Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is correct in the statement he made on the wasteful spending of Nigerian governors. I have read a lot of comments condemning him but I am not in the group of people who would try to put a messenger and a message together. A message must always be separated from the messenger.
What the former president said was a known fact by almost all Nigerians. And even in the light of what is developing now, they still appear profligate in their behaviour, especially in running the government. What he (Obasanjo) said about state governors spending local government funds is also a known fact.
All we have to do is to call the summit of all the former local government chairmen and their councillors and then seek their opinion. It looks like most Nigerians are not yet in tune that we are in a very serious emergency situation as far as finances of our nation, states and local governments are concern. And there must be a re-orientation for Nigerians to realise that they must tighten their belts for us to face the consequences of the dwindling foreign earning, which we had rested on for so many years.
The reality facing us is that we are really in a very bad financial situation. It is also clear that the governors should be held accountable because everybody sees the way they are spending money. It is not something that is hidden from Nigerians that some governors are wasteful and I believe that very soon the day of reckoning would come. Many of them are running government as if it is a bazaar. I also believe former President Obasanjo’s statement that National Assembly is corrupt.
I believe that President Muhammadu Buhari should look into it. It is also obvious that what the National Assembly is trying to appropriate to themselves looking at our financial situation, is unrealistic, unreasonable and unsustainable.
So, I completely share the view of Obasanjo that the National Assembly is corrupt and I do not share the arguments being made by members of the National Assembly and the public that Obasanjo has no moral right to make that statement. As a former head of state, he has the right to point out when something is going wrong.
Interview by Temitope Ogunbanke
Onovo: NASS should open its book to Nigerians
Do we think there are serious issues with the National Assembly? Yes. Do we think the budget of the National Assembly is indefensible? Yes. Because the National Assembly had less than N30 billion when it started, so how does is it now have N150 billion? Secondly, the only thing that the National Assembly needs to do if it does not agree with former President Obasanjo is to open its book. Let us see its book and if we don’t see the book, we will believe Chief Obasanjo.
If the National Assembly has an allegation on its neck that it is corrupt, let it open its book. I do not share the arguments being made by some members of the National Assembly against Obasanjo, especially the statement by Senator Dino Melaye that he hoped that Obasanjo’s statement is not an attempt to cover up and distract attention from the Haliburton and Siemens corruption allegations. It would be very uncharitable for anybody to say that. How can they just be imputing motive?
What Obasanjo said is true and factual. There suspicious of Haliburton and Siemens is baseless. What the former president said is straight forward. Has National Assembly being spending a humongous amount without transparency? Yes, because even the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and current Emir of Kano, His Royal Majesty, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said it before.
There are so many allegations against the National Assembly including N42 billion cash transaction from the National Assembly account. So, how can they be accusing Obasanjo wrongly? Even if Obasanjo said what he said because he was a former head of state, let the National Assembly answer the allegation against them.
Also, the statement by Obasanjo on wasteful spending by the governors and how they spend local government funds is a known truth. It is only attracting media attention because Obasanjo said so. They (governors) are very wasteful, especially those who owe salaries and are unable to pay the minimum wage.
Those who are also complaining about the minimum wage are clearly wasteful. They are wasteful in many ways. Many of them lack financial discipline. In other words, they don’t follow their respective states budget. Secondly, some of them spend outside their budget. They spend a lot of money on recurrent expenditure instead of significant developmental projects. The issue of governors using local government fund is not a hidden thing.
So, Obasanjo has not said anything new but I think it is important that somebody of his profile said it to address the interest and the attention we need to correct all the deviations.
Interview by Temitope Ogunbanke
Melaye: Accusations based on anger
I have tremendous respect for President Olusegun Obasanjo, elder statesman, respected pan-Africanist and committed patriot. I went through the letter written to all senators and members of the House of Representatives.
The letter, as I can see it, is a misplacement of anger. Our leader has mistaken the 8th National Assembly as the same National Assembly that defrauded him in 2007; that is those who collected his money and refused to implement the third term agenda. I appeal to Baba that we are not the ones please. After nine years of that bribery saga, the first of its kind, I expect forgiveness to have taken place.
There was the case of bribery introduced by the Obasanjo regime in the desperate attempt to remove Speaker, Ghali Umar Na’Abba from office then. Infact, there was an open display of that bribery money on the floor of the House. That (Obasanjo’s) government exposed the National Assembly to corruption and easy money.
I hope this is not in an attempt to cover up and distract attention from the Halliburton and Siemens corruption allegations? While I am against corruption anywhere in Nigeria, I will not support accusations based on anger and vindictiveness.
The 8th Senate should also look inward and purge itself of all the deliberate misgivings of the past. Nigeria must work and we must support the anti-corruption stand of the Buhari Administration.
