Bailouts are seen as one of the ways to re-jig the economy and bring it back to life. Perhaps, it was in the light of the precarious financial situation of the states of the federation that necessitated the Federal government’s intervention. Hence, the bailout packages to enable them pay backlogs of salaries of workers.
Of course, such venture is commendable, considering the intended purposes and the implications on the nation’s economy that was almost run comatose. But rather than being seen as a good step in the right direction, partisan politics seems to have been introduced into otherwise acceptable model of resuscitating ailing economies.
However, analysts and politicians from different divides have been singing discordant tunes on the bailout funds and the sources of such funds. While some hail it as an acceptable standard as well as a bold step by the new administration to get the states back on track and give Nigerian workers hope, critics wonder where the bailout is coming from, considering the statement credited some time ago to this same administration that they met an empty treasury. To these critics, therefore, it means that money was left behind by the Jonathan-led government and demands an apology from the Presidency for being hasty in condemning his predecessor.
Speaking on the bailout, Mr. Francis Bullem, a former PDP governorship aspirant in Cross River said it was a wrong choice of words to say that the treasury was completely empty in a country that is endowed with so much. Questioning why the Presidency did not mention how much he inherited at the point these statements were made, Bullem, a financial expert, said the issues were contextual because it could mean that a country like Nigeria that was purported to have handed over about $67 billion in the ECA in 2011 now would come down to $1.8 billion.
He lamented that it calls for concern if indeed, a country as Nigeria should be worth $1.8 billion now in excess crude oil account when she is the major producer of oil, insisting that if Nigeria is worth $1.8 billion at this particular point in time, then there must be fundamental issues and questions that are to be asked.
According to him, if governors are saying that they were not involved in the appropriation in the last dispensation, “who did the appropriation and at what time that led us to this, definitely not only Jonathan. I just think it is all about public finance and public accountability.”
On the issue of whether Excess Crude Account was allegedly being emptied, he said, the Nigeria Governors Forum has stated severally that the excess crude oil account was illegal and so, if we balance this against the constitution of Nigeria, did we need to have an excess crude account? Because the law of the federation says that all revenues from government should be going to a consolidated revenue fund, this matter has been in court and at some point, they say they should go and settle out of court but the question now is that what does the constitution state about the excess crude oil account?
“So if the constitution does not say that at any point in time we should open an excess crude oil account and so, it means that it is an illegality and so, whether it is $1.7 billion as the case were, it means that we have not answered the question on the point of law and constitutionality and so, if it is constitutional, are we supposed to be worth $1.8 billion dollars as at this point in time? If it is not, there is nothing to celebrate, for a country like Nigeria to claim that we have $1.8 billion; and people are making noise about it. For us who understand the whole context of the economy, it does not make sense and the figure doesn’t add up.”
Bullem, also a member of Cross River State Internal Revenue Board, contended that even globally, the likes of President Barack Obama also inherited almost a dead economy and quickly stimulated the economy with the bailout options and packages, running into trillions of dollars to get the production sector back.
He, therefore, insisted that there was nothing wrong to create an economic stimulus through bailouts and other packages to, at least, clear workers’ wages and to cushion the effect on economy. He added that it should not be given political colouration because the past administration had several times come to the aides of the states before now through several interventions.
Also reacting, a lecturer in the Institute of Public Policy and Administration, University of Calabar, who identified himself as Dr. Mangana Ekpokpong, said bailouts were not achievements that should be celebrated by any government.
According to Ekpokpong, “Buhari and APC had better concentrate on how to get down to work and start tackling state matters and how to deliver the numerous promises made to Nigerians during the electioneering period rather than fanning themselves that they have achieved much with bailouts”
The university don maintained that it was totally a disservice for the APC leaders of the government to have said they inherited an empty treasury, as there was no way Nigeria a nation could be cashless, stressing that PDP-led administration could not be a kleptomaniac as the APC made people to believe with regard to finances of the country.
He said what was happening was a continuation of a silent war going on within the president against his predecessor with a view to giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
But Hon. Cletus Obun thinks differently. Obun, the APC Vice-Chairman for Cross River Central Senatorial Zone, berated the PDP for daring to say the president had misled Nigerians that he met an empty treasury when N804.7b had been released for government coffers for bailouts.
Obun said: “I think it is high time we moved away from the realms of being pedestrian with figures and with facts and get into the nitty-gritty and away from the wishy-washy conduct of the past administration in which very serious and international issues were trivialised on the altar of party partisanship.
“The president and APC in coming to office said, we met a virtually empty treasury. Now, what are the indices to show that the treasury was empty? If this money was there and they were so disingenuous as to keep money in account while workers are neglected and Nigerians were languishing in impoverishment, does this show good governance?
“You were keeping money and the treasury was not empty so how come you didn’t invent this wheel of good will?
Secondly, the Presidency has issued the statement on how this money was coming out. Some of the bureaucrats who are used to the business-as-usual-approach are brandishing figures and giving information that it was money from ECA that is being emptied. If there were such excess money in ECA to give a bailout, why did PDP not do so in the last 16 years? Rather, in the last six months, appointments were given; contracts were awarded in funny manner.”
On how the bailout was quickly realised, the former member of the Cross River State House of Assembly said: “First, the leakages in the system have been blocked, which he promised; again accountability and corruption policies as well as the fear of Buhari immediately brought the NLNG programme to bring out the Nigerian share of the dividends investment in that project.
“In addition, the economic team of this administration swung into action in a record time and did the bailout programme with the Debt Management Office and the Central Bank by reducing the debt servicing profile of the states and by extending the tenure of the loans, especially the commercial loans while the Central Bank brought out a special fund to add to the NLNG funds that came out.”
The former lawmaker felt disappointed that even the PDP that initially commended the president later turned around to play politics with it, adding: “I had expected PDP at this moment to keep quiet and learn the difference between partisan politics and governance.”
“Perhaps, they are still suffering from the hangover of these epileptic and unintelligible utterances of theirs.”
Maintaining that the welfare and security of Nigerians must be paramount to any government and that is what Buhari has just responded to with the bailout funds, he urged Nigerians not to forget that it was this same last PDP government that refused its governors the same bailout when they asked that the Sovereign Wealth Fund be released to them to offset some of these backlogs of workers’ salaries.
Obun stated that rather than engaging in war of words over the sources of the bailout, Nigerian, including NGOs, the civil society groups and the labour unions, should start the processes of monitoring the use of the funds. But he is optimistic that the person and posture of the president will give the citizenry hope that the funds would be judiciously used as any governor who tampers with these funds is on a suicide mission.
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