From right, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan; the National Security Adviser, Alh. Seriki Mukhtar while the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Danbazau (l) watched at security meeting.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Over N3 trillion federal revenue missing, says Bankole
From Collins Olayinka (Abuja) and Charles Coffie-Gyamfi (Abeokuta)
Nigerian Guardian
ACTING President Goodluck Jonathan has decried what he described as the inability of Nigeria to fully tap the economic advantages inherent in oil and gas for speedy economic emancipation of Nigeria after 50 years of commercial exploration of the products began in the country.
He spoke yesterday just as the Speaker of the House of Representatives disclosed that over N3 trillion collected by Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) within the last five years landed in private pockets as they were not remitted to the Federation Account as provided for by the Constitution.
According to a statement released at the weekend, Jonathan spoke at a roundtable meeting organised by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in Abuja last week.
The Acting President noted that while oil has served as a catalyst for development in other oil endowed countries, the case in Nigeria is different as the country is yet to know whether the commodity is a blessing or merchant of death and underdevelopment.
Jonathan, who spoke through the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Sani
Mohammed, said: "However, 50 years after, the promise of oil is yet to be realised. As is the case with most mineral-rich countries, valuable resources have not translated to sustained improvements in living standards."
He submitted that for Nigeria to begin to move towards harnessing the potentials of the oil industry to the fullest, the government has in the past few years introduced measures that were aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the sector.
Jonathan highlighted that the signing of NEITI bill into law by the Federal Government in 2007 signifies the commitment of the Nigerian government to promoting transparency in the extractive sector.
He underpinned the importance of NEITI to the Nigerian economy thus: "The comprehensive process, financial and physical audit of the oil and gas sector periodically carried out by NEITI has significantly improved information flow. With the pioneering 1999-2004 and 2005 audit reports, unprecedented amount of revenue information has been brought into the public domain, with Nigeria recovering millions of dollars from under-payments of taxes and royalties by extractive industry companies."
The Acting President declared that the strength of NEITI lies in its representation of diverse stakeholders, establishing a new model of collaboration between industry, government, and civil society, and creating a forum for them to interact.
He added: "This multi-stakeholder structure of the NEITI and its
participative nature means that all stakeholders - governments,
industries and civil society groups - are actively involved in
designing, steering, and governing the process."
He stated that it is only when government is able to allow revenues of all sectors to be monitored and publicised and the citizenry is able to see how earnings from their natural resources are being utilised, that resources from extractive industry can actively translate to good schools, hospitals, roads and food and other means of livelihood.
In his remarks at the event, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Haruna Sa'eed, said the high level of poverty among Nigerians clearly betrays the nation as an oil endowed one.
He said: "Looking at our natural resource endowment both in the oil and gas sub-sector and the solid mineral sub-sector, it is clear that Nigeria has no business with poverty. It is sad that we are
categorised today among countries that have been plagued with the so called natural resource curse. And I make bold to say this is
reversible."
Sa'eed stated that the signing of NEITI by the Federal Government demonstrated its commitment to reversing the worrying trend.
He opined that the stakeholders' driven nature of NEITI allows for frank conversations on how best to collectively make progress.
Sa'eed revealed that audit reports conducted so far have highlighted areas of anomalies which NEITI is working on to correct. However, he was quick to explain that the exercise is not a witch-hunting one.
He said: "We have put together a remedial action plan to ensure that the recommendations of the auditors for improvements are implemented. This process is still on-going. Let me commend all of you who have been working with us in this regard. As I say from time to time, the NEITI audit is not a witch-hunting exercise. A more transparent extractive industry in Nigeria is a win-win situation for everybody and that is what we are promoting."
Sa'eed decried the situation where in the last 50 years of engaging in commercial oil processing, Nigeria is yet to know exactly how many barrels of oil that are produced in its shores.
However, Bankole who made the stunning disclosure in Abeokuta yesterday, further revealed that "similarly, our investigative hearings revealed that only N11 million of about N548 billion generated by the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) within a given period was remitted to government coffers."
He stated that one of the major factors militating against full budget implementation is the "habit of little or no attention to outcome by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of approved development projects."
The Speaker, however, stated that the National Assembly has further strengthened the budget process in Nigeria by enacting the fiscal responsibility Act to provide for prudent management of the nation's resources. The Act, he said, also aims at ensuring long-term macro-economic stability of the national economy, secure greater accountability and transparency amongst others.
Bankole spoke in Abeokuta after he had been inducted as a member of the prestigious Abeokuta Club.
Apparently to prove wrong his opponents who accused him of non-performance in office, Bankole reeled out his achievements as a Speaker. Said he: "Under my leadership, the House has shown a clear vision of where Nigerians would like the nation to be since we have lost so much time and resources as a result of prolonged dictatorship and insensitive leadership."
According to him, thorough performance of oversight functions by the House Committees had revealed that the nation had lost trillions of naira through the manipulation of the unspent funds and outright manipulations. His words: "Our commitment to oversight activities as it relates to tracking and monitoring of budget implementation led to the recovery of over N450 billion and N300 billion unspent funds from the 2007 and 2008 budget respectively."
He listed his other achievements to include construction of block of classrooms, ICT centres, and an administrative block at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB) at a cost of N200 million.
He further told his kinsmen: "As your elected representative, I have not forgotten my roots nor have I forgotten that you sent me to Abuja to represent your interests."
Explaining that even before he became the Speaker he had sponsored the purchase of NECO forms for over 11,000 indigenous students.
"Only three weeks ago, I facilitated the release of N100 million for educational infrastructure to Ogun State from the ETF (Education Trust Fund). In addition to the above personal and constituency projects in my constituency, it is to the glory of God that I have been able to attract over 54 Federal projects to Ogun State", adding that such projects cut across power, roads, water, skills acquisition, ecological and solar street lights.
"It's on record that as an ordinary member of the House from 2003 to 2007, I directly facilitated/assisted in projects worth N700 million. In 2008, the figure was N1.8 billion and in 2009 it was N20 billion," he added.
According to him, this is apart from influencing the appointment of indigenes as ministers and members of Federal Boards and agencies. At present, he said, he is the President of the Afro-Arab parliament. Bankole hinted that what the House was focusing on as far as the review of the constitution was concerned was to empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be financially autonomous.
He assured his audience, which included Egba monarchs, that he would not let them down as he would always strive to preserve and promote the integrity of the House and the entire legislature.
The House, he said, was committed to pursuing the necessary ideals of making laws for peace, order and good governance.
The President of Abeokuta Club, Chief Edward Koleoso in his speech, commended the leadership style of Bankole, saying the record of his performance in office had been a source of inspiration to many Nigerians, especially the youths.
According to him, the Speaker is a man born great with a fountain of knowledge and wisdom, "an icon shinning among his peers."
According to him, the club was founded in 1972 with the main objective of developing Egbaland and its people.
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