May void plan to remove fuel subsidyReps move to stop fresh N30b ID card projectDemand four-year job plan, to buy carsFOR local councils and states in the country suffering from dearth of funds for their operations, relief appears in sight as the Senate panel on states and local councils has vowed to review the constitution in favour of the two tiers of government.The Senate may also stiffly oppose the plan by the Federal Government to remove petroleum subsidy as some members of the upper chamber have expressed reservations on the proposed policy.Besides, the House of Representatives yesterday asked the Federal Government to stop the N30 billion Unified Identity Management System (UIMS) as it warned that implementing the scheme would involve extra-budgetary expenditure.It equally directed its Committees on Interior, National Planning and Economic Development to immediately begin a comprehensive investigation into the entire National Identity Card Scheme with a view to establishing the total amount of money the project had taken since inception.The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had last week approved a total of N30.066 billion for the execution of a new National Identity Card project in the country.Yesterday too, the House of Representatives asked President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently make available his government's four-year definite programmes and projects aimed at employment generation for the country's teeming unemployed youths.The House has also resolved to buy vehicles for official use by its members.At a closed-door session that lasted over three hours, the lawmakers insisted that they needed to buy the cars to facilitate their work.Briefing journalists at the end of the closed-door session, the spokesman of the House, Zakari Mohammed, said the N7 million given to every member for cars at the inauguration of the Seventh National Assembly was later discovered to be a loan, which the lawmakers had already started paying.The House in adopting a motion sponsored by Andrew Uchendu (Rivers) yesterday specifically demanded the comprehensive programme beginning from next year as the 2012 Appropriation Bill is being expected by the parliament.Leading the debate on the motion, entitled 'Youth Unemployment and Restiveness in Nigeria,' Uchendu pointed out that unemployment posed a great threat to peace and security in the country, especially if a recent report issued by the British Council was anything to go by.According to him, while the oil industry in Nigeria contributes about 40 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it employs only about 0.15 per cent of the country's population, adding that 'if Nigeria fails to plan for its next generation, it could face worsening social unrest.'Speaking in support of the motion, Minority Whip of the House, Samson Osagie (Edo), described unemployment as one of the greatest challenges confronting the nation, noting that drastic measures should be taken to prevent it from degenerating further.Others who also spoke in support, and called for urgent action, included Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, Chinenye Ike, Ayo Omidiran and Emmanuel Ekpeyong.Available statistics put the country's unemployment rate at 20 per cent.Adopting a motion sponsored by Bimbo Daramola (ACN, Ekiti State) yesterday, the House of Representatives directed that the real challenges that had faced the completion of the project be identified.Accordingly, the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, has been invited to appear before the House to brief it on the ID card project. Moro was invited along with the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission.The motion entitled 'Urgent need to investigate the Federal Government's N30 billion national identity card scheme' attracted support from most members of the House despite the fact that it emanated officially from an opposition party member.At a point, during the debate on the motion, even the Speaker had to intervene in support of the motion when he declared that members speaking against the motion should take note of the allegation that the new identity card project was not appropriated for.Tambuwal's intervention became imperative when those opposing the motion were at the verge of successfully convincing the House that stopping the project would frustrate the efforts at curbing the rising wave of insecurity in the country.Sekonte Davis (PDP, Rivers State) had advised his colleagues not to take actions that could lead to the termination of the identity card project, especially at a time when every step that could assist in stopping the rising insecurity in the country was necessary.Igbokwe (Imo State) was more aggressive in opposing the motion when he challenged the Chairman of the House Committee on Interior, Umar Bature, to produce evidence to convince the House about the allegation that the N30 billion scheme lacked appropriation.He urged his colleagues to be mindful of the manner they carried out their parliamentary responsibilities, especially in relation to the operations of the Executive arm of government.'I am not satisfied with the aspect of the motion that sought the stoppage of the Identity Card Scheme. This negates the principle of separation of powers because no arm of government can stop the other from performing its constitutional functions,' he said.Defending his motion earlier, Daramola expressed worries that 'the new attempt by the Federal Government to suddenly pump another N30 billion into this seemingly white elephant project will further hurt the financial position of our country.''We should be deeply concerned that the N30 billion approved by the Federal Executive Council to be spent on the project has not gone through appropriation of the House or was the Parliament consulted,' he declared.Meanwhile, about 700 corps members drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have begun a three-week training in entrepreneurship and agro enterprises in Abuja. The House of Representatives pledged increased funding for the programme.Some of the senators who spoke with The Guardian yesterday faulted the timing of the action suggesting that an enabling environment be put in place before the implementation of such a plan.Speaking with The Guardian in Abuja yesterday, the MinorityWhip, Ganiyu Solomon, asked the Executive arm of government to have a rethink, pointing out that the right environment had not been created for the fuel subsidy removal yet.He called on the Federal Government to consider putting the nation's refineries in place and stop the importation of fuel.'Government should seriously have a rethink on this matter. That we are where we are now is quite sad. If you want to do away with oil subsidy, you need to provide better alternatives. The emphasis should be doing away with importation; we should be producing these products ourselves because by then, there wouldn't be need to subsidise anything. We are about the only oil-producing country that imports as much as we do. 'So, are we saying that Nigerians should pay for the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of government' - because that is the translation.'He added: 'The first thing to do is to ensure that we are proficient in the supply of these products. The whole subsidy issue has been very, very contentious. Nobody for instance knows to what degree the government subsidizes. Nobody knows; so you cannot say that this is how much or the level to which oil subsidy is.The major issue has been how to manage the subsidy. Government should have a rethink about it. That we are where we are now is sad. If you want to remove subsidy, certain things should be in place. We should do away with importation. We should put refineries in place. What are we saying' Are we saying that Nigerians should pay for inefficiency of government' The first thing to do is to ensure sufficiency or set a time line for fuel import. They are talking about subsidy. Nobody knows the level of subsidy. Let them give us the detail. Government officials are talking at cross-purposes. Government should protect and not punish Nigerians.'On his part, the Chairman of Senate Services Committee, Suleiman Adokwe, said the major problem was with the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) whose activities according to him, are shrouded in secrecy. He disclosed that the National Assembly had tried on several occasions to open up the operation of the corporation but there had always been resistance'In the Sixth Senate, I served on the Downstream Petroleum Committee and I had a position which was that the major issues were how to manage the subsidy. There were speculations here and there that the subsidy was getting into the wrong hands; it wasn't getting to the real people who actually needed the subsidy that were being subsidised.'We tried to ask so many questions, to find out why and what was happening. My biggest grouse then was that NNPC account is shrouded in so much secrecy and nobody knew what was going on there. It's a fundamental error that a major organisation like that, which is responsible for our wealth, its activities are shrouded in secrecy, its budget is not subjected to scrutiny by the National Assembly.'The military made the NNPC Act in such a way that they are answerable only to Mr. President. Its budget needs to be properly scrutinized so that we would know how they are managing the subsidy', he said.Hereiterated the imperative of finding out how the subsidy had been managed saying: 'In spite of the fact that we are paying trillions of naira for oil subsidy, the pump price is still very high in the north; particularly in the north east and the North west. There's still continued shortage of petroleum products in that part of the country and we wonder really who is being subsidized.'We really need to know how the subsidy is being managed. If we know how it's being managed, probably there may be no need to take it off. So, it's not a straightforward answer I can give. I cannot give a straightforward answer until I get the facts concerning the subsidy.'In the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) forwarded to the National Assembly this week, President Goodluck Jonathan expressed the readiness of the Federal Government to remove petroleum subsidy.Also, human rights activist and National Coordinator of the Independent Election Monitoring Group (IEMG), Mr. Festus Okoye yesterday, condemned President Goodluck Jonathan's plan to remove the subsidy on fuel, saying such action in the face of acute poverty and unemployment suffered by the people would worsen the level of insecurity in the country.Okoye, who is also the Executive Director of Human Rights Monitor, pointed out that the increase of fuel price apart from depressing the economy further, would also create an army of angry youths, which may lead the country on a long path of violence and lawlessness.Speaking at the inauguration of the Senate Committee on States and Local Governments by the President of the Senate, David Mark, the Chairman of the Committee Kabiru Gaya, noted that the way the two tiers of government were being treated in the country should be reversed considering the enormity of their responsibilities.'The system of local government administration as provided in section 7 of the constitution is the democratically elected type.That system cannot be otherwise, given the fact that Nigeria is a democratic state. In a situation, where elected local governments become appendages of state governments or are kicked out and replaced with caretaker committees is unconstitutional. Our democratic structures must be protected and upheld by observing the rules.'There should be provisions in the constitution for the independence of local government authorities to give them the enabling power to perform as the third tier of government.'Considering the fact that about 70 per cent of the Federal Government's allocation from the revenue sharing formula goes to recurrent expenditure and only 30 per cent for capital, the share of the Federal Government should be reduced and transferred to the state and local governments since they are closer to the people.We must objectively consider the crises they have before them given the problem of paying the N18,000 minimum wage and other issues. The committee may consider conducting a public hearing on the revenue sharing formula', he said.Mark noted that many issues relating to the two tiers of government needed to be attended to, adding that in creating local governments, the people should be involved.'There are various issues arising from the relationship between the state and the local government authorities. Some of these challenges may require constitutional amendment to resolve.On the issue of local government creation, if a state decides to create 100 local government on their own, that is their problem but they have to bring the matter to public hearing for everyone to contribute'', he said.While inaugurating the committee on education headed by Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Mark decried poor funding for universities in the country and urged the committee to wade into the rift between government and academic staff of universities.'The truth is that the Federal Government has not done enough in the funding of education. We must bring back the good old days.It is embarrassing that Nigerians send their children to Ghana and other African countries that Nigeria is better than, for education. Also, school curriculum has to be adjusted to meet the demands of the time. The committee should ensure adequate provision in the 2012 budget to be able to properly fund the sector. The committee should also wade into the matter between the government and the organised Labour to avert strike actions', he charged.He also noted that funding for science and technology had been equally poor, stressing that for the nation to develop, science and technology must be given the necessary attention.
Click here to read full news..
