment with the World Bank for a loan of $600 million offered to Lagos. It is supposed to be in three tranches and the first tranche was paid in 2011. We were expecting the payment of the second tranche when we got the shocking information that the loan facility had been stopped.

“As I speak, we have not received any official communication from the Federal Ministry of Finance about their concerns. I know that through the telephone communication I had with the Minister of Finance, she had told me that she could not accommodate Lagos State in the 2013 borrowing plan. My plea is for the second tranche to be included in the 2013 borrowing plan and the third included in the 2014 borrowing plans,” he said.

In the course of the meeting with the House Committee, some lawmakers suggested that the action of the government may have been informed by the general fears that states were bad debtors and Lagos may have problems liquidating the loans. But Fashola dismissed such fears an unfounded and cited the case of his predecessor who took a loan facility and the state paid back fully.

Source

take dat: @Anonimi, so recovering N14billion out of N232billion almost a year after is something to rejoice over? How many PPPRA officials have been sacked and are they facing prosecution? How come we so much cherish mediocrity in this country?

Kindly point out to me where I said it was "something to rejoice over" NOW otherwise as they say in weddings keep your peace forever.

I sincerely hope it is not a problem related to limitations in English language comprehension skills.
#JustAsking.

Why can't these all knowing Economists raise alarm over the Borrowing Escapades of the Lagos State Government.

It is appalling that while these intellectuals criticize the Government of GEJ in debt management the same people hail Lagos State Government whom if left unchecked will bankrupt the Nations Commercial Capital.

Ngwakwe: Why can't these all knowing Economists raise alarm over the Borrowing Escapades of the Lagos State Government.

It is appalling that while these intellectuals criticize the Government of GEJ in debt management the same people hails Lagos State Government whom if left unchecked will bankrupt the Nations Commercial Capital.

....and future generations of unborn RESIDENTS of Lagos who will bear the brunt of higher tax burdens that is stolen steadily by Fashola and his oga on the top, ex-omo-iyaloja now baba-iyaloja of Lagos

anonimi:

Kindly point out to me where I said it was "something to rejoice over" NOW otherwise as they say in weddings keep your peace forever.

I sincerely hope it is not a problem related to limitations in English language comprehension skills.
#JustAsking.

Did I hit a nerve? Well, I should be asking you the same question because i was referring to your post on Ngozi and her report on loot recovery effort.

#I come in peace!