As Council of State Reviews State of the Nation...
Obasanjo Mandated to Deal With Troublemakers
Council endorses excess crude fund sharing formula
From Josephine Lohor in Abuja
The Council of State made up of former leaders of Nigeria, the President, Vice President and State Governors, yesterday gave President Olusegun Obasanjo the go-ahead to deal with persons or groups whose activities or utterances threaten the sovereignty of the country.
The council also endorsed a policy of sharing and spending of the revenue from the sale of excess crude oil accruing to the country in 2004. The money is to be expended next January.
Governor of Ebonyi State, Sam Egwu, while disclosing the council's decision on threats to the country to State House correspondents, said "generally the issue of threat by whatever group that is trying to threaten the sovereignty of this country come into focus during our discussion.
"And it is the view of the council that Mr. President should take adequate measures to deal with any group that threatens the sovereignty of Nigeria. And we gave Mr. President our full backing. So, government is not playing about it."
The mandate given to the president to deal decisively with troublemakers came followed the recent call by the Movement for the Advancement of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) on Igbo traders to stay at home in solidarity with the desire to revive the secessionist state of Biafra.
When former Biafran leader, Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu expressed support for MASSOB, the State Security Services (SSS) invited him for interrogation.
Ojukwu, however, shunned the invitation and dared the SSS to arrest him. He stated that the service was playing a crude joke on him by giving him a one way air travel tiket from Enugu to Abuja. The former Biafran war lord accused the state of trying to eliminate him.
The controvesy had seen some top Igbo leaders attacking the Federal Government stance while supporting Ojukwu. There are, however, some Nigerians who said Ojukwu should have respected constituted authority by honouring the SSS invitation like a law abiding Nigerian.
Again in the Niger Delta, a group called Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) led by one Asari Dokubo, has vowed to make the country ungovernable. The group insisted on achieving self determination for the oil rich region of the country.
Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who joined Egwu and his other colleagues from Borno, Anambra and Ebonyi to brief journalists on the outcome of the meeting, said "the sharing formula is 50 per cent set aside to take care of whatever fluctuations that may occur during the fiscal year in the price of crude oil sales."
"Thirteen per cent will go to the producing areas, while the rest of us will take the balance for the year 2005, what is distributable is N318.5 billion which goes into savings, while N318.5 is to be shared in accordance with the formula."
"If I may have to breakdown the earnings, the local government will be looking up to N57 billion, State governments N74 billion, Federal Government N146 billion and derivation N4.1 billion," he said.
Answering a question on why the council approved a sharing formula while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were against sharing the excess crude revenue, Egwu said "the IMF and World Bank do not have to tell us how to spend our money. As a sovereign nation, we have the right to determine how to go about spending our money. They can only suggest. We are not bound to accept their suggestions. We have eminent economists in this country and I think all these have been taken into consideration."
Giving further insight into decision taken on the disbursement and utilisation of the excess crude fund at the council meeting attended by former President Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, General Yakubu Gowon and Chief Ernest Shonekan, Oyinlola stated that "the excess revenue from crude oil would not be spent until the following year (2005). That is to say, whatever is earned in 2004, commencement of spending would begin in 2005. The reason for this is that it is not immediately after sale that the government gets credit in terms of funds."
The Osun State governor also emphasised that the release of funds from the crude oil sale would not be done in bulk but would be spread within 12 months in 2005 for the purpose of offsetting expenditure on defence, security, road construction and maintenance, power and the building of barracks for the army and police.
The council of state also approved the report of the Committee on Prerogative of Mercy which recommended 62 persons for pardon and approved that 190 Nigerians and other nationalities be given national merit awards.
Governor Alli Modu Sheriff of Borno State said one person would receive the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) award, Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) (23); Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) (49); Order of the Niger (OON) (55); Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) (44) and Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) (13).
The governors, however, said the meeting did not discuss the impending strike action by Nigerian workers because it was not part of the agenda.
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