Southsouth, Southeast, Southwest battle for INEC’s Secretary.

By Yusuf Alli, Abuja.

INEC Chairman Prof. Jega

•Kaugama bows out in six months •Odds favour Southwest

Three geo-political zones are battling for the office of the Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which may be vacant in the next six months.
The zones are Southsouth, Southeast and the Southwest.
Also, there are indications that the presidency may bring in an experienced civil servant outside the electoral commission for the post. But INEC staff members are also pushing for the appointment of one of their experienced directors.
The said since there are about 67 directors in the commission, it is needless bringing in another director who will have to learn the rudiments of managing an Electoral Management Board (EMB).
The tenure of the current Secretary of INEC, Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama would end in the next six months, it was learnt.
Besides the tenure issue, it was also learnt that in line with the ongoing reforms of INEC by its Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the Secretary would have been asked to step aside because he is from the same Northwest geopolitical zone with INEC chair.
Although Jega inherited INEC Secretary, there had been agitations within INEC that a zone cannot produce the two top posts in the electoral commission.
A source in government said: “Since the INEC chairman is from the North, naturally the position of Secretary will come from the South. I am aware that this has been the pattern at least since the Second Republic (1979 to1983).
“What we have now is that the three zones in the South (Southsouth, Southeast and Southwest) are jostling for the office. 
“As a matter of fact, the Southsouth has thrown up some candidates including the Administrative Secretary of the commission in Imo State Mr. Udoh from Cross River State, Head of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) from Akwa Ibom, Okop; the Director of Political Party Monitoring from Delta State, Mrs. Regina Omo-Agege, and former Head of Legal Affairs, Wole Uzzi.
“The odds may however favour the Southwest because out of the three zones, only the Southwest has never produced either the chairman or Secretary of the electoral commission. But some stakeholders want the office thrown open to all the zones.
“It is left to INEC management to come up with a benchmark for the selection of the new secretary.
“If INEC is allowed to choose its Secretary from within, it has to pick one out of the 67 directors on its payroll.
A breakdown of the directors in the commission is as follows:  Niger (two); Delta (three); Kaduna (two); Sokoto (one); Benue (nine) Anambra (nine); Zamfara (two); Cross River (three); Enugu (one); Kano (one); Plateau (three); Imo (four); Akwa Ibom (three); Bayelsa (two); Kogi (one); Katsina (one); Osun (one); Abia (three); Gombe (one); Kebbi (three); Lagos (two); Edo (three); Ogun (one); Bauchi (two); Jigawa (one); Yobe (one); and Borno  (two).
Another source however claimed that attempts by Jega-led INEC to start its reforms with the choice of a new Secretary may suffer some setbacks as the Presidency is contemplating bringing in an experienced civil servant on board.
The INEC officials are however opposed to the plan because the commission has enough directors who could fit into the bill.
The source said: “I think some politicians are trying to pull the strings to have a civil servant from outside as INEC secretary. They probably want somebody they could control.
“Yet, this was the same method that almost crippled INEC in the past. Most of the former secretaries came from the civil service who owed allegiance to the powers that be. In line with INEC reform focus, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Report favours a Secretary from within.
“If a Secretary comes from outside, he will just start learning which may not augur well for the system.
“Most staff favour internal candidate for the job. We have had stability in INEC because Abdullahi A. Kaugama had been part of the service since 1987.
“Kaugama started his Federal Service Career with the then National Electoral Commission (NEC) as an Electoral Officer in Kano from March 1987 to November 1992; he rose to become the Chief Personal Officer (NEC) Jigawa till April 1994. He later became Deputy Director (Admin and Human Resources) at INEC Headquarters Abuja from May 2004 to March 2005.
“He was promoted Director on GL 17 while still serving as the Administrative Secretary of INEC Katsina State, a position he held until 1st February 2007, when he was appointed the acting Secretary of the Commission.
“If the government imposes a Secretary on INEC, it will not be tidier enough for the system and it might have implications for the transparency of the electoral process in 2015. That was a major internal challenge which INEC had during the annulment of June 12, 1993 election.”

Jonathan has admitted failure, says ACN.

The Action Congress of Nigeria has described the lamentations of President Goodluck Jonathan at the opening of the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association as the most criticised president in the world, as an admission of failure, incompetence and unpreparedness to govern.
Jonathan at the conference wondered why he was being held responsible for the state of insecurity, power failure, decaying infrastucture even though his administration inherited these problems
In a statement issued in Ibadan on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said that what a nation expects from a president even at a time of crisis are words that will inspire the citizens and give them confidence that the helmsman is on top of the situation and not the kind of words credited to President Jonathan which are only capable of demoralising the citizenry and telling them things are out of control and that he is completely at loss as at what to do.
“Great leaders in the world like Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, JF Kennedy are remembered today more importantly for the quality of leadership they provided their various nations at moments of crisis. Even in the face of imminent defeat and paralysing casualties Winston Churchill was still able to inspire and rally his people to victory and faced with Cuban Missile crisis President J. F. Kennedy did not throw up his hands in despondency,” the party added.
“Hasn’t anyone told President Jonathan that the buck stops on his desk? Hasn’t anyone told President Jonathan that an administration inherits both the assets and liabilities of his predecessor in office. Hasn’t anyone told President Jonathan that his responsibilities as President include clearing the mess left by his predecessors in office while at the same time leaving his own legacies. Does President Jonathan expect sympathy from the citizens by this open admission of incompetence and resignation to failure, the party asked.
“What Nigerians expect from their leader are uplifting words, words of inspiration that can bring out the hidden potentials of its citizens, words that will galvanise Nigerians to positive action and imbue them with self esteem and not the kind of lamentations of President Jonathan that have served only to confirm that the ship of state has no helmsman and everyone is at peril,” the party concluded.
PMNews.

Electricity will drop by 300MW after rainy season – NERC.

 by ALLWELL OKPI.

Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said power generation will drop by 300 megawatts after rainy season and this will partly cancel the improvement in electricity supply experienced recently in some parts of the country.

While answering questions during a recent e-conference on power sector reforms, organised by Spaces for Change, a human rights organisation, the Chairman of the NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said the recent improvement had been due to repairs of some power plants and high water volume occasioned by the rainy season.

Amadi told the moderator of the e-conference, Zainab Usman, of the International Crisis Group, Brussels, that it was unrealistic to expect more than 5000MW by December.

He urged Nigerians not to be too hopeful about the recent improvement, stating that a massive haulage of power will come in the near future.

“The current improvement in generation is because of repairs on plants which resulted in the recovery of lost capacity, and of course, the rise in rainfall has helped us to recover about 200 to 300MW lost during the dry season.

“We have over 20000MW of licensed power. If we succeed in creating a market that allows for these licensees to get to bankability for their projects, then we are home and dry. So, we should not invest much hope on this small improvement.

“The key thing is to let Nigerians know that although in the next eight months or so, we may not see a major haul of new power, in the subsequent eight months, we will make significant and sustainable progress,” he said.

Amadi noted that the capacity building embarked upon by NERC was yet to yield results in terms of improvement in power generation and distribution.

Amadi also noted the bane of the power sector has been corruption, which had continued to undermine the investments made in the sector.

He said, but for corruption, the National Integrated Power Project initiated by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration would have provided at least an additional 5000MW of power.

Amadi also reiterated that the prepaid meters were to be distributed to customers free of charge.

“Meters are no longer to be paid for by customers. That is the law. But practice may be different in many different places. Please refuse to pay for meters and report anyone who asks or collects money for meter to NERC and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” he said.

Abuja not designed for common man –Bala.

THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Bala Mohammed, at the weekend stunned his audience when he disclosed that the Abuja Master Plan was not envisaged to accommodate the needs of the common man.
Mohammed spoke at the formal signing of the agreement for an Addendum of Variation of Scope Contract with the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) to facilitate the completion of the multi-billion naira Abuja Light Rail  Project, which commenced in 2006 but had been comatose since then due to lack of funds.
His words: “With all regrets,  Abuja initially did not capture the needs and aspiration of the common people and the middle level manpower that we have in terms of affordable housing.”
According to the minister, Abuja, the nation’s capital was designed to accommodate only a million people, but   that the territory now has a population of about four to five million people living in the area thereby putting pressure on available infrastructural facilities.
“Abuja has more than four to five million people living in a place where it is supposed to be inhabited with only about a million people at the moment,” he said.
The FCT minister, however, disclosed that the government was  poised  to provide infrastructural facilities at the satellite towns of the territory to give comfort to the middle class workforce that lives outside the city centre, and whose earnings may not afford them the  luxury of private and chauffeur-driven vehicles.
“At the end of the day we are going to reduce the pressure on our corridors by using the mass transit scheme to be provided by the Abuja Rail Project and the employment opportunity it will provide for the population.
“We are going to provide employment opportunities for over one million people. And you can see that when people come to Abuja they try to stay anyhow. I am sorry with all apology and regrets that Abuja initially did not capture the needs and aspiration of the common people and the middle level manpower that we have in terms of affordable housing,” he said.
But Mohammed assured that President Goodluck Jonathan had given the FCT administration the marching order to look inward and facilitate the provision of housing for the people in that category in order to address the numerous social impediments normally presente them.

The parasites.

By Sam Omatseye.

Uduaghan

Why is it that a part of the northern elite has decided to swim in the Niger Delta oil, for all its beautiful blackness and viscous glory? Why is Kwankwaso, the Kano State Governor, not embroiled in the debate with policy wonks on how to bring back the pyramidal triumphs of Kano’s groundnut past? Or why is the ebullient Babangida Aliyu, his Niger State counterpart and head of the northern governors, not devoting his well-known imagination to furthering the frontiers of productivity and harmony as he has been doing?
What is going on is that the North is confronting a mammoth paradox today: a stunning epiphany and an overwhelming denial. A light has fallen into the northern room, but it is at once illuminating and blinding. The illumination comes from its realisation that the North today is not the North of 20 years ago, where it flexed muscles and dictated what happened from the tips of Sokoto to the ocean waves in Lekki Peninsula. 
That was the north of the shadowy Kaduna mafia, the force of men powerful for being anonymous. They were the predators, growling and belching smoke. It was a rampart of power, deciding resource allocations, fuelling military coups, assigning contracts, guzzling and gurgling the oil of the Niger Delta. The mafia, for want of a better word, inspired fear and trembling, respect and loathing, and all the vile emotions in between. 
But it was a quiet and sullen force, not enamoured of public debate nor given to dithering. It had the power of crime and punishment as well as reward. Cocky and quietly defiant, it sometimes carried notoriety as a badge.
Today, the northern power force has no such weight. That is where the denial is. It is because of the denial that we have northern elite bluster in public. It is because there is not much private power. In the heyday of the mafia, they would have shunned the theatre of public debate about offshore and onshore dichotomy. They would have done what they did when derivation was only one per cent. Now, they have to shout and remind one of Wole Soyinka’s chiding of the dowagers of Negritude: a tiger should not shout its “tigritude.” The point is that there are no genuine tigers in the vast lands of the North any more.
But it is not in the character of this column to gloat, since the issue of onshore/offshore dichotomy is not a debate that extends the frontiers of one nation. This is a sombre reality because it is a question of power more than harmony.
But more interesting is that the Niger Delta, which encases the oil, has ironically been a longtime ally of the north. The North has always played the avuncular or even paternal role, dictating the orientation of its politics and enjoying the obeisance of the South-south elite. Its first shock was the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan as President, even though he did it without any regard for the niceties of a statesman. However, Jonathan has shaken the North and it is looking for legitimate means of reasserting itself. But rather than do it by recalibrating its strategy, using its vast size and numerous constituencies and brilliant political players, it is trying to use the brawn of its glory days. That is futile today. That is why its pursuit of the revenues of the Niger Delta states mocks its imperial past.
The relation between the North and the Niger Delta is a clear case of oedipal complex. The father has woken up to see that the son is so powerful that he can slay his former superior. It is the potential equivalent of political parricide.
There are a number of reasons why the call for a review of the offshore/onshore dichotomy cannot stand. One, the 2004 decision by the National Assembly was a compromise that involved every stakeholder from the North. Two, the 13 per cent given to the people of the region is miniscule given what comes out of the bowels of their earths. Three, why does the North want to cut into the 13 per cent when a man like Kwankwaso knows that in the years of the groundnut pyramid, the region enjoyed as much as 50 per cent in derivation. Import duties were also paid to the regions. Is our history going to serve as a parasitic one or a productive one? Why are the states not focused on generating the huge potential that mock us daily in every state? We are seeing already how some governors are raking up more money in internally generated revenue in places like Edo, Oyo, Lagos, Osun and Ekiti. Even Sokoto State has had a good record in that regard. 
In fact, a state like Kano that compares itself in population and investment to Lagos should follow what Lagos has been doing to generate funds as a non-oil state. States like Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers have suffered great environmental degradation from oil pollution. The communities cost more to develop than any part of the country.
In his lecture in Asaba last week, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, stressed the point that oil does not last forever.  Hear him: “If the demand for resource control has remained trenchant, it is simply because our people have for long lived with the stark evidence of a mindless exploitation of the oil resources in their land. They have lived with the despoliation and degradation of their environments without concomitant benefits…”
He noted that the “peaceful nature of the people” is taken for granted, adding that oil will not last forever.  “There are two cardinal points I envisage. One, get the most you can from oil now as you transform to a post-oil era,” Uduaghan said, echoing his signature: Delta Beyond Oil initiative. “Two, develop other resources of revenue and diversify your economy…”
A study noted that if the offshore money was redistributed to all the states, they would get about 150 million each. How can that make a Dubai of the northern states?
Why would a state suffer the consequences of its littoral status and not enjoy the benefits. The most potent in this regard is Akwa Ibom State. Its Governor, Godswill Akpabio, with massive infrastructure development and education, has deployed its resources to elevate a state that has suffered from the pollution of its waters.
Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states suffer both from onshore and offshore violations. To deny this is to be insensitive. Not long ago, we witnessed the escalation of militancy in that region. We do not want eruptions of rage in that region again as it will compound the pains of a nation still trying to come to terms with the agonies of Boko haram.
Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda hit the bull’s eye when, in dissociating himself from some of his northern colleagues, asserted that the Niger Delta communities have suffered greatly suffering and should be compensated. Second, he echoed the point that the north took part in the debate and decision against onshore/offshore dichotomy. 
This is not the time to curse the darkness of discord in the land. Let us light candles. I argued on this page that 13 per cent was little. Now, some want that also removed. The point they want to make is that foul is fair.

Is the fuel subsidy cabal too powerful?

Written by Jibrin Ibrahim.

inShare

There is increasing evidence that mega looters have taken over the economy and maybe the political system of Nigeria. The mega looters are using our stolen resources to give themselves impunity and to prevent the State and its judicial system from sanctioning them.

They are now taking over the Nigerian labour movement after defeating the police and the anti-corruption agencies. When the House of Representatives tried to deal with the mega thieves, the response was carefully planned and executed. Farouk Lawan who led the Committee ended up as the accused. Even civil society appears cowed as we try with great difficulty to understand what is going on and we are unable to take appropriate measures. Recent actions by NUPENG and the NLC have been confusing and have raised issues on which side they are on, the people or the mega thieves. The action of the Government is very scandalous.

People who are given licenses to import fuel have been provided very high patronage and privilege because the fuel importation system has been designed to provide mega profits for these friends of government. They should have imported the fuel and quietly enjoyed their mega profits. It turned out that most of them did not import any fuel and were simply pocketing a significant proportion of the national budget. When the discovery was done, I expected the Jonathan Administration to be very angry at the economic sabotage carried out by these unpatriotic and wicked elements. I saw no anger. I hear the Minister of Finance celebrating on television that the mega thieves have refunded some of the booty they have stolen. I read in the papers that the mega thieves want to negotiate a partial refund. In any country which takes its integrity and economy seriously, the demand would have been for immediate refund and prosecution to ensure they spend a long time in jail.

Rather than that, the mega thieves pay NUPENG to organise a strike and blockade of the federal capital and openly threaten the Government that they will bring the Jonathan Administration to its knees if it does not continue to pay for fuel that has not been supplied. The response of Government was to negotiate with them, beg them and cajole them. Is the Government mad? The stupendous wealth these people control is based 100 percent on Government patronage. How can they threaten the same Government that is making them super rich? And how can the Government succumb to the blackmail?

The Nigerian Labour Congress owes Nigerians an explanation for their shameful action in support of the mega thieves. How can they come out to openly support the mega thieves? In January, we had engaged in a struggle in which lives were lost to compel Government to look inward at their friends in the oil cabal who were responsible to the spectacular increase in the amount of money spent on the so called fuel subsidy. We called for investigation and prosecution of the cabal. When NLC chickened out of the struggle, their excuse was that they had been threatened. Who is threatening them now to support the same cabal that we fought against? They must apologies to Nigerians for selling out. Government must be very pleased with itself that the trade unions are now wheelers and dealers and are no longer in a position to organise a credible strike but are available to organise strikes on behalf of those looting our national treasury.

There is a real question today about whether we have a functional state. We now learn that Nigeria, the country with the largest armored forces in Africa is paying the former militant, Alhaji Dokubo-Asari $9 million a year, to get his militants protect our oil pipelines which they used to destroy. He is not the only one. NNPC is reported to be paying $3.8 million a year apiece to two former rebel leaders, Gen. Ebikabowei “Boyloaf” Victor Ben and Gen. Ateke Tom for the same pipeline protection. In addition, yet another one, General “Tompolo” Ekpumopolo, maintains a $22.9 million-a-year contract to do the same, the official said.

Nigeria is paying out hundreds of millions of dollars a year to maintain an uneasy calm in the Niger Delta, where attacks ranging from theft to bombings to kidnappings had led to a significant decline in oil production. Production, we are now told, has risen to its former level of 2.6 million barrels a day. Most of the extra money earned is however paid back to the former militants or distributed to the fuel subsidy cabal. The risk posed by the action of Government is that everybody now knows that the rewards of militancy and economic sabotage are millions of dollars. The prime placed on paying off saboteurs would definitely lead to an escalation of their activities. According to reports, oil theft appears to be on the rise again. Shell has announced that an estimated 150,000 barrels of oil are stolen from Nigerian pipelines daily. Some experts think this estimate is actually much lower than the reality.

Following a review of totally incomprehensible and contradictory presentations by Governmental ministries, departments and agencies, the House Of Representatives Committee on Fuel Subsidy was able to make a credible estimate that the probable daily consumption of Petrol from the record of marketers and NNPC comes to an average of 31.5 million litres daily. It, therefore, proposed the continuation of subsidy for Petrol and Kerosene and suggested a budget of N806.766 Billion for the 2012 fiscal year. The Committee asserted that the 445,000 bpd allocation to NNPC is sufficient to provide the Nation with its needs in petrol and kerosene, with proper management and efficiency. The Committee recommended the refund to the treasury of the sum of N1, 06 trillion for various violations. The Government now is talking of a refund of only 400 billion.

It is clear that fuel subsidy corruption has revealed a new trend of corruption in Nigeria. In the past, corrupt transactions took place mainly through contract inflation, over- invoicing and receiving of kickbacks. But the fuel subsidy corruption has witnessed situations whereby people collect subsidy payments without making any supplies, collect foreign exchange without supplying petrol and collect subsidy payments for not supplying petrol having collected foreign exchange for the purpose.

The spectacular failure of recent high profile criminal prosecutions relating to corruption dramatizes the collapse of the system of public prosecution in Nigeria. It appears clear that the fuel subsidy cabal are likely to defeat the judiciary and get away free. The body language of the Government is a good indicator. We do not see anger in the voices of Government as they talk about the issue. No wonder some of those being prosecuted would have the temerity to ask for their passports back so that they can travel abroad for their summer holidays.

We Nigerians must act more as citizens and not subjects. The country belongs to us all and we can no longer leave the political space and bureaucracy to shenanigans, and for common thieves and crooks. If the mega thieves are too strong for the Government, we need to devise new strategies to continue the struggle against corruption. Above all, we need to assess what is happening to the Nigerian state and seek pathways towards saving it.

I can’t rule a divided nation – Jonathan.

From DailyPost.

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he still believe in one Nigeria, noting that the unity of the country is his main priority.
Jonathan who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati in Abuja affirmed that he can’t govern a divided country.
He said this against the backdrop of the declaration of independence by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People and the Bakassi Self-Determination Front, all of them from the South-South zone.
He said, “The Federal Government is committed to the unity of Nigeria. It also believes strongly in the indivisibility of the country. This is also enshrined in the constitution.
“The president has made it clear that he would not preside over a divided Nigeria.
On the groups declaring “republics,” Abati said the news had so far remained in the realms of online reports with nobody coming out publicly to make the declarations.
“These things are only seen on the Internet. It is easy for people to sit in the comfort of their rooms and make pronouncements.
“But the country remains one and the government is committed to that unity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Abati kept mum on government’s decision on the declarations by some groups.