*Why NLC, Govs distrust FG

By Jide Ajani

Yet to convince Nigerians of his sincerity on how the funds generated from the removal of the subsidy on petrol would be deployed, President Goodluck Jonathan is being buffeted by a confetti of opposition.

Just last week, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, took a swipe at the federal government for deductions from the federation accounts which it considered illegal – it also threatened disobedience.. The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is up in arms – and, might it be added, rightly so – on the issue of removal of the subsidy on petrol.

There is the controversy on the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF. Still, President Jonathan, in far away Australia, was able to fete some Nigerians during the birthday celebrations of his wife.  Yet, the pressure continues to mount that he should deliver on election promises. Amazingly, Petroleum Resources Minister, Daziani Alisson-Madueke, told the world in far away Australia that the government has not fixed a date for the removal of subsidy.

Whatever it is that the Goodluck Jonathan administration runs on, sensitivity may not be one.

After last week’s meeting of the Executive Council of the Federation, EXCOF, Nigerians were told that a $370m contract for upgrading  the Onne Port was in the offing.  Explaining to State House Correspondents, Information Minister, Labaran Maku, said one of the reasons why the port needed to be fixed was because operators in the oil sector needed assistance.

Ostensibly to also free and decongest the Lagos Port, the needed help for operators in the oil sector would be with a view to ensuring the prompt clearing of petroleum products at the ports.

Between the $370m contract for the Onne Port and the on-going campaign to remove the subsidy on petrol there is a massive disconnect!  Whereas the refineries in Nigeria are not working optimally, the $370m, which translates to over N55b, could build a cottage refinery.

President Jonathan

According to Isa Aremu, Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, this is a further testament to the growing insensitivity of the Jonathan administration.

“It confirms labour’s worry all along that all the frenzy and desperation on the part of this administration that the so called subsidy removal is nothing more than a ploy to leave us with an import parity price for petrol and other products that are imported.  What this means and what the government is trying to do is a clear departure from what our founding fathers did and it is also a clear departure from the position of majority of Nigerians, that we should build refineries for export.

“Unfortunately, since Obasanjo became president in 1999, Nigeria has been running a cargo economy, a container economy, an economy that is wholly import dependent. Why should a country producing crude oil, where you can get 114 additives, refuse to build refineries but rather continues to invest in the consolidation of import dependency on the eve of our 51st independence anniversary?  We are being returned to a colonial economy by these people.  It is sad!”

The NLC says it is waiting for the day President Jonathan would announce the removal of subsidy.

As if the agitation of the NLC is not enough, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State who doubles as the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, announced last week that state commissioners of finance should reject any allocation from the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee, FAAC, that does not enjoy the benefit of the 2011 Appropriation Act.  Amaechi said deductions by the federal government were illegal and left the state with less resources. Already the deductions are in the neighbourhood of N1.079 trillion for a period of nine months.

The governors also directed all the State Commissioners of Finance to reject any allocation that is not in consonance with the Appropriation Act of 2011.

He noted that the said amount was in excess of the budgeted sum of N240 Billion for oil subsidy for the year, adding that the act was in clear violation of the provisions of the Appropriation Act of 2011 and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Amaechi who disclosed that the governors will meet with President Goodluck Jonathan soon to brainstorm on the issue, said, “We the Governors of the 36 States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, at an emergency meeting held on Monday, 24th October commended the decision of the States’ Commissioners for Finance and Accountants General for rejecting the illegal deduction of N231.6 Billion at the October 2011 FAAC meeting, noting that the lawful deductions for the year have been fully made.

”The forum unanimously rejected all illegal deductions that amounted to N1.079 Trillion for nine months in excess of the budgeted sum of N240 Billion for oil subsidy for the year in clear violation of the provisions of the Appropriation Act, 2011 and the Nigerian Constitution.  Members noted that the total deductions for last year was N500.6 Billion which has more than doubled to N1.264 Trillion in the first nine months of this year suggesting erroneously that consumption has increased.’’

Even before the state governors made that declaration in the early hours of last Tuesday, they had gone to the Supreme Court to press that the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF, that was recently created by the Jonathan administration be declared null and void and unconstitutional.  The fund already has $1b.  The thinking of the Jonathan administration is that Nigeria should begin to save for the future.  But the contention of the governors is that such a move was not captured by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Yet, the problem confronting President Jonathan does not start and end with the agitation coming from the NLC and the governors.

Even within the administration, there appear to be an urge to muddle things up and embarrass President Jonathan.

Last Thursday, photographs of President Jonathan feeding the love of his life, Dame Patience Jonathan graced the front page of newspapers in the country.  The president’s mood was one of excitement and joy.  But pray, what manner of excitement and joy in an atmosphere sufficiently poisoned by the mobilization for and against the removal of subsidy, the decaying state of infrastructure in the country and an endless list of discounts occasioned by inept leadership.

And because insincerity is almost becoming a virtue, Petroleum Resources Minister, Deziani Allison-Madueke, threw another spanner in in far away Australia when she denied that a take-off time had not been set for the removal of the subsidy.

On the statement by Allison-Madueke, that the government was yet to take decision on the subsidy removal, President of NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, in a statement, advised Nigerians not to be hoodwinked by the government antics.   Comrade Omar said the government antics and statements were calculated to mislead the international community and to lure Nigerians away from the on-going mobilization against this anti-people policy.

According to him, “The  truth is that President Goodluck Jonathan in his letter to the National Assembly on the Medium Term  Expenditure Framework of his  administration stated categorically that the government has decided to remove fuel subsidy and that the take off date is January 2012.  Also the President on his way to the Commonwealth Summit in Perth, Australia, to which the Petroleum Minister accompanied him, had told the country that fuel subsidy must be removed as the alternative is the collapse of the economy.

So Mrs. Allison-Madueke is not forthright on this matter and the NLC urges Nigerians not to relent in their patriotic mobilization to resist this policy that will further impoverish the citizenry.”

Even if President Jonathan successfully removes the subsidy and settles with the NLC, implementation of what the funds are needed for may become a major problem.

A national newspaper recently published the results of an opinion poll on the popularity of President Jonathan.

The result of the poll leaves a very damning question: How did things take a downward plunge so fast for Mr. President?