* Outrage greets govts squandering of N80 trn in 9 years
THE sum of N8.8 trillion was disbursed to the three tiers of Nigerian government from the Federation Account between January and December 2012 from the statutory and Value Added Tax (VAT) allocations. The receipt came mostly from oil revenue, customs duties and VAT receipts.
According to a table compiled by Economic Confidential, this amount exclude other allocations that were occasionally made to the states from the Excess Crude Account, Domestic Crude Account, SURE-P, NNPC Refund and foreign exchange differentials. It also excludes states and councils’ internally generated revenue.
The disclosure is coming as outrage trailed the squandering of N80 trillion by the three tiers of government between 2005 and 2013 going by their budget appropriations and allocations to the local councils.
A careful scrutiny of the N8.8 disbursements showed that the states can be conveniently categorized into the ‘boys and men’s clubs’ with a few of the states taking hundreds of billions, others taking a little less and the majority going home with ‘paltry’ amounts.
Akwa Ibom State appears to be the ‘king of boys’, coasting home with a princely N217 billion followed by Rivers which received N177 billion and Lagos N168 billion in the 12 months of 2012. States like Ebonyi (N45bn), Gombe (N48bn) and Nassarawa (N49bn) emerged as the poorest states. The allocation to the states included the share of their respective local government councils which they cornered since almost all the funds to the councils are controlled by governors who determine the administrators at the third tier of government.
The disparity in the allocations to the states came as a result of the indices developed by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) upon which the monthly disbursements are made by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) chaired by the Minister of State for Finance. The indices include population, land mass, derivation, equality, internally generated revenue and other social development factors like school enrolment, hospital beds and road networks.
Outrage greets squandering of N80 trn
Director, League for Human Rights, Jos, Mr. Nankin Bagudu, said it was sad that after spending such a huge of sum money, most of the citizenry were still swimming in poverty:
“If the figures are correct then they are mind-blowing. There is no way we can spend such huge amount and remain how and where we are today. The challenge then is not the lack of money but using it prudently and creatively,” he said.
First civilian Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun spoke in like manner lamenting that the three tiers of government had not provided the much-sought democracy dividends to Nigerians.
His words: “Only a few states are beginning to show that they are trying to put in place democratic dividends for their people. But for the Federal Government, it has not been a success story on the use of its share of the resources to provide democracy dividends for the people. We always raise issues in this country, but we never follow up, so, we always give them the license to do what they like. It is a sad commentary and one day, the people will rise up either with their votes or something; all these nonsense will stop.”
On his part, the Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie while noting that N80 Ttillion allocation also included funds for personnel cost, however agreed that not much had been achieved in the provision of democracy dividends to Nigerians in the last nine years.
“I agreed with the principle that not much has been achieved in terms of development. This has been underpinned by corruption cases by the various individuals and people that have managed the resources in the last nine years. Virtually, all the resources managers since 2007 are facing one form of corruption charges or the other. We also run an expensive government and bureaucracy and that have affected our level of spending in the country”, he said.
Money spent in 9 years has not impacted positively on Nigerians
Chairman Board of Trustees of International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, INTERSOCIETY, said that the N80 trillion spent by the three tiers of government in the past nine years had not impacted on the lives of majority of Nigerians.
Speaking with Vanguard in Onitsha, Umeagbalasi regretted that the chunk of the money was borrowed from local and foreign creditors, adding that even as the country’s debt profile continues to rise, the people have continued to wallow in abject poverty.
He said: “This staggering amount ought to have boosted the infrastructure in the country, including power, but the reverse is the case. Every year, Nigerians are given reasons for non-functioning of basic things of life in spite of the enormous resources the country has.
“If you look at the three tiers of government, the only one that has recorded some form of success is the state. The federal and local governments have remained drain pipes on the economy. For instance, the condition of the 34000 kilometers of Federal Government roads across the country has been a source of worry to Nigerians as more than 80 per cent of them are in terrible condition.
“The roads tagged state government roads are much better, while those expected to be the responsibility of the local governments are the worst. As far as we are concerned, 95 per cent of allocation to the local governments is a waste.
Relatedly, Bauchi State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN), Alhaji Bappa Mohammed Dafida regretted that the N80 trillion was not channeled towards laudable projects that would change the lives of the masses.
According to him, “N80 trillion naira in nine years is more than enough to take Nigeria out of the woods. But up till now, there is still abject poverty among the people. The question is: Can the federal, state and local government actually account for the money allocated to them?”
Lamenting that the local governments are not autonomous with State Governors taking advantage of the operation of joint account to misappropriate funds, Dafida said: “The Governors who are receiving huge allocations from the Federal Government are the ones kicking against the autonomy of the local government councils because they have their own hidden agenda. They are enjoying how they are misusing the funds meant for local government for their personal gains and that is why up till now there are no real capital projects at the grassroots”.
Also, Adamawa State Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri, said he would not be surprised if 60 – 70 per cent of the N80 trillion went into private pockets as there is nothing on ground to show that such amount was spent on developmental projects.
“It is sad for such a colossal amount to have been disbursed to the three tiers of governments in the country within the last nine years and within the same period the nation is witnessing decay in infrastructure, high level of corruption and poverty, decline in our educational standard and growing insecurity among others.”
