OTHERS' VIEWS

OTHERS' VIEWS

SUNDAY 1-DEC

 

Hearn confirms Joshua’s 2025 return date
https://reubenabati.com.ng/sports/hearn-confirms-joshua-s-2025-return-date

Why Nigeria Needs Tax Reform – Oyedele
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/why-nigeria-needs-tax-reform-oyedele

Okpebholo, APC Jittery Over Exposure Of Systemic Rigging In Edo, Lies To Cover Fraud – Obaseki
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/okpebholo-apc-jittery-over-exposure-of-systemic-rigging-in-edo-lies-to-cover-fraud-obaseki

CBN tells Nigerians to report cash withdrawal issues from December 1, banks to face penalties
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/cbn-tells-nigerians-to-report-cash-withdrawal-issues-from-december-1-banks-to-face-penalties

Local Government Autonomy….Concerns Mount Over Non-execution Of Supreme Court Ruling
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/local-government-autonomy-concerns-mount-over-non-execution-of-supreme-court-ruling

Tinubu Tax: North’s anger grows as youths attack Deputy Senate President
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/tinubu-tax-north-s-anger-grows-as-youths-attack-deputy-senate-president

OAuGF report reveals huge financial infractions in NNPCL, NUPRC, NMDPRA
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/oaugf-report-reveals-huge-financial-infractions-in-nnpcl-nuprc-nmdpra

Rivers: N27bn IGR behind Fubara, Wike rift, INEC now APC member – Adeyanju
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/rivers-n27bn-igr-behind-fubara-wike-rift-inec-now-apc-member-adeyanju

‘I Am Against Tax Reform Bills, It Gives Some States More Advantage’ – Ningi
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/i-am-against-tax-reform-bills-it-gives-some-states-more-advantage-ningi

[STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE] President Tinubu Congratulates New NUJ President And Executive Team
https://reubenabati.com.ng/news/state-house-press-release-president-tinubu-congratulates-new-nuj-president-and-executive-team

[PRESS RELEASE] President Tinubu Approves Funds for UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Institute in Nigeria
https://reubenabati.com.ng/news/press-release-president-tinubu-approves-funds-for-unesco-media-and-information-literacy-institute-in-nigeria

Trump threatens 100% tariff on BRICS countries over currency plans
https://reubenabati.com.ng/news/trump-threatens-100-tariff-on-brics-countries-over-currency-plans

‘From Secular To Sacred’ - Filmmaker, Mike Bamiloye Reflects On Transformation To Gospel Drama
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/from-secular-to-sacred-filmmaker-mike-bamiloye-reflects-on-transformation-to-gospel-drama

Darey Art Alade and wife Desola mark 18th wedding anniversary
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/dare-art-alade-s-wife-deola-celebrate-18th-wedding-anniversary

Sokoto NLC Suspends Planned Strike Over ₦70,000 Minimum Wage
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/sokoto-nlc-suspends-planned-strike-over-70-000-minimum-wage

Nigeria needs collaborative leaders for national progress - Peter Obi
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/nigeria-needs-collaborative-leaders-for-national-progress-peter-obi

How Tinubu’s fiery critics became spokespersons, loyalists
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/how-tinubu-s-fiery-critics-became-spokespersons-loyalists

2027: Atiku, Obi deny joint presidential bid after reunion
https://reubenabati.com.ng/feature/2027-atiku-obi-deny-joint-presidential-bid-after-reunion

Tax Reform Bill: Atiku Calls For Transparency, Inclusivity In Debate
https://reubenabati.com.ng/news/tax-reform-bill-atiku-calls-for-transparency-inclusivity-in-debate

 

Today is exactly 30 years after the June 12, 1993 presidential election which were annulled by the Ibrahim Babangida military regime.


On June 18, six days after the election, my media colleague and brother, Kayode Komolafe, came to my house with a copy of the full election results being uploaded by the electoral commission.

Businessman and friend of Babangida, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, had won the election with 58 per cent. Then, on June 23, 1993, Babangida announced the annulment of the election, claiming there had been vote-buying. The annulment of an election generally perceived to be the freest and fairest in the country’s history, set off six years of bloody resistance against continued military misrule.

A narrative gives a lot of credit to politicians for that glorious resistance which led to civil rule on May 29, 1999. This does not reflect the complete history of that struggle. There were actually three eras of that war corresponding to the regimes of Babangida, Shonekan and Abacha, and the political class was virtually absent in the first two.


The civil movement whose expression vibrated in the voice of towering lawyer, Alao Aka-Bashorun, was convinced that the military was merely deceiving the populace with a bogus transition programme. After a layer of presidential hopefuls had been swept away by military fiat, Abiola and Bashir Tofa were allowed to contest the June 12 election.

While Abiola and his group thought they could persuade the military to de-annul the election, the civil movement which had started off in 1990 as the National Consultative Forum, NCF, transformed into a broad national coalition of anti-military forces which included student, youth, professional, market, community and civil society organisations. It was renamed the Campaign for Democracy, CD. Its transition leadership passed from Aka-Bashorun to the medical doctor, Beko Ransome-Kuti.

The CD began mobilising for mass protests across the country to force the military out. But it had two challenges. The first was how to contain the murderous military and minimise the inevitable casualties. The second was how to persuade the political class that did not want to confront the military, not to side the regime. To overcome the second challenge, CD leaders, including Beko, Olisa Agbakoba, Frederick Fasehun, Femi Falana and I held meetings with Abiola to get a commitment that even if he would not support the nationwide protests, he should at least not denounce us.

The protests were overwhelming across the country. In Lagos where we hoped to get some 50,000 protesters, the streets were clogged with millions of people. The Babangida regime panicked and ordered its Army Chief, General Sani Abacha, to take back the streets by force. Abacha led a long military convoy into Lagos which opened fire on all human beings in sight beginning with youths who were playing football in Apakun/Toyota, Oshodi. That July 6, 1993, the Nigeria Medical Association compiled a figure of 118 corpses brought to the general hospitals in Lagos. They had gunshot wounds with most shot in the back which indicated they were running away when shot.

Despite these huge losses and the arrest of many, including Beko and Gani Fawenmi, we continued the protests. Tragically on the day of the massacres, Abiola denounced us in a public statement. He said his mandate was given without bloodshed so he did not want to reclaim it with bloodshed. Two weeks later, we asked Nigerians to sit at home, and the nation’s streets were deserted.

The continued defiance by the populace, forced the Babangida regime to hand over to a military contraption called the Interim National Government, ING, headed by Ernest Shonekan.

Its primary purpose was to organise new elections supervised by the compromised military. But Abiola said the June 12 election was like a derailed train; so until it was cleared, no other train could use the tracks. He turned to the CD to stop the new election process. Beko, Fasehun and I met Abiola’s representative, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his office. It was decided that I coordinated the disruption of the ING’s voters registration and review exercise which was necessary for the planned election. We succeeded in doing so across the country and the tottering ING which was later declared illegal by the courts, just needed a push to collapse. But Abiola disagreed with our plans to employ the mass to force the ING out and install him. The alternative he went for was a military coup by alleged pro-June 12 Generals like Oladipo Diya, Chris Ali and Abacha. We disagreed with the coup and after he met new Head of State, Abacha with Diya and Tinubu as witnesses, we met and warned him to stop his support for the new regime, including his agreement to provide it credible politicians as ministers. But he told us that Abacha was a dwarf, and to greet a dwarf, one had to bend down to his level. It was after it became clear that Abacha and his gang were not going to de-annul the June 12 election and swear him in as President in accordance with their understanding, that the politicians joined the struggle to oust the military from power. It was in that process the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, coalesced. NADECO itself had origins in the meetings of the CD and old experienced politicians led by Chief Alfred Rewane with Chief Anthony Enahoro as Deputy. Others included Chiefs Ayo Adebanjo, Ajise and Cornelius Adebayo. After Rewane was murdered in his Ikeja GRA residence where we used to meet, Enahoro led an expanded group and we began meeting mainly in Abiola’s house with Alhaja Kudirat Abiola as hostess. Despite Abacha’s murder of Kudirat, and many like Enahoro, Dan Suleiman, Wole Soyinka and Tinubu forced into exile, the forces that would see the backs of the military had been born.

Let me on this day, pay tribute to two virtually unacknowledged heroes of the democratic struggles. Prince Ademola Adeniji- Adele who was crucial in keeping Abiola safe when the military dictatorship declared him wanted, better dead than alive; and who contributed funds to keep the streets alive for June 12. His undoing was that he later joined the Abacha transition programme. Then there was Chief Rasheed Abiodun Gbadamosi, economist, writer and an assumed apolitical industrialist who when the goons closed in on Abiola, and people were afraid to give him shelter, took the June 12 presidential election winner to his Victoria Island home. One night, when it appeared his home might be compromised, Gbadamosi got Abiola to climb the fence and shelter in the adjacent premises which he also owned.

My salute to these heroes and heroines and hundreds like Bagauda Kaltho who lost their lives in the struggle for democracy in Nigeria.

A few months ago, the State Security Service (SSS) levelled grave allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering, and other economic crimes against Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). At the material time, the attempt by the SSS to arrest, investigate, and prosecute Mr. Emefiele was frustrated by the erstwhile Buhari administration. 

However, following the suspension of Mr. Emefiele as the Governor of the CBN by President Bola Tinubu, the SSS quizzed him in Lagos and flew him to Abuja yesterday. According to media reports, the investigation of the suspect by the SSS has commenced. Even though the SSS which initially denied the arrest has since turned round to admit that Mr. Emefiele is in its custody. 

In the case of Dr. Bukola SarakI v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2018) 16 NWLR (pt. 1646) 433-434, the Supreme Court ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission lacks the vires to investigate and prosecute the appellant for the breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. It was for that principal reason that Senator Saraki was freed by the apex court.

In line with the principle of law enunciated by the apex court in Saraki's case the SSS lacks the power to investigate and prosecute Mr. Emefiele in respect of allegations of money laundering and other economic crimes. Therefore, after investigating the alleged involvement of Mr. Emefiele in terrorism financing the SSS should transfer him to the EFCC for the purpose of investigating the allegations of money laundering and allied offences. Otherwise, the investigation of the case will be bungled by the SSS!

Femi Falana SAN

Last modified on Sunday, 11 June 2023 21:03

In November 2017, it emerged that the suspended governor of Nigeria’s central bank, Godwin Emefiele, had significant interests in an off-shore company registered in Bermuda, which held an account with UBS in London. UBS is a multinational investment bank and financial services company with its headquarters in Basel and Zurich in Switzerland.

Disclosures released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in the Paradise Papers revealed that Emefiele owned 49% of Oviation Asset Management since 2009 and was a director in the company from January 2013.

According to The Guardian newspaper in London: “Oviation was part of a structure that imported two jets via the Isle of Man. The latest purchase, a $50 million Gulfstream G550, arrived in November 2015. It replaced a $33 million Gulfstream G450, imported in 2013”. 15 months before the import of the second Gulfstream, in June 2014, Mr. Emefiele became governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In this capacity, he also chaired the board of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC, which is responsible for printing Nigeria’s currency.

Section 9 of the CBN Act of 2007 requires both the governor of the central bank and his deputies that they “shall devote the whole of their time to the service of the bank and, while holding office, shall not engage in any full or part-time employment or vocation, whether remunerated or not, except such charitable causes as may be determined by the board and which do not conflict with or conflict with their full-time duties”.

 

This prohibition places three constraints on the CBN governor: one substantive, another procedural, and a third ethical. Substantively, it bars him from moonlighting in any other job or vocation, whether or not remunerated. Procedurally, he needs the approval of the board of the CBN before taking on any role outside the bank. Implied in this is an obligation of full and honest disclosure on the part of the CBN governor. As an (additional) ethical standard, the act precludes the CBN governor from putting himself in a position that conflicts with his full-time duties.

As the head of a public corporation (which the CBN is), Emefiele, as CBN governor, is also subject to the Code of Conduct for senior public officers contained in the 5th Schedule of the Nigerian constitution, which imposes on him standards of conduct with reference to asset disclosure, acceptance of gifts and donations, and holding of overseas interests.

For Emefiele, these standards were ornaments of convenience. Three years into his office as the CBN governor, his interests in Oviation were still intact. Contacted by The Guardian for an explanation in November 2017, Emefiele claimed that he “gave instructions for his shares to be handed back” to his former employer, a Nigerian bank, in 2014. For a central banker, this claim showed either a tendency for the cavalier or a habit of casuistry.

 

On or about May 4, 2022, Emefiele was a guest of President Muhammadu Buhari in the presidency. The following day, some characters claiming to be armed Niger Delta militants endorsed Emefiele for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) promising to lay down their arms if the party were to hand the ticket to him.

Two days later, on May 6, 2022, it emerged that one Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and two other shadowy organisations had purchased for Emefiele forms to run for the presidency on the ticket of the APC. On the same day, Reuters reported that “news of Emefiele’s presidential bid sent the Naira close to a record low”.

Reacting to these developments, Ondo state governor, himself a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Rotimi Akeredolu, put the issue pointedly: “It is difficult to imagine that a person who occupies the exalted and sensitive office of the governor of the CBN will be this brazen in actualising his ambition”.

The following day, May 7, Emefiele claimed that he was waiting for “God’s divine intervention” which he hoped to receive “in the next few days”. His political organisation, called #Meffy2023, was launched three months earlier in February 2022 by The True Green Alliance (TGA), an organisation that, bizarrely, “promotes caring for the earth and sustainable living practices throughout the societies and governments of southern Africa”. Nigeria is in West Africa.

 

Emefiele was nothing if not consistent in his convenient attitude to rules. As CBN governor, he maintained a ruinous regime of multiple exchange rates, sustaining a deliberate scheme of arbitrage that oiled both insider abuse and cronyism.

From taking over the management of the National Theatre (despite pending litigation) to making himself a willing instrument for the persecution of #EndSARS protesters, Emefiele got the CBN involved in schemes and scams that almost assuredly violate Section 34 of the CBN Act. Premium Times in a February 21, 2021, editorial feared that his tenure at the CBN will be remembered for having wilfully “shredded” the guardrails in the CBN Act.

In a country where consequences follow malfeasance, Emefiele should have been unemployed and in prison. In Nigeria, he longed for the presidency.

The question of Emefiele’s presidential project was, even more, of a legal issue. Two of his predecessors proceeded him into elective politics. Clement Isong, the second governor of the CBN from 1967 to 1975 became the first elected governor of old Cross River state in October 1979. Chukwuma Soludo, who was CBN governor from 2004 to 2009, is currently serving as the governor of Anambra state, having been elected on November 6, 2021. Both Dr. Isong and Professor Soludo, however, ran for office after the expiration of their terms.

 

But section 9 of the CBN Act makes it quite clear that the CBN governor just cannot choose to run for elective office while still holding on to office. He could, of course, have chosen to resign in order to pursue his ambition. For this, though, section 11(3) of the CBN Act required him to give “at least three months’ notice in writing to the president of his intention to do so”.

Emefiele did neither. Instead, he used the time and money of the central bank to set up a partisan bid for the presidency. As with his holding in an offshore company despite being prohibited from doing so, Emefiele wished this prohibition away as yet another inconsequential encounter with an inconvenient guardrail.

 

In pursuit of his presidential project, Emefiele did not encounter any guardrails that he was not willing to destroy. When citizens objected to his pursuing the presidency from the office of the CBN governor, Emefiele procured a fly-by-night order from the High Court of Delta State in Kwale to see them off. In December 2022, the Federal High Court in Abuja issued two orders, one declining the application of security agencies to question Emefiele; the other restraining anyone from touching him.

As with the launch of his presidential ambition in February 2022 and the purchase of his presidential forms in May, Emefiele managed to find another faceless NGO to be his Mother Theresa. The plaintiff in the latter case was “Incorporated Trustees of Forum for Accountability and Good Leadership”, registered in May 2018. The case took only five working days; they filed on Monday, December 19, 2022, and had a 22-page judgment on December 29! When the same courts encountered a suit seeking accountability by Emefiele, they ruled that citizens did not have standing to question him.

 

Emefiele has always been relaxed about having his fate decided by Nigerian judges, a tribe with whom he has had many favorable encounters. While he was the boss of The Mint, he could issue enough notes to buy any number of court orders he fancied. Now that he is no longer there, he can still afford the most expensive lawyers in the land and can get courts who will give him orders to send him on medical tourism whenever he wants. But if at any point he were to suffer a bloody nose, I’ll not cry for him because that will be just dessert for a man who clearly believes everything can be bought and sold.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. This article updates an earlier version which appeared in May 2022 under the title “#Meffy2023: A Joke Taken Too Far”

In the last couple of years, nothing has elicited as much consensus among Nigerians as to remove our famous fuel subsidy. It was officially scheduled to go by June 30, 2023, that is, exactly one month after the inauguration of a new administration.

 

A few people might have imagined that because of the huge implications of fuel subsidy removal, its implementation might stretch a little later than the end of June 2023. It was also obvious that except a well-thought-out modality for handling the subject was first put in place, the confusion that would follow a half-baked procedure would be too much to contain.

Consequently, no one expected that the removal could be fast-forwarded through the instrumentality of a short sentence until it was suddenly done some 30 days ahead of schedule. The simultaneous clumsy communication of ‘subsidy is gone’ and that it is not with immediate effect while a circular on increase in prices was already in the public domain disorganized all and sundry.

In Nigeria, fuel subsidy removal could rear many contentious issues. First, of the many subsidies in different sectors of the country; is it the one on fuel that is the most problematic? Second, Nigeria is a poor country, will fuel subsidy removal halt the nation’s poverty?

Third, will the removal of fuel subsidy bring to an end, oil theft which has remained a major challenge to Nigeria’s economic growth? If these questions are appropriately interrogated, our fixation on fuel subsidy removal may pro- duce a moderated perspective that would enable us to observe that as negative as fuel subsidy has become, many people especially the poor are convinced that it is not necessarily the first and the most urgent to go. One obvious reason why it has been difficult to convince such people about the desirability of fuel subsidy removal is that statements on the subject by successive governments had been largely sincere.

Indeed, messages on fuel subsidy removal had been allowed to create a stereo-type of new singers who are permanently singing an old chorus. It has always been a cat and rat game between government and the organized labour in which government was always reneging on virtually all its promises on palliatives and in- vestments on infrastructure. In 2004 for example, it was agreed that every state would receive a grant of N100million from the federal government, to which each state was to add N200 million to flood all our cities with buses. It didn’t happen despite the aggressiveness of the labour leaders of those days who usual- ly shunned court orders stopping them from strikes. As a result, government assurances were never believed. In view of this trust deficit, it was difficult to convince the average Nige- rian that the removal of subsidy was not ‘a 419’ arrangement. The situation of lack of faith in government has not changed notwithstanding that there is hardly any option now that there is no budget to fund subsidy.

In addition, Nigerians seem to believe that the much-talked-about fuel subsidy does not really exist more so as the supposed recipients have always remained anonymous thereby reverberating the public perception that the subsidy narrative was a scam. There is in fact the story that apart from the version of officials of the foreign oil companies, Nigerians do not really know how much oil is produced and how much is lifted daily in their country. It is generally believed that after several years of oil business, oil monitoring equipment and allied facilities in the country were not and are still not controlled by Nigerians. So, why should people trust government?

Another reason why many people particularly the masses will still be hard to persuade that fuel subsidy, perhaps the only privilege of the masses should go is the failure of the proponents of the diagnosis to lead by example. Nothing in Nige- ria’s reported economic challenges shows that our leaders are denying themselves any of their own humungous privileges. The big man still maintains at public expense, a visibly unrealistic retinue of vehicles in his convoy. How is his previous budget able to cover the new reality of huge cost of fuelling official cars? We are hearing nothing about a cut in office entertainment, and other flamboyant expenditures like foreign trips. The Mur- tala/Obasanjo military government acted differently in the 70s by limiting their own official cars to Peugeot 504 to prepare everyone for pruning down official expenditures dictated by the challenges of their time.

Today’s top office holders in Nigeria especially federal legislators still earn millions of naira (they always deny) along with allowances attached to every item such as newspaper allowance that is higher than the salary of a Director in the public service. A typical former state governor earns at retirement, remuneration higher than he got while in office. Yet, many states al- ways claimed they didn’t have enough resources to pay the scanty minimum wage of the poor.

 

Of course, the narrative is not only irrational, it is wicked to argue that a rise in the prices of petroleum products which would necessarily raise the cost of transportation should be tolerated in the interest of the nation. Certainly, for charity to begin at home, it makes more sense to first remove the numerous privileges of our leaders. If government is pretending to be unaware of such subsidies of the rich that should be removed without hesitation, they should listen to the irrepressible Femi Falana who the other day listed 21 of such elite subsidies.

The point being made is that at this juncture of Nigeria’s development, the mismanagement of our re- sources has brought us to a level where subsidies that can crumble the nation must go. One of such subsidies is the one on fuel; so, it is time for it to go. But the subsidies of the rich must not be retained because it is only that group that benefits from them unlike the one on fuel which benefits all.

Bearing in mind that many poor citizens may not survive an end to subsidy, visible and tangible efforts ought to be made to assist the poor to withstand the resultant harsh realities. The old narrative of merely politicizing the subject must end. In this regard, different segments in society have roles to play which some are already commendably performing.

A few examples would suffice here. First, in the face of the uproar over the removal of fuel subsidy, a group of bus drivers at a meeting in Lagos quickly resolved to ensure that passengers would not witness astronomical increases in bus fares in their areas of operations. Second, the University of Jos, immediately approved the deployment of shuttle buses to transport staff and students to and from the University campuses. Third, two state governments, Kwara and Edo decided to reduce workdays for the workforce in their states to lessen the impact of the subsidy re- moval on their earnings. While ensuring that reduced hours of work do not adversely affect productivity, the federal government should emulate these gestures and improve the welfare of workers by deploying the gains of the fuel subsidy removal policy to investment in infrastructure and mass transportation to show that the aim of removing the subsidy was not to hurt workers and citizens. Government must bend backward to convince the people that the policy would better position her to ensure greater development of society.

To this end, public communication organs such as the National Orientation Agency should be equipped to sensitize the public on the gains of fuel subsidy removal. For instance, one of the hidden truths of the removal is that it is the best way of cutting off the invisible cartels that corrupt the system to siphon public funds into private pockets.

 

History has shown that it is such massive public enlightenment programmes that persuasively convert citizens into advocates of zero fuel subsidy for huge development of society. The only monster that remains to be tackled headlong is oil theft. The reality is that the mere fact that our oil would no long- er be cheap as before would not on its own stop oil theft. If that issue is not ad- dressed, greedy citizens with the collusion of law enforcement agencies could still quite often have a free day.

On several occasions, I had cautioned then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria GODWIN EMEFIELE at the peak of his glory when he started seeing himself as a politician and even attempted a misadventure by clandestinely making a Presidential bid. I knew he was heading to Golgotha. Now, as I envisaged, the cookies have crumbled.

Unlike those gloating over his tragic fall from grace, I will urge that he must not be treated like a victim of political vendetta. His rights must be fully respected and guaranteed under the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On this special day of the 30th anniversary of June 12, no attempt should be made to install a civilian dictatorship in our beloved country. EMEFIELE has served his country in good and bad times. Like all mortals, he must have displayed his foibles and egocentricities at some point but that cannot be enough reason to treat him summarily like a certified criminal when he's not been tried...

He should not be humiliated ahead of any intended probe or trial...

 

Media

Last modified on Sunday, 11 June 2023 20:50

With just three days to the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, Vice President Kashim Shettima has stated that President Bola Tinubu and the NWC of APC are in support of the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the next Senate President in order to engender diversity, unity and stability of the polity. Speaking at a dinner organized by the Stability Group, the campaign platform of Senator Akpabio, Saturday evening at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, the VP stated that by zoning the Senate Presidency to the South-South zone, the party wanted to ensure that the top echelon of the government of the federation was diverse and inclusive, without compromising competence and capacity. ‘’Senator Akpabio is very competent and he has the capacity to lead the 10th National Assembly. At the same time, he is from a very important zone and he is also a man of Christian faith. So, in line with the Constitution of our country, and in conformity with the plurality of our union, the party and in deed, the President, thought it fit to support him’’, the VP said, emphasizing that these were the same sentiments he expressed earlier in the day at the valedictory session of the 9th Senate.

The dinner was organized in appreciation of all the senators who have shown support for Senator Akpabio and Senator Jibrin Barau. The two have been endorsed by President Tinubu as the next Senate President and Deputy Senate President. The Vice President, who was the special guest of honour at the dinner, said that since the President and the Vice President are Muslims, APC is careful not to present itself as a one-religion party, and that is why the party is supporting Akpabio. At a personal level, Senator Shettima noted that he had taken steps to promote diversity. ‘’My CSO is an Igbo man who had worked with me when I was governor. He has been a dedicated and loyal officer, even in the heat of the Boko Haram attacks in Borno’’, the VP said, adding that his ADC is a Northern Christian. Senator Shettima also announced, to the pleasant surprise of the guests at the dinner, that he had been campaigning privately for Akpabio and Barau and that he was leaving the dinner early to visit with some senators who are yet to register their support.  

Other dignitaries at the dinner were Senator-elect Adams Oshiomhole; Senator-elect Dave Umahi; Senator Jibrin Barau and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume. In his brief remarks, Oshiomhole, who is the Vice Chairman of the Stability Group, said the essence of politics is to promote collective interest, and that the Akpabio-Barau candidacy signifies the need for diversity of the government and stability of the federation. Engr Dave Umahi, the Chairman of the Group, said the three Senators from Ebonyi and most of the senators from the South East are in support of Akpabio and Barau. He reiterated the point that Akpabio has the capacity, competence and energy to lead the National Assembly. He noted that the dinner was organized to appreciate the over 67 senators who have written down and signed their names as supporters of Akpabio and Barau. Umahi thanked the party and the government for supporting the Akpabio-Barau ticket and promised that the duo will work to stabilize the country. ‘’Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, and so the character of our government must reflect this diversity’’, said Umahi.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, in his own remarks said that even before he was appointed SGF, he had already identified with the ambition of Akpabio to be Senate President. He noted that his experience in the executive and legislative branches of government (he was governor for 8 years and senator for 12 years) has made him to appreciate the need to build a virile country where every part belongs.

Senator Akpabio himself was full of thanks to the party, the President, Vice President and all his colleagues for their support. He said that he is sure of the support of 80 senators when the vote is taken on Tuesday.

Human life is sacred. That is why society sets boundaries. That’s also why, no matter how great a hunter is, he cannot compare himself to the government, the ultimate hunter, which exercises the power of life and death on behalf of the people.

For centuries, humanity has wrestled with the question: at what stage can the life of a fellow human being be terminated? The question has always been resolved in favour of a system of checks and balances where every angle of the matter in question is rigorously considered. That was the understanding of earthlings like us until ‘outer space’ societies like the USA invented the right to execute a fellow citizen privately under the guise of self-defence.

 

In Florida, it is called the Stand Your Ground law.

How many dirges shall we chant for our 35-year-old daughter, Ajike AJ Shantrell Owens, the African American mother of four shot through a closed front door by her white neighbour while she was trying to recover an iPad taken from her child in front of their home in a housing complex, in Ocala, Florida, USA? AJ was killed in the presence of her 9-year-old son by her 58-year-old female neighbour who had complained several times about Owens’ children playing outdoors and had allegedly been hurling racial abuses at them. Neighbours say that the white woman had a history of harassing children.

Will this end up as just another statistic?

One distraught commentator says Christians of the evangelical hue are now being called upon to speak up whether the God they serve excludes black people from his reassurance in the Psalms which they quote with relish:

 

“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. “(Ps. 39:13-16)

It took the whole of four days and massive outcry from the public for the authorities to arrest the killer, 58-year-old Susan Louise Lorincz.  Protesters chanted, “No justice, no peace”. They carried signs saying: “Say her name Ajike Owens” and “It’s about us.”

 

As usual in America, the NRA gun lobby see nothing wrong in what Susan Lorincz has done. Although many of them describe themselves as Christians, they serve a white god who discriminates among his creatures. Their racist attitude is a carryover from the slavery days. Conservative whites felt they needed to be protected against their former slaves and therefore campaigned for the enactment of laws that permitted shooting under the guise of self defence. They owned the gun industry anyway; the more guns sold the better the business.

The Stand Your Ground Law has no greater defender than the NRA and conservative politicians.

The Florida Stand Your Ground Law is based on the “castle doctrine.” The idea is that an individual who is legally occupying a place—their home or car, for instance—has the right to use force if faced by an intruder or a threat in order to protect themselves. It’s an old idea that has been around for over 2000 years. When the early settlers crossed the Atlantic, they brought the idea with them.

In Florida, the Stand Your Ground law was enacted in 2005. State legislators felt that Florida’s self-defense laws weren’t doing enough to shield citizens who shoot others in self defence from prosecution. The law aims to protect individuals who discharge a firearm or otherwise harm another individual in their attempt to protect themselves when they believe they are under threat. Under the law, there is no duty to retreat.

 

Before the law was enacted, when a person was under threat and even afraid for their life, they had to take reasonable measures to remove themselves from the situation. This is called a “duty to retreat.” If the threat didn’t abate after that, then they could use force if necessary to protect themselves. It is claimed by protagonists that, by removing the duty to retreat, the Florida Stand Your Ground law would make it easier for Florida residents to protect themselves and their families. More than 30 states have now joined Florida in enacting their own version of Stand Your Ground law.

Some knowledgeable people had spoken out against the law even when it was in its formative stage. “It turns 250 years of jurisprudence on its head,” said Andrew Warren, a Florida State attorney. “The preliminary hearing already gave this additional protection to defendants claiming ‘stand your ground.’ Now we’re going several steps past that. It’s going to be much harder. There will be cases where the state cannot make the initial burden.”

The law has been linked to increases in homicide and violent behaviour. Notably, it has negatively impacted the ability to successfully prosecute cases in Florida. In 2012, a Tampa Bay Times investigation revealed that almost 70 percent of defendants who invoked the statute went free. A law professor at the University of Miami, Mary Anne Franks, described the law as “essentially stacking the deck repeatedly in favour of people shooting other people”.

 

The cold blooded murder of AJ brought to national recollection the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin  in Miami at the hands of a zealous neighbourhood watchman. The killing ignited a national outcry on issues of race and justice, inspiring social activism that paved the way for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida. He was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic American. Martin had accompanied his father to visit his father’s fiancée at her townhouse in Sanford. On the evening of February 26, Martin was walking back to the fiancée’s house from a nearby convenience store when Zimmerman, a member of the community watch, reported him to the Sanford Police as suspicious. An altercation ensued and Zimmerman fatally shot Martin in the chest.

Zimmerman was injured during the altercation. He said he shot Martin in self-defense. The police said there was no evidence to refute his claim of self-defense, and Florida’s stand-your-ground law prohibited them from arresting or charging him. After national media focused on the incident, Zimmerman was eventually charged and tried, but a jury acquitted him of second-degree murder and manslaughter in July 2013.

Rallies, marches, and protests were held across the United States to protest Martin’s murder. An online petition calling for a full investigation and prosecution of Zimmerman garnered 2.2 million signatures. The media coverage surrounding Martin’s death became the first story of 2012 to be featured more than the presidential race, which was underway at the time. A national debate about racial profiling and stand-your-ground laws ensued. The governor of Florida appointed a task force to examine the state’s self-defense laws. The name Trayvon was tweeted more than two million times in the 30 days following the shooting. He was buried in Dade-Memorial Park (North), in Miami. A memorial was dedicated to him at the Goldsboro Westside Historical Museum, a Black history museum in Sanford, in July 2013.

Trayvon’s death cast national scrutiny on Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” self-defense law which has since become more robust and expanded by Republican lawmakers with support from gun rights advocates who argue that it makes the streets safer and over the objections of critics who say it only encourages “shoot first” vigilantism.

Many of us Africans viewing the American tragedy from thousands of miles away tend to agree with Democratic lawmakers  and gun control activists who have spoken out against the Stand Your Ground Law (understandably because our children are the usual victims). The lives of African Americans shouldn’t be reduced to two-a-cent.

“Shoot-first laws”, argues Shannon Watts, the founder of a gun-control advocacy group, “aren’t about standing your ground when threatened.” In her view, “They are about making murder legal, empowering people with racist or vigilante views to shoot first and ask questions later.” In terms of homicide rate per state, Florida with 2,087 deaths (9.7, per 100k) ranks number 19 in the US.

 

I pray for you, America. May the Nigerian-American, Ajike AJ Shantrell Owens, find peace in paradise where the colour of her skin will not make her legit game in the cross hairs of a racist’s target shooting.

There will be an election for our bi-cameral National Assembly leadership on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. The two critical positions that seek to alter the balance of power in Nigeria are number three and four positions according to the National Order of Precedence – the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The President of the Senate is number three citizen because he will lawfully be the Chairman of the Joint Session of the National Assembly while the Speaker, number four citizen, will be the Deputy Chairman of the Joint Session of the National Assembly. So, who ever heads the Senate as its president is the presiding officer of the Legislature in Nigeria. And instead of building inter-party consensus on how to get the best chairman and deputy chairman of the joint session of the 10th Assembly, at the moment, Nigerian political leaders and the members-elect have to deal with an ancient grudge inherent in our ticklish national question. Where the president of the Senate and Speaker of the house come from have become the issue.

 

As I was saying here the other day, the president’s controversial Muslim-Muslim Ticket has hauled into the fray the same national question the federal character provision in the 1999 constitution is supposed to deal with. In other words, if the core North’s (north-west) candidate sails through for the senate president and speakership, the first five citizens of Nigeria would be Muslims since the first two (president and VP) and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) are Muslims, in this regard. And that will be deplored by a section of the faithful in the country just as it will be celebrated by another section that will regard the development as a conquest as a former governor from the same North West has been heard to have noted in a trending video evidence.

Ordinarily, that shouldn’t have been a subject of commentary for this kind of column in a significant country. We should be celebrating the dividends of an unbroken 24 years of democracy and democratisation and the change it has brought to Africa’s most populous nation and hope of the black race. Here we are, debating why particular sections of the country should produce even nincompoops as presiding officers of the National Assembly that will shape the destiny of Africa’s most significant country.

Anyway, today is another opportunity to join the groundswell of opinions to remind all members-elect and all the stakeholders who are involved in politicking and jostling for the National Assembly positions that federal characterisation of positions isn’t an excuse for recourse to election and selection of mediocrities and scoundrels for our National Assembly. Yes, it is our, not their National Assembly. Enough is enough, the world has been waiting for Nigeria to make democracy deliver development for its people. Indeed, the black people of the world have been waiting for Nigeria to allow democracy to blossom for the country to be a source of pride and confidence. The people of Nigeria have been waiting for Nigerian politicians and political leaders to nurture democracy and its processes to deliver some common good. And so because the Legislature is doubtless, the most important institution that can set the tone for processes that will trigger development through reform agenda to fight corruption, check executive and even judicial excesses and rascality, manage waste in the economy, according to our constitution, that body should not be led by mere men, who are just prominent but not significant in the country. Yes, Rick Warren, an iconic author and cleric, I have often quoted here says some people can be prominent but not significant just as some people can be significant without being prominent in the polity.

On October 17, 2021, I wrote here in an article titled, ‘2023: Let Good Aspirants Prepare For National Assembly.’ I had then noted the expediency of getting most of the presidential aspirants to leave the presidential race for National Assembly where they could also serve the country significantly. Here is an excerpt from the article:

 

‘…This power-to-the-people law (electoral law) has enabled me to call on all the good people who would like to contest presidential election to look before they leap this time. This is the executive summary of my submission here: let most of the presidential aspirants including governors, ministers, professionals and technocrats who think they are capable of serving Nigeria consider their strategy and platforms for the service of their country that is at the moment in a state of anomie. I would like all the powerful faces being listed by even the media not to be carried away by the prominence they freely get or procure from the media. They should consider first the feasibility and risks of their campaigns. Can those who have the resources or war chest to campaign mobilise enough votes to be president? They should note that oratory nurtured by intellectual power alone cannot give you presidential tickets on the platforms that can win presidential elections here. Let’s not speak in tongues to good people here:

Why can’t Professors Pat Utomi, Kingsley Moghalu, HRH Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, Mr. Peter Obi, Mr. Femi Falana, Fela Durotoye, Babagana Kingibe, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Professor Attahiru Jega, Abdullahi Ganduje, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Dr. Doyin Okupe, Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd); Ibrahim Dankwabo, Chief Nyesom Wike, Abubakar Malami, Babatunde Fashola, and a host of other aspirants get set to be in National Assembly?

I think we should not lose these prominent people to the vagaries of presidential election aspiration alone. After all, only one of them will be elected president. Why can’t we take advantage of the new electoral law to serve Nigeria at the powerhouse of democracy? I mean here that the National Assembly is the most critical arm of government. It is the most significant training ground for leadership – just like president Joe Biden. Look at the significant impact of just one Senator from Abia State, Enyinnaya Abaribe whose legislative artistry exposed the shenanigan and peccadillo of the Senators who either voted against electronic transmission of results provisions or were deliberately absent when the vote was taken. The former deputy governor of Abia State has been one-man squad from the time he was elected to the Senate. If we have at least 40 strong voices such as Abaribe’s at the 109-member Senate, there would have been more robust legislative service and representation at the Senate. In the same vein, if we have even 50 hardworking, resourceful and research-oriented members of the 360-member House of Representatives, there would have been better service delivery even at the executive arm. The National Assembly has enormous powers to check executive excesses, fight corruption, curtail senseless borrowing for consumption if their membership foundation is strong and if they can elect their leaders freely at the inauguration of their session. Look at what the leadership of the current session of our bicameral legislature is delivering. Where in the world would presiding officers of the National Assembly proclaim to the people who elected them that they would accept without question whatever the president brings to them because they would be good for the nation?

My suggestion that most of our significant politicians and leaders who would like to serve the nation should begin from the National Assembly should not be seen an attempt to cast aspersion on their stature and knowledge power. The parliament is a citadel of representative democracy where policies through laws are made to serve common good. It is a place where appropriations or budgetary details are constructed in the language and data of development plans. If any democracy is on the brink as a result of executive excesses or mediocrity, the representatives of the people can rise up to the occasion to call the tyrannical executives to order. The U.S Congress saved their country from threat of tyranny in a bi-partisan mode early this year.

That is why most learned constitutional scholars agree that legislative power is, “the distinctive mark of a country’s sovereignty and the index of its status as an independent state…” And so if significant citizens begin to announce their readiness to get elected to the National Assembly, that will have a positive bandwagon effect as even skilled younger people with some political skills and ambition will begin to follow such footsteps and aspire to serve at State Assemblies and even Local Governments. Why should we continue to allow charlatans and never-do-wells to be in the National and State Assemblies where the majesty of democracy is supposed to be celebrated? Let’s, therefore, call on all who would like to serve the country in any capacity to begin to renew their minds: that you don’t have to be president or governor to serve your country. You can also serve significantly from your State or National Assembly…’ As I have also noted here before in another treatise on ‘Deconstructing our chaotic National Assembly,’ our 469 National Assembly members hardly care a hoot about their image before the people.

 

They would like to be addressed as Honourable Members and Distinguished Senators. They hardly reflect on the weight of their responsibility to the more than 200 million people they represent. From the way they carry on and speak, they don’t research on the needs of their constituents who perceive and call them ‘legislooters’ and lap dogs to the executive arm of government. They don’t know the implications of their tag as the First Estate of the Realm. They don’t believe that members of the public they serve have the right to know how much they earn. They have worked out a strange remuneration package that the economy of the country can’t cope with.  They are the most comfortable yet they receive ‘hardship allowances.’ What is worse, in their cocoon, the representatives of the people in Abuja hardly know that the people they represent know that they are not serious about the state of the nation at any time.

This is a reflection of poor leadership recruitment processes at the National Assembly at all times. This is a time to tell our representatives and leaders in Abuja and 36 state capitals that we the people are quite desperate to see development in our country. In our country, where we still grapple with basic needs, we continue to celebrate mediocrity and frivolities of our leaders.
Sixty-two years after independence, our elected leaders are still building classrooms, providing school chairs, boreholes, school uniforms and commission them with fanfare.

History shows us that tumultuous times bring change, but we have heard for too long that our change variant is a gradual process. Even as we wait for the dividends, we can interrogate some of the institutions that are designed by law to help the change process. Certainly, one institution that actually symbolises functional democracy is the legislature. That is why the election of National Assembly leaders in Abuja on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 should not be sold to bigots and sycophants who will condone executive inertia, laziness, and recklessness again. Doubtless, the leadership of the National and State Assemblies should be strong enough to protect the power, independence and relevance of that remarkable institution of democracy.

O Godwin, with your cheap green tie, fading suit and wry smile you poked your greedy, grubby little fingers into Nigeria’s eye

O Godwin, where are your backers, protectors and soldiers today? You enjoyed the ride and thought it would last forever. Yet now its all over.

The hunter has become the hunted and the tormentor has become the tormented.

The troubler of Nigeria is now the troubled and the source of our collective pain and tears will himself feel pain and shed tears.

How great and mighty is our God and how faithful He is to His promise and to His word.

O Godwin, with your cheap green tie, fading suit and wry smile you poked your greedy, grubby little fingers into Nigeria’s eye.

Like a drunken sailor and feckless dullard you boasted of your strength and wielded power with impunity as if there were no tomorrow.

Now reality has hit you in the face and you stand shamed, bowed, bloodied and naked before the world. You caused the death of many. You made men and women take their own lives.

You caused mothers and fathers to regret having their children. You caused Nigerians to strip themselves naked in public places and rant, rave and lament about their suffering and hardship.

You caused women to weep for their men and men to weep for their women. You caused millions to lose their self-esteem, self-respect and dignity and to sell their souls to Satan to make ends meet.

You brought a great and mighty nation to its knees and turned 220 million proud, hardworking and noble people into powerless, pitiful and grovelling paupers and beggars.

You caused law-abiding, loving and dutiful youths to turn into violent arsonists, terrorists and subversives out of despair, anger and frustration.

You caused men and women to burn down banks and public buildings and you caused Nigerians to lose their life’s savings, beg for bread and walk the streets penniless with no more than 200 naira in their pockets and to their names.

O Godwin, son of Emefiele, like Lucifer Son of the Dawn, you have finally fallen.

 

Like your father Beelzebub, you have been thrown out of heaven and now comes your judgement.

Misery, suffering, torment, tragedy, prison, the sulphur pits of Gehena and the raging fires of hell await you for the great evil that you wrought against our nation and our people.

You turned a resilient, hardworking and enterprising people into one of hopelessness, despair and desperation.

You turned a nation of achievers and giants into a country of fickle, feckless and hungry dwarfs.

You turned a courageous, resilient and loving people who have excelled in every field of human endeavour and in every part of the civilised world to a nation of never do wells and failures with no self-respect and no dignity.

You caused men and women to curse God and pray for their own death out of disgrace and despair. You caused millions to question their faith and the very existence of God as a consequence of their misery and suffering.

You made us the laughing stock of the world. You castrated Nigeria, wounded our souls, maimed and subverted our democracy, undermined our security, humiliated and disgraced our leaders, taunted and mocked our incoming President and sent many innocent souls to an early grave.

You shattered many dreams, broke many hearts and caused many to perish and die before their time. Protected by corrupt and evil men and goaded on by a power-obsessed cabal of sick, sadistic and evil monsters and tyrants, you thought you owned Nigeria and even had the nerve to attempt to run for the Presidency.

You thought our nation was for sale and you believed that satan ruled in the affairs of men.

Yet millions prayed for your downfall and removal. Millions more are praying for your detention, investigation, incarceration and bitter end.

Never has a man been more hated in our entire history as the hateful, merciless, callous, wicked, treasonous and treacherous tyrant and traitor that goes by your name.

You believed that money was greater than God and you thought that your repugnant and villanous reign would never end.

O Godwin, I have never wished a man ill in my entire life but in your case I make an exception.

May your pathway be filled with sharp thorns, the horrors of the night and pain and may the Angel of the Lord pursue you along a dark and slippery path.

 

May your story and end be a graphic example and instructive reminder to the evil and wicked that man is nothing before God, that earthly power is ephemeral and transient, that all power belongs to the Living God and that the Lord alone rules in the affairs of men and forges the destiny of nations.

* Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation and public affairs analyst.

On Tuesday, June 6, 2023, the Senate concurred with the House of Reps in taking the extremely backsliding step of passing the Bill for the Establishment of Police Pension Board. Senate President Ahmad Lawan would later boast that President Muhammadu Buhari signed more than 100 bills in four years. He waved that in our face as if it was a contender for Guinness World Record. That usually happens when you take quantity for quality and do not understand the harmful impact of some of your actions on national economic health. By exempting the police from the contributory pension scheme (CPS), the lawmakers have continued in the path of taking us to the next level of fiscal crisis.

It did not start with the Police Pension Board. A few hours to Buhari’s departure from the Presidential Villa, he had signed one of Lawan’s “100 bills” — the National Assembly Service Pensions Board (Establishment) Bill — into law. The law also exempts the employees of the National Assembly from the contributory pension scheme. Essentially, the National Assembly has kick-started the death of the revolutionary pension reform launched by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004. If we stand by and fold our arms, the outcome will be more devastating than the pension crisis that Nigerian retirees lived with for decades before the reform by Obasanjo. We are heading for the abyss.

That Nigeria has a serious leadership problem is known all over the world, but it seems we are moving from one low to another in many aspects. At least, if you cannot improve upon an idea, don’t destroy it. If you cannot make pension reform better, don’t make it worse. When Nigeria ran the defined benefit scheme (DBS) — which placed the entire pension responsibility on the government — it worked until we ran into a prolonged revenue crisis that meant budgets could no longer be funded. Retirees saw hell before their death. The introduction of the contributory system spread the burden of pension across board and ended the era of waiting for insufficient budgetary releases.

The amazing thing about Nigeria, for me, is how we try to fix what is not broken. When public pensions were the sole responsibility of the government, we were left in arrears of about N2.5 trillion as at 2004, by some estimates. Retired public servants were frustrated. Some regretted ever serving their country. You would not blame them. The truth, however, was that Nigeria had a revenue problem and it always so happened that pension payment was never a main concern. With a revenue crisis, some items would always fall off the priority list. Unfortunately, pension was often one of such items for us. The liabilities predictably accumulated and the retirees were dehumanised.

 

With the 2004 pension reform, however, the story has changed. Both the employee and the employer are required, under the CPS, to save towards pension. The savings are invested and they yield decent returns. In essence, pension is now reliant on actual savings and payment of retirement benefits is no longer at the mercy of budgets. Only the retirees coming from under the old defined benefit system are still tied to budgetary provisions, but there is a sunset clause which will kick in with the payment of the last employee on that scheme. A transition phase, managed by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), was put in place to cater for this category of retirees.

What has happened over the last two decades, therefore, is that the pension industry has moved from negative to positive. Pension assets are now well over N15 trillion. The industry has become a major subsector of the economy, funding public infrastructural projects via government securities, and this is to say nothing about the number of fund administrators, custodians and employees that now operate there, or the impact of the regular payments of different benefits to millions of contributors. We are enjoying stability and predictability under the contributory scheme, although retirees under the old defined scheme cannot say the same thing because of the revenue crisis.

It is fair to say that the harm to the pension reform did not start under Buhari. The first major misstep was excluding the armed forces and the intelligence agencies when the Pension Reform Act, 2004, was re-enacted in 2014. The excuse for the exclusion was that because of the nature of their job, their identities needed to be protected. This makes perfect sense. You cannot have the sensitive information of the operatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS) stored with a private Pension Fund Administrator (PFA). The best way out was to allow them to have their own PFAs and remain under CPC but they were returned to the defined scheme.

 

This suggested that the issue was not just about protecting the identities of the operatives but principally to revive the troubled but “juicier” old scheme. The CPS is seen as yielding low returns (which could be true but I will come to this shortly). The defined scheme does not require contributions from the employees, most of whom will retire with full benefits. That, in my opinion, has led to the frenzied campaign to exit the contributory scheme. With the exclusion of the military and intelligence agencies granted in principle by Jonathan even before the PRA 2004 was re-enacted in 2014, the police force too began to agitate for exit, claiming to also have “special circumstances”.

As a form of compromise, Jonathan approved that the police should have their own PFA but still operating the contributory scheme — which was what he should have done for the military and intelligence agencies in the first place. The police agitation did not stop. The next move was that they came out clearly saying they must exit the contributory scheme and return to the defined system. All kinds of bills were sponsored thereafter, but they all failed because the case was weak. In July 2012, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who was then the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), had to write to Mr MD Abubakar, then inspector general of police (IGP), to perish the thought.

Mr Boss Mustapha, who has just left as the SGF, also wrote to the current IGP, Mr Usman Baba, in July 2022 when the latest round of lobbying started, maintaining that police would continue under the CPS. He reminded Adamu that the White Paper on the report of the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies (the Oronsaye Committee) had barred Federal Government retirees from opting out of the CPS. Nonetheless, the lobbying intensified at the National Assembly, culminating in the passage of the Police Pension Board Bill on June 6. The House of Reps had quietly passed it before the Senate.

Under Buhari, the retired heads of the service and permanent secretaries had also, through presidential fiat, opted out of the CPS. Mr Abubakar Malami, as attorney-general, countered a previous legal advice from his office which had said an exemption was illegal. Anybody familiar with government workings knows how easy it is to get the legal advice that would favour you. It is one of the several malaises injuring Nigeria and pushing us into endless judicial liabilities all over the world. But I digress. Common sense dictates that we should not disrupt a system that is yielding so many positive results, but if we really had common sense, Nigeria would not be like this in the first place.

 

The argument of the police, and other agencies who are trying to exit or have exited the contributory scheme, is that pension accumulation is low under the CPS. They say what they get as lump sum payment when they retire is not juicy enough and the subsequent annuity or programmed withdrawals are pittance. Also, they would rather not contribute one kobo towards their own pension. Rather, the employer should take full responsibility. Ironically, I have no argument against this. I myself would like to get a good pension when I retire. That is rational choice. Why should any normal human being prefer N100,000 to N150,000 except “village people” are on her case?

However, the law already takes care of all these concerns and complaints. Employers are allowed to contribute 100 percent on behalf of their employees. Also, employers are not restricted on how much they can pay as “lump sum” for gratuity when their employees retire. It is an open cheque. The National Pension Commission (PenCom), which regulates the pension industry, has said this a million times. Retirees can get lump sums and active workers can get some benefits too. So, what problem is the National Assembly trying to solve? Approving all these exits and piling up more liabilities on a government with already strained finances and a fiscal blackhole is not smart, anyway we look at it.

If we were a country where common sense had any impact on policy making, someone in the National Assembly would have asked: how much will this new bill add to public expenditure? Where will the money come from? Nigeria currently has a debt of N77 trillion. We are using almost all our revenue to service debts and this is likely to get worse down the line. The last thing is to add to the debts without thinking of the revenue. Yet, we are creating new agencies every day and making new laws that will worsen things. Where the money will come from is nobody’s business. We are never tired of creating problems for the present and future generations. That is how we are wired.

My conclusion is that if the police and National Assembly staff, or other public servants, want improved pensions, there is no need to pull out of the CPS. The law allows their employers to scale up their own contributions and to also provide sizeable gratuity as lump sum payments. This will still be cheaper on the public treasury. But when public agencies know that exiting the CPS is easy if they can play the right game with the lawmakers, it is just a matter of time for them to sponsor bills to be exempted too. I, therefore, appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to work out a compromise in the interest of all stakeholders. This is one of the biggest and most consequential reforms in the last 24 years. We must protect it. Undermining pension reform will hurt everyone: if not now, then later.

 

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

JUNE 12 MEMORIES

Where were you on June 12, 1993? I was in Ogbomoso for my NYSC. Actually, I was spending the weekend with my cousins in nearby Ilorin. I could not vote in the presidential poll, which 30th anniversary is tomorrow, since I was registered in Lagos. I initially supported Alhaji Bashir Tofa, candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), because the Social Democratic Party (SDP) fielded a Muslim-Muslim ticket. After watching his TV debate with Bashorun MKO Abiola, the SDP candidate, I felt like an idiot. The gap was clear, sentiments apart. I switched my support to Abiola instantly. My friend, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, made fun of me. Abiola won. Election was annulled. And Nigeria went into a crippling six-year crisis full of sorrow, tears and blood. Reminiscences.

 

REMOVAL PALAVER

The removal of petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu appears to be fait accompli, at least judging by the way the unions have reacted so far. They have shelved proposed strikes and seem to be in a mood for jaw jaw. I’m aware there are those opposing the policy purely for political reasons, but it seems the arguments for and against the removal of the subsidy have become so familiar that they have become jaded. We’ve been saying the same things for 40 years, so there is hardly anything new to say. The major difference today is that we just cannot afford the bill. We have a debt of N77 trillion. If we were awash with money, we could debate whether or not to subsidise petrol. Simple.

 

NORTHERN SWEEPSTAKES

Left to some northern politicians, the next senate president and speaker will be Muslims and northerners. That means the top five in the nation’s hierarchy will be an all-Muslim affair. I do not know how some politicians think, but the last thing on their minds appears to be national cohesion and promotion of diversity in our multi-cultural society. They care about personal or group benefits above the overall peace and unity that we badly need in Nigeria. As far as they are concerned, Nigeria can go to blazes — as long they can achieve their personal goals and ambitions. Sadly, if trouble starts, we will all suffer the consequences as we have seen in the last eight years. Selfish.

 

EMEFIELE’S EXIT

I had just finished writing my article for the week when news broke that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had suspended Mr Godwin Emefiele as the CBN governor. Let’s be honest: it was always going to happen. It was just a matter of when. Minus the political differences between Tinubu and Emefiele, every new president would always want a new CBN governor because of the need to align ideas. There is still a debate on if a president should be able to suspend a CBN governor since the bank is supposed to be politically insulated. I won’t be surprised if there are fresh legal challenges after Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi abandoned the case over his suspension in 2014. Watching.