(Intersociety, Onitsha-Nigeria, 4th of November 2016)-The
conspiratorial supports given to the Buhari Administration by the attentive
segment of the Nigerian Public, as it concerns its plans to mortgage
the future, image and development of Nigeria internationally by way of securing
whopping $30Billion loans from a number of regional and international lending
institutions; is not only a clear indication that anti democratic forces are at
work, but also another dangerous move to throw Nigeria into perpetual darkness;
a state of intractable comatose. It remains our firm position that the
loans being sought are for crooked and unpatriotic reasons.
Leading the way in this
conspiratorial league are the mainstream print and audio-visual media. Others
are leading pro establishment online media; Lagos section of the Nigerian Civil
Society Community, mainstream industrial and professional bodies; as well as
former outspoken lawyers and human rights activists. While many of them have
spoken out in strong defense of the planned borrowings or loans; others have
gone deaf and dumb or worked behind the scene in support of the harmful
borrowings.
The insistence of the Buhari
Administration to re-send and lobby the leadership of the National Assembly
particularly the Senate for the approval of the obnoxious and futuristically
harmful loans at all costs; is also not unexpected of an administration that
has brought tears and sorrows to all Nigerians since June 2015. Nigerian media
is awash on daily basis with why the Buhari Administration should be
given a nod to borrow $30Billion loans. Government sponsored media
articles, columns and features as well as TV and radio panel discussions in
support of the loans are hitting waves as days go by. Even when the Senate
shabbily rejected the loans (with conditions for its acceptance when met); these
anti democratic forces have gone on rampage and refused to let Nigerians be.
In all these, our heart breeds
for this country, especially when the same maximum Administration that has killed
hundreds of innocent and unarmed citizens; thrown scores into indefinite
detention and dumped hundreds of others in prisons under trumped charges of
treason and terrorism; is busy disintegrating and destroying the country by
other means.
We make bold to say that we hold
no personal grudges against any Nigerian group or person including Retired Gen
Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, Southwest based CSOs and their leaders;
Nigerian print, audio, audio-visual and Web media; former activist lawyers, the
Silk, former leading rights activists,
NBA, NLC, NANS, TUC, CAN, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), the
Anglican Communion, top commanders of the Nigerian security forces, current
Ministers of the Government of the Federation etc; but we must hold them
collectively responsible or accountable at all times for aiding and abetting or
overseeing or supporting the destruction of the country’s hard won democratic
values including the rule of law, constitutionalism and good governance.
By going deaf and dumb or lending
tyrannical voices or hands to destructive policies and actions of this
Administration or by conspiring to foist “the Buhari Formula”, on Nigerians;
leading to bastardization of our collective democratic values, history shall
never be kind to any group or person that is involved in this torrential ignominy
staring Nigerians on their faces and defacing their faces as well.
We know as a fact that the day reckoning
is fast approaching. Borrowing a leaf from the Abacha’s inglorious epoch, we
also know as a fact that these aiders, abetters and supervisors of
regime failures and atrocities will quickly and crookedly abandon Gen Muhammadu
Buhari; by his person or name, at the appointed time and stigmatize him and his
household as the sole destroyer of the country’s democratic values. This
they will do using Vicarious Liability (i.e. heaping all responsibilities of regime
failures and atrocities on Gen Muhammadu Buhari nominally
and executively).
Those who aided and abetted late
Gen Sani Abacha’s maximum regime atrocities crookedly abandoned him in death
and turn-coated or transmogrified. From “aiders and abetters of the Five
Fingers of a Leprous Hand of Abacha’s regime”, these anti democratic
forces quickly transmogrified into “democratic champions of 1999 till date”;
squandering a whopping sum of $672Billion appropriated for Nigerian public governance
and its running costs from June 1999 till date (2016); involving Federal
Government, 36 States, the FCT, Oil Niger Delta Region and the 774 Local
Government Areas (LGAs).
This huge sum is comfortably
capable of turning and transforming all countries in the West African sub-region
into today’s Singapore and Malaysia. As shameless and conscienceless as they
are, they have come again with another $30billion external debts borrowing
package, with cloaked and cloned excuses, meant to ride on the collective
intelligence of all Nigerians.
These enemies at death and beyond
corridors of power are at it again! As obnoxious and violent as “the Tunde
Idiagbon’s War Against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAI)” was, late Major Gen
Tunde Idiagbon (former Chief of Staff of the then ruling Supreme Military
Council), is forgotten and never remembered till date. The negative credit of his WAI is now
wrongly and brazenly credited; not for real and civilized anti graft crusade,
but for the sole purpose of psychology of politics (i.e. to gullibly
grab the minds of Nigerians and hide under same for other ulterior motives such
as power and comfort of office).
In all these, we make bold to say
that there
are no escape routes for today’s anti democratic forces or aiders, abetters and
supervisors of the Buhari’s Regime Atrocities. Since they have chosen
to write their names in the hall of infamy, we shall help them to inscribe and
concretize them at all times.
These must have formed the core
reason why the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari; Mrs. Aisha Buhari; a holder
of Master’s Degree, cried out recently; saying that her husband administration
has been hijacked by agents of darkness. The wife of the President must also
have seen tomorrow and the handwriting on the wall, to the effect that a day
will come when the page of her husband’s inglorious epoch will be opened with
everybody abandoning her, her husband (by his person or name) and children to
bear the brunt alone; either by law or by posterity.
The issuance of this second
public statement of ours is not only predicated on the above, but also to
remain opposed to the planned borrowing of whopping $30Billion. It is further
intended to sound a strong warning to the State apologists and other anti
democratic forces pushing for such harmful loans. They must be stopped
by all lawful means and measures from disintegrating and destroying Nigeria by
other means. Today’s ICT revolution has brought with it cookies that track and
record for posterity all human negative and positive conducts.
In present Nigeria, conducts of
the referenced anti democratic forces are eternally cemented; waiting for the
day of reckoning. It is most tragic and democratically disastrous when a
Prof of Law, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria or Custodian Pre-Eminent of
the Rule of Law and Constitutionalism; sits and watches by and does
nothing when scores of innocent and unarmed citizens are arrested, framed up
and thrown into over four months of incommunicado detention without trial or
released on bail. A clear case in point is the continued detention in the DSS
custody of Citizen Chidiebere Onwudiwe and seven others since the late night of
22nd June 2016.
Lastly, it is recalled that we
had on 28th of October 2016, issued an analytical and facts laden
public statement, titled: Before Nigeria is Returned to the Highly Indebted
Poor Countries Status and How Nigeria’s Public Governance Sector Appropriated
and Squandered $672Billion(N134trillion) in 17years or Since June 1999.
In the said statement, the
following highlights were correctly observed and brought to the fore:
1. That $672billion or N134trillion was appropriated
and squandered by Federal Government, 36 States, the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT), Oil Niger Delta Region and the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in
17years or between June 1999 and December 2016.
2. That out of this whopping sum, Federal
Government appropriated and squandered $266billion or N53.8trillion in 17years,
while the 36 States, the FCT, the Oil Niger Delta Region and the 774 Local Government Areas generated, borrowed,
appropriated and squandered the
remaining sum of $406.1billion.
3. That our findings resulted from a national
investigation we carried out earlier this year as it concerns the state of
public expenditures in Nigeria since June 1999 when Nigeria returned to
civilian rule.
4. That out of these huge public expenditures,
average of 30% of the funds was spent on capital projects particularly at the
Federal level, while the remaining 70% went for recurrent expenditures particularly
overheads and allowances.
5. That this is hugely responsible for the
country’s chronic under-development and codified corruption; whereby billions
of dollars are siphoned annually by elected and appointed public office holders
using “overheads and allowances”.
6. That public money meant for development of
the country’s infrastructures and human resources has steadily been eaten up by
four termites: overheads and allowances; followed by over-bloated personnel
costs and debts servicing.
7. That capital expenditure-associated
corruption is in the fifth category as Nigeria’s fifth termite eating up funds
meant for infrastructure and human capital development; owing to its
insignificant percentage representation in the country’s annual total fiscal
accruals; whether borrowed, donated or generated.
8. That apart from the controversial loan
request of $30billion, the Buhari Administration had between June 2015 and June
2016, borrowed and lavishly spent a total of $11billion, mostly from internal
sources without anything good to show for it.
9. That the Obasanjo civilian Administration bequeathed
to the Yar’Adua/Jonathan Administration (s) total domestic and external debts of
$16.5billion in June 2007; made up of external loan of $3.5billion and internal
loan of $13billion or about N1.8trillion.
10. That the Yar’Adua/Jonathan
Administration(s) bequeathed to the Buhari Administration total block loans of
$49.2billion.
11. That the Yar’Adua/Jonathan
Administration(s) put together, borrowed or incurred total foreign and external
loans of $32.7billion and when the Obasanjo Administration’s loan of
$16.5billion is so added, it stands at $49.2billion inherited by the current
Buhari Administration in June 2015.
12. That the current internal and external loan
profile of the Federal Government of Nigeria is $60billion, using the pre-June
2016 official exchange rate of N197.00 per US$ or N12.1trillion; which
translates to about $45billion if the current official exchange rate of N283.00
per US$ is applied.
13. That when the current Federal Government’s
debt of $60billion is deducted from $49billion inherited from the Jonathan
Administration in June 2015; it means that the Buhari Administration has
borrowed or incurred a total debt of $11billion between June 2015 and June
2016.
14. That Nigeria’s journey to hellish
international (external) indebtedness started in 1965 and got skyrocketed to
the tune of $970million by 1970; and $32.5billion by year 2000 as well as
$33.5billion by 2006, before it was reprieved, cut down and drastically reduced
to about $3.5billion by end of 2006.
15. That Nigeria’s internal or local debts got
risen and accumulated to N28.4billion in 1986; skyrocketed to N1.8trillion in
2007 and super-skyrocketed steadily to its current sum of N10.6trillion for
Federal Government and N2.5trillion for 36 States and the FCT in June 2016; totalling
N13.1trillion.
16. That Lagos State, populated by about
20million people with an insignificant land mass of 4,211 square kilometres; remains Nigeria’s current most indebted State
or sub-national entity with over $1.1billion and N218billion for external and
internal debts respectively; despite being Nigeria’s largest sub-national
generator of internally generated revenues (IGR).
Signed:
Emeka
Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International
Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
Mobile
Line: +2348174090052
Obianuju
Igboeli, Esq.
Head,
Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Program
Mobile
Line: +2348180771506
Chinwe
Umeche, Esq.
Head,
Democracy & Good Governance Program
Mobile
Line: +2347013238673
Email:
[email protected]
Website:
www.intersociety-ng.org
0 comments so far,add yours