As
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State crept into the national conscience upon
becoming the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress. This was in 1999. Then
he was undoubtedly the voice of the common man, especially in those dark days
of arbitrary increases of petroleum costs by the President Olusegun
Obasanjo. He fought for the welfare of
the Nigerian worker for increased living wage and upon that, he amassed
enormous goodwill from the generality of the Nigerian People. For instance, in
the early stage of President Obasanjo’s administration, he negotiated a 25%
wage increase for workers in the public sector.
Based
on that goodwill, Oshiomhole rose into prominence and unparalleled popularity,
contested the 2007 Gubernatorial elections in Edo state and the Election
Tribunal came to rescue him from a disputed poll figures, declaring him the governor of Edo state in
November 2008. Furthermore, we can’t take away the fact that as Governor, Adams
Oshiomhole has done a lot in Edo State, especially in road constructions and
opening up the hinterlands.
However,
since last May, Governor Oshiomhole has found himself in a different terrain,
playing a new but complicated role Nigerians are yet to fully comprehend. This
new role can be traced to the June
29, 2015 when President Buhari
inaugurated the National Economic Council. Section 153 (1) (h) of the 1999
Constitution as amended established the National Economic Council and the
composition and Powers of the Council are spelt out to include that “The
National Economic Council shall have power to advise the President concerning
economic affairs of the Federation, and in particular on measures necessary for
the co-ordination of the economic planning efforts or economic programmes of
the various Governments of the Federation.”
Immediately
after this inauguration, Governor Adams
Oshiomhole and his Kaduna State counterpart, Nasir El Rufai told state house correspondents that Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo Iweala, the immediate past minister of finance and coordinating minister
of the economy withdrew $2.1 Billion from the Excess Crude Account in November
2014 without authorisation. Oshiomhole also accused the ex-minister of withdrawing the sum of $1
Billion from the federation account to fund the Presidential election of Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan in March 2015.
It
is important at this juncture, to point out that Nigerians irrespective of
tribe and religion are all in pact on the need to battle and reduce to the
barest minimum, the scourge of corruption in every area of our National life.
However, what is very important is
laying down and consolidating on structures already put in place for
fighting corruption.
My
question now is, in what capacity is Oshiomhole acting? The role of the
National Economic Council as clearly spelt out by the constitution is advisory.
Yet, in utter contradiction, the body since its inauguration has not come out
clearly with an economic policy strategies for the federal and state
governments; has not told Nigerians how the regime can tap and explore the
abundant mineral resources that God in his infinite wisdom has deposited in
virtually every state of the federation; has not advised the President on how
to stop the bleeding in the mining sector which amounts to billions of Dollars
annually, and worse, has not addressed the lopsided and unfair regime of Value
Added Tax in Nigeria.
A
regime that allows Sharia States like Kano to destroy alcoholic beverages and
now turn around to share from VAT revenues derived from alcoholic beverages in
southern states like Lagos, Aba, Benin, Port Harcourt etc. What an unfair
federation.
The
only explanation for Oshiomhole’ s rantings is the fact that he is trying to
play the role of the finance minister and the auditor general of the federation
at the same time. Section 85 of the Constitution as amended laid out how all
government accounts should be audited and forwarded to the National Assembly –
but what Nigerians have been witnessing since May is a deliberate relegation of
the constitution by the Buhari Presidency while promoting a fanatic and
senseless kind of followership obtainable in rogue Nations like North Korea and
Iran.
Governor
Adams Oshiomhole’ s latest dance in the market place has not only ridiculed the
Buhari administration, but revealed the kind of characters that currently run
the Nigerian state. Every decent Nation all over the world has laws, rules,
procedures and processes with which issues of financial accountability are
addressed. It is the deliberate refusal of President Buhari to set up the laid
down constitutional framework and his penchant to fumble and fiddle with all
matters of state without the benefit of skilled advisers and technocrats that
give room for the likes of Oshiomhole to continue to dance naked in the market
place.
Again,
as a matter of reference, Section 85 (2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended
provides that “The public accounts of the Federation and of all offices and
courts of the Federation shall be audited and reported on to the Auditor
General who shall submit his reports to the National Assembly; and for that
purpose, the Auditor General or any person authorised by him in that behalf
shall have access to all the books, records, returns and other documents
relating to those accounts”. This sacrosanct provision of the constitution did
not in any way mention the National Economic Council as the statutory body
empowered to audit the accounts of the Federation. The actions of the National
Economic Council and the excesses of
Governor Oshiomhole in respect of the Extra Crude Account are
repressively unconstitutional.
The
framers of the constitution also in subsection 6 of Section 85 clearly provides
that the Auditor General shall not be subject to the direction or control of
any other authority or person in the exercise of his function under the
constitution. This is to ensure transparency, fairness and justice and at the
same time prevent political witch-hunt. But with the current state of
uncertainty, these values are in jeopardy.
Governor
Oshiomhole, who just came back from Washington, DC with President Buhari on a
State visit stunned the Nigerian media when he
alleged that an unnamed minister in the past administration stole the
sum of $6 Billion. Oshiomhole further alleged that a faceless US official gave
him that information. As at the last
time I checked, the US has denied outright that statement credited to Oshiomhole
urging him to name the US government official or forever remain silent. As long
as President Buhari remains defiant if following the provisions of the Constitution, especially
section 85 which clearly spells out how all government accounts should be audited
for good governance, Governor Adams Oshiomhole
definitely have no moral or legal basis for all his vituperation. They
at best remain the symptoms of numerical diarrhea.
Oshiokpekhai Utu-Orbih
An Attorney,
Broadcaster, and Media Consultant
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