Revenue Commission Wants 20-year Ban
Foreign Loans
From Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja
The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has recommended the banning of foreign loans by both state and Federal Governments for 20 years. The commission's chairman, Engineer Hamman Tukur, said the RMAFC was compelled to make the recommendation following the "frightening" discovery that was made at the debt reconciliation exercise between states and the Debt Management Office (DMO), supervised by his commission.
He said that the 20-year ban would make " the federal and state governments look inwards for resources mobilization".
Tukur pointed out that the nation's total foreign debt stock of $32.916 billion, "arose out of extensive budgetary malpractices, inadequate expenditure framework, lack of transparency and accountability in the management of public funds and poor management of budget deficits".
He added that the high debt profile has "plunged the nation into a vicious cycle of perpetual debts as interest payment charges and penalties, on compound interest terms, have accrued and continues to do so on the entire stock of loans to the extent that the cumulative liabilities have virtually become quadruple of the original loan amount".
On the monthly allocations to local governments from the Federation Account, Tukur regretted that some states have taken advantage of the State Joint Local Government Account to short-change the local government councils.
He expressed concern that the ambiguities and contradictions in the 1999 Constitution have aided some state governments in diverting funds meant for the local government councils.
He also noted that transparency in the administration of local government funds would be unsuccessful unless the provisions of the relevant sections are complied with by all and sundry.
Hon John Udeh, Chairman, Budget and Fiscal Efficiency Committee of the RMAFC said at the weekend that the Commission has dropped its plan to go to court over the illegal diversion of local government funds by state governments.
He said the issue of going to court had been overtaken by events. The decision, according to him, was "because the president already has sent a bill to the National Assembly to check the ugly trend. There is now a bill at the National Assembly to ensure that money allocated to LGs is not tampered with at any level, especially by state governors. So it is pointless our going to court to get the legal interpretation when the president has already taken the lead in getting a law to that effect".
On the controversy over the sharing of excess crude oil proceeds, Udeh noted that the commission's "view on excess crude is that these savings is imperative and it must be done."
"But at the same time it has to be saved in such a way that all those who have stake in it should be convinced that it is truly being saved. Because the worry of the governors is that they are not too sure that the person saving it is actually saving it", he said.
He said members of the commission had met to deliberate on recent allegations that some governors convert state's allocations into foreign exchange and siphon it abroad. Udeh, however, maintained that there was nothing the commission could do on the issue.
"The important thing is the governors doing these things have been identified and if the EFCC (Economic and Finance Crimes Commission) has identified them and the minister has accused them, then what is left is that the law should take its course. But if those government agencies that are in position to enforce the law do not enforce and do not want to enforce, I wonder what the commission can do.
"We can do nothing really in that regard of enforcement. We have not written the ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices Commission) or the EFCC on the issue because our mandate does not cover that. As a federal commissioner and a Nigerian if I feel like doing so I would do so. But as a commission, we cannot sit down and start writing against a particular governor on embezzlement because it is not within our constitutional responsibility," Udeh said.
Minister of State for Finance, Esthr Nenadi Usman, had accused some state governors of siphoning abroad allocations from the Federation Account meant for their states.
Her position was later supported by the Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Last week, Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of the EFCC said the commission had a list of the governors involved in the illegal diversion of funds and will soon make it public.
Some governors have since joined issues with the EFCC and the finance ministers. Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu challenged Riibadu to be honourable by releasing the names of the culprit governors.
|
