President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have squandered $60 billion of the nation’s external reserves with nothing to show for it, presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Malam Nuhu Ribadu charged in Abuja yesterday.

The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spoke at the flagging-off of the party’s electioneering campaign for the April general election with a Colloquium where the party’s manifesto and agenda for Nigeria was also unveiled.

He said, “At a time Nigeria had over $60 billion external reserve. I was part of the administration then; but now they have wiped it out! They have shared it and I am greatly saddened over what is happening. The current asymmetric ratio of 75 percent recurrent budget allocations over 25 percent capital allocations will become a thing of the past. This odd priority in budget making does not support true development, and only fuels corruption,” Ribadu said in his presentation titled “Our nation’s journey begins”.

http://dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php

Ribadu is a bloody LIAR.


The foreign reserves have NOT been ''wiped out''. Today they stand at app $44 billion. (Source  "The World Fact Book, reserves of foreign exchange and gold" CIA. 2010-31-12. Retrieved 2011-02-12).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign_exchange_reserves

Ribadu should stop taking Nigerians for fools, and resorting to lies and smears, on account of his desperation to be president.

Nuhu,even my 3yr old brother wont believe this,stop getting desperate.

Ribadu has nothing to say and wants to make headline news unfortunate he's a liar here just to hit the polity

That is a lot of money vanishing.

Ribadu is lying, but you are borrowing money to run the country and running huge deficits despite the fact that you are making mad money from skyrocketing crude oil price? You ever ask yourself where all the money is going? Are you for real or just naive?


The reserve really should be almost 100 billion, not swindling.

Eko Ile:

Ribadu is lying, but you are borrowing money to run the country and running huge deficits despite the fact that you are making mad money from skyrocketing crude oil price? You ever ask yourself where all the money is going? Are you for real or just naive?


The reserve really should be almost 100 billion, not swindling.

Please help me tell them, blind arguers

ROSSIKE:

Ribadu is a bloody LIAR.


The foreign reserves have NOT been ''wiped out''. Today they stand at app $44 billion. (Source  "The World Fact Book, reserves of foreign exchange and gold" CIA. 2010-31-12. Retrieved 2011-02-12).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign_exchange_reserves

Ribadu should stop taking Nigerians for fools, and resorting to lies and smears, on account of his desperation to be president.

He was talking about excess crude account Young man!

rebranded:

He was talking about excess crude account Young man!

When folks are determined to sully your name they are always quick to misquote you negatively. I don't know how it is expedient for educated folks to think Ribadu would lie this insincerely when a little investigation will show that a knowledgeable person like Ribadu who has worked in a Nigerian economic team did not and could not say "Jonathan blew $60bn in foreign reserves". We simply have tooo many functional illiterates in Nigeria i.e educated but uninformed folks. Why don't we look at the SWF launched by the GEJ Government that Ribadu talks about below instead of the cheap attempt to attack Ribadu's character? Did GEJ not hastily take $1 billion out of the ECA for a SWF that should have taken off circa Sept 2010? Where is the SWF today ? Has the law even been ratified to sanction its operation? If yes why is the SWF still not operational? Where is the $1 billion withdrawn from the ECA for the SWF start-up? It will soon be a year since the $1 billion was withdrawn ostensibly as the opening balance fot the SWF. With no SWF operating till today what manner of haste neccessitated the withdrawal of $1 billions for an SWF with an uncertain commencement date? Could the $1 billion not have remained in the ECA till the formal commencement of the SWF? Clearly something is wrong somewhere. Trying to assasinate the character of those who speak against Jonathan just makes us , especially the educated , lemmings with how we dont realise that we are cutting our nose to spite our face.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201101270032.html

Nigeria: Economy is Collapsing, Ribadu Warns
26 January 2011

Lagos — Nuhu Ribadu has raised alarm over the depletion of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and Nigeria's external reserves, both of which he monitored during his tenure as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman.

Ribadu, now the Presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), bared his mind on Wednesday against the backdrop of the rise in the price of crude oil to nearly $100 per barrel (pb) but with a decline in government coffers.

He recalled that three years ago when the late Umaru Yar'adua was President, the ECA had $17.3 billion, which has reduced to less than $1billion, while external reserves has dropped from $34.27 billion in December last year to $32.32 billion this month.

Ribadu reiterated that the ECA is meant to be savings for the rainy day, and the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) for big investments that would create jobs.

He wondered why the SWF is being squandered on meaningless ventures and imports, while millions of Nigerians live below the poverty line - with growing unemployment and insecurity.

He also expressed concern over the neglect of agriculture that could employ millions, saying the time has come for Abuja to turn around the fortunes of cocoa farmers in Nigeria by taking advantage of the decline in output in Cote d'Ivoire.

Ribadu argued that the economy would have performed better if there had been a better economic team on the ground to proffer alternative sources of revenue instead of the over dependence on oil.

He promised Nigerians a turn around in the national fortunes if elected President.

"The key thrust of our economic policy will be to create jobs and provide employment for our people, especially the youth.

"We shall budget within our means, reduce over-spending, and plan for a steady and attainable economic growth rate of between seven and eight per cent per year for the next five years, and between eight and 10 per cent per year for the years following that," Ribadu pledged.

Meanwhile, his Campaign Organisation, Team Ribadu, will begin fundraising today at a dinner in Abuja, expected to be attended by young professionals.

A statement issued by Team Ribadu's Head of Communications, Adeshola Komolafe, said the event will hold at New Chelsea Hotel at 6:30 p.m.

Relev
"We have given ourselves a mandate to raise a mass of new young voters during the ongoing voter registration exercise. We have targets to engage a specific number of potential voters to be able to do that. To that effect, we have established a Team Ribadu structure across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

"In some states, we have had kind-hearted individuals donating to our cause but we are yet to acquire offices across the federation. Those offices have to be funded. We have taken this challenge to raise funds for that purpose," the statement added.

Komolafe said the volunteer arm of the campaign is striving to challenge young Nigerians to prove their commitment to change by getting involved in funding Ribadu's campaign.

"If we get involved in this campaign process by committing our resources, time, and finances, it shows that we are serious about pushing to change the circumstances in our country that we are dissatisfied with."

This dude is getting desperate. Its sickening.
He's just launching attacks after attacks. Attacks that MAJORITY of NIGERIANS wouldn't take seriously.

Mobinga:

This dude is getting desperate. Its sickening.
He's just launching attacks after attacks. Attacks that MAJORITY of NIGERIANS wouldn't take seriously.

Yes and that is what makes us a Nation of politically unsophisticated folks who continue to pledge their support for candidate who will ensure our pace of development is excruciatingly slow. You don't inspect some of Ribadu's real and worrisome criticism yet you conclude "he is desperate"? What do you Nigerians wan't ? Political opposition who keep their mouth shut and then join the coronation ceremony election of mediocre folks in April into top positions? You would gain credibility as a responsible and sophisticated member of the electorate if , minimally, you address the issues Ribadu raise rather than conclude "he's just launching attacks after attacks" .

Mobinga:

This dude is getting desperate. Its sickening.
He's just launching attacks after attacks. Attacks that MAJORITY of NIGERIANS wouldn't take seriously.

You ignore the warnings to your detriment. That was the attitude of politicians (Second Republic) of old. They ignored, derided and poked fun at Awo of blessed memory when the patriotic fervor in him made him to call the attention of the inept Shagari-led federal govt to the economic crisis facing the nation in the mid 1982. Few weeks later, Shagari had to declare austerity measures to contain the economic crisis.
There is much similarity between the "Shagari" of that time and the "Jonathan" of today in terms of intelligence and the capability to govern. They are symmetrical in behavioural and leadership abilities.

Abeem:

You ignore the warnings to your detriment. That was the attitude of politicians (Second Republic) of old. They ignored, derided and poked fun at Awo of blessed memory when the patriotic fervor in him made him to call the attention of the inept Shagari-led federeal govt to the economic crisis facing the nation in the mid 1982. Few weeks later, Shagari had to declare austerity measures to contain the economic crisis.
There is much similarity between the "Shagari" of that time and the "Jonathan" of today in terms of intelligence and the capability to govern. They are symmetrical in behavioural and leadership abilities.

Those who don't learn from the mistakes of history are bound to repeat them. It was only yesterday yar Adua was behaving as Jonathan now does. Only difference is that Jonathan is much worse yet many educated Nigerians show the danger of functional illiteracy when combined with ethnic sentiments. Instead of showing they have noted the message by addressing Ribadu's concerns as responsible adults who must , above everything , look disspasionately at how the nation is being run they are busy trying to attack Ribadu . Any comment about the undoubtedly rash withdrawal , many months ago, of $1 billion from the ECA as start-up funds for an SWF that remains a dream to date? How about the PIB (see below) where N481 million has already been spent for "preliminary activities" yet we are no closer to seeing the passage of the bill? Jonathan really is highly inept, decietful , insincere and corrupt IMO but I continue , everyday , to believe , more and more , that the same can be said of many educated average Nigerians.


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110218108843

PIB: Reps query N481m ‘extravagant’ expenditure
By Martin Ayankola and John Ameh   
Friday, 18 Feb 2011     

The House of Representatives on Thursday queried the N481m the Ministry of Petroleum Resources claimed to have spent to prepare the ground for the yet-to-be passed Petroleum Industry Bill.

Its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) heard on Thursday that, of the N740m the ministry earmarked for preliminary activities, it had already spent N481m, though the bill had not been passed by the National Assembly.



In the 2010 budget, the ministry had budgeted N10bn for the implementation of the PIB, but the National Assembly slashed it to N7bn.



Out of the figure, the ministry took out N740m for what it called preliminary activities and has so far spent N481m from it.



The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Goni Musa, who appeared before the committee, claimed that the money was spent on activities bearing on existing regulations in the oil and gas industry.



He said, “The process commenced some months ago. For instance, we are carrying out many activities, including the review of the current petroleum regulations in order to align them with international best practices.



“We are also developing new regulations to cover the down stream sub-sector. The law itself will throw out many regulations. So we don’t want to wait until the law is passed before developing regulations.”



But his disclosure alarmed members of the committee, who described the expenditure as “extravagant.”



The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Clever Ikisikpo, said he could not comprehend the essence of the “huge” expenditure when the bill had not been passed.



He said it would appear that the ministry took advantage of the fact that Nigerians were keenly waiting for the passage of the PIB, to embark on “frivolous expenditure.”



Ikisikpo added, “People will begin to ask questions. The tenure of this current assembly is coming to an end.”



Meanwhile, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board has said it is set to invoke the penalties prescribed in the Nigerian Content Act against oil and gas companies, not complying with the provisions of the Act.



Speaking during a working visit to Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and Chevron Nigeria Limited’s headquarters in Lagos on Monday, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr. Ernest Nwapa said that the board would be unwavering in enforcing compliance.



He said, “We need to demonstrate to bidders and service providers that when you do not comply with provisions of the Act, you lose out from tenders.”



According to a statement issued by the agency, Nwapa also canvassed for a change of mindset by Nigerians holding executive and management positions in the operating companies to balance loyalty to their employers national objectives when advising the companies and taking key operational decisions.



He further asked the international oil companies to provide the board with concrete strategies they had adopted to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act and meet the targets set by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, for the industry.



He regretted that the preference for importing almost all the goods and services used by the industry from abroad was steadily eliminating opportunities to develop human and infrastructural capacity consequently impoverishing our people and stultifying national economic development.