By DEle sOBOWALE

“As at May 15, 2015, only $2.79bn was left in the ECA [Excess Crude Account]” –  PUNCH, June 24, 2015, p 2.

ECA: THE ROGUE ACCOUNT FINALLY EXHAUSTED

The Excess Crude Account, ECA, an illegal account created by President Obasanjo during his second term on advice from the Federal Minister of Finance, at the time, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was a rogue account which served the instinct for impunity by all the governors of Nigeria, irrespective of the political party to which they belong. Those of us who questioned the transactions undertaken under the fraudulent scheme were labeled either as ignorant noise makers or enemies of progress.

The National Assembly, NASS, overwhelmingly dominated by the Peoples’ Democratic (?) Party, PDP, ignored what was a clear violation of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria by allowing revenue which should have been paid into the federation account to be shunted into the rogue account called ECA. Surprisingly, even the members of the NASS, the Governors of States, as well as the Chairmen of Local Governments, elected on the platforms of other political parties went along with the fraudulent scheme. ECA allowed the States to deceive themselves that all was well two years ago when actual revenue from crude oil started falling drastically. Remedial measures which should have been undertaken then were ignored. Now, everybody, including the Federal Government, is in deep trouble.

RMAFC – THE PRODIGAL COMMISSION

They not only allowed that, they also connived to foist on Nigerians the obscene remuneration packages which the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, proposed for elected officials and their appointed officials. No limit was placed on the number of official appointees which the President or a  State Governor could appoint. And there was no specific prohibition on  Governors from establishing the bogus Office of First Lady and allocating public funds to that office.

In short, the RMAFC, certainly managed by the most prodigal sons that Nigeria has brought up, provided the cover-up for elected officials from President to Governors to Local Government Chairpersons to rob their political domains as much as their conscience, or lack of it, will allow.

LEGISLATORS OR “LEGISLOOTERS”

If you ever met a legislator who served in the NASS or the State House of Assembly, SHA, from 1999 till now, you are most probably looking at a person who, irrespective of political party, had collaborated in the looting of the public purse. In a democracy, the legislators possess the power of the public purse. Since 1999, all the lawmakers did was to surrender the purse to the President or Governor who proceeds to dole out whatever he/she wants to without the restraint which democratic governance requires. I challenge any Senator, Honourable Member of the Federal House, Speaker and member of the State House of Assembly, who had done two things to speak out. First, if he had challenged the stupendous emoluments they were all collecting. Second, if he had challenged the President or Governor to provide full disclosure of the revenue and expenditures of the government.

It is difficult to see how the legislature of a state could have been carrying out their constitutional duties when a governor assigns twenty-two cars to his wives, another creates four offices for First Ladies and the governor operates air aircraft. The bail-out they are asking for generally arose from the delirium of power which the people allowed their governors to enjoy.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIX AND HALF DOZEN

If the truth must be told, there is no demonstrable difference between all the political parties in the way they have managed public finance. Even the so-called “Progressive” states have suffered from a deficit of checks and balances. Every new programme a governor embarks upon is described as “innovative” and anybody who challenges its validity is considered an enemy of the people. One of the states now owing its public servants more than half a dozen months initiated several “innovative” programmes. Even now, as many of those projects have been grounded, his supporters, mostly economic illiterates, still expect civil servants to be grateful for projects which might soon be abandoned without ever delivering the benefits promised when launched.

Nothing is more foolish than to think that any ill-considered change, merely because it is instigated by a President or Governor, is “innovation”. True innovation must not only alter the social and economic landscape, it must endure and be sustainable.

STATES AND ANIMAL FARM

All the states now begging for bail-out were operated like George Orwell’s ANIMAL FARM in which “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. Even while workers and contractors were not paid for months, the Governors, Deputy Governors. Commissioners and state legislators were paid, and Offices of First Ladies were fully funded.   Dwindling revenue allocation from Abuja was not allowed to get in the way of the slave masters. They, in fact collected an increasing percentage of the little that came in.

THE REQUEST FOR BAIL OUT AND THE CONDITIONS

A sitting judge in Osun State has proposed that the state’s House of Assembly should proceed to impeach the Governor for failing in one of his principal constitutional duties. That might appear extremely harsh at the moment. In reality, if the Governor must go, then the entire House of Assembly must go with him on account of gross negligence of duty. They failed to monitor the state’s financial situation as required of them until the crisis deepened and a bail-out becomes almost inevitable.

We can try a more gradual approach by looking beyond our shores. At the moment countries of the Eurozone are considering a bail-out for Greece. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, had been drawn in to look at the situation in Greece and advise on conditions to be imposed for granting the bail-out. We don’t need the IMF to help us. There are enough economists and financial experts in Nigeria who can conduct an audit of each state asking for bail-out to determine how they derailed.

The purpose of the audit is to impose conditions appropriate to each situation instead of making a blanket decision which might not be suitable for any of them.

In the end, each state will lose part of its autonomy to the person assigned to monitor its financial transactions. And, if Offices of First Ladies have to be closed and Governors fleet of cars reduced, so be it.

They can’t have their cakes and eat it. The laws of economics don’t respect anybody; least of all Nigerian governors.