4. N1.4 Trillion Worth Of Public Sector Theft Blocked Through Import-Waiver Reforms What’s import waiver? Simple! It’s the tax (A.k.a import duty) that the government removes on economic boosting goods – goods that boost the economy. Eg. Raw materials, machinery and spare parts. Before Jonathan (and his team) came in, corrupt public officers heavily abused this system. They gave and received waivers on unapproved goods. Between 2011 – 2013, over N1.4 Trillion was lost. As a result, the importers whom the waiver was meant for hardly got it. With the Jonathan reform in the sector, loopholes have been blocked. Sources: New Telegraph - Okonjo-Iweala: We Have Reformed Import Waiver System Punch - Import Waivers Granted By Past Govts Lopsided –Okonjo-Iweala Nigeria Intel - Reforming the import waiver regime 5. Stealing Money Through Government Contract Is Now Harder Than Ever In 2007, the federal government made a law that made it difficult for government contractors to steal money. It is called the public procurement act. As a result, they’ve (between 2009 – 2013) blocked N558 billion from getting to contract thieves. They even went as far as fishing out 180 contract stealing companies. The case has been forwarded to the anti-corruption agencies. Sources: Premium Times - Nigerian Govt. Urges States To Replicate Procurement Laws 6. Ongoing Sanitization Of The Oil And Gas Sector Already Yielding Results When President Jonathan came on board, he primarily focused on fighting corruption in 3 key areas… - Electoral corruption - Fertilizer distribution corruption - Corruption in the oil and gas So far, war on “electoral corruption” and “fertilizer distribution corruption” has recorded tremendous success. But the oil and gas has been the hardest. Nevertheless, this is what he has achieved so far… He exposed the biggest scam ever in Nigeria’s history. In 2011, he told us (Nigerians) that there was huge corruption going on in the fuel subsidy sub-sector. So, he took the subsidy money and put it in places where it will yield more dividend. Well, nobody understood him. So in January 2012, we all went on strike. To prove his point, a probe panel was set up. What did they discover? USD6.8 Billion (N108.8 Billion) has been stolen in just 3 years. Let’s put things in perspective. What really is subsidy? If a cup (Aka. De Rica) of garri is N300 and I pay N100 for you, then I’ve subsidized the garri – that’s garri subsidy. What is subsidy scam? If the garri seller sells 1 cup of garri to you and then lie to me that he sold 10 cups, that’s subsidy scam. The Result? The subsidy money was used to create the sure-p programme. Below are the achievements so far… - Used to support road construction. As a result, 17,000km out of the 23,000 km of bad federal road completed. It’s just remaining 7,000 km and the entire federal road in Nigeria will become good. - Support for maternal health 600 health centers (mostly in rural communities) already built – and equipped. 700 still under construction. Consequentially, maternal death has been reduced by 60%. Half a million women now give birth under the care of trained midwives. - Increased water access - Over 620 boreholes built nationwide. - Supported the fight against unemployment Sure-p has been helping in the struggle to get jobs for the 22 million unemployed Nigerian youths… It’s been working with (and paying) 2,000 youths across the country. 3,000 graduates has gotten jobs under the “graduate internship scheme (GIS)” 5,075 youths undergoing vocational training. Furthermore… He created and sponsored the most controversial bill in Nigeria’s history, the “Petroleum Industrial Bill (BIB)” In 2008, the federal government created and sent the petroleum industrial bill (PIB) to the national assembly. It is a bill that will block all the corruption loopholes – and solve every other problem – in the petroleum industry. What happened to it? It was vehemently rejected. On 18th July 2012, President Jonathan resent the bill. But up till now, legislation on the bill has not gone half way. In May 2015(barely 4 months from now), this current national assembly will be dissolved. A new one will be set up and everybody will go back to square one. Hmm… You never knew corruption could fight back? Now you do. As if that is not enough… He has commissioned – and never stood on the way of any – probe in almost every sector of the industry… - Aig- Imoukhuede Presidential committee on verification and reconciliation of subsidy claims and payments - Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force Committee - The Dotun Suleiman committee - The Kalu Idika Kalu committee - The 20 Billion Naira Scam probe - Etcetera… Sources: Nigerian Live TV - INCREDIBLE! Mr President and I are fighting corruption in the oil sector – Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke Vanguard - Jonathan Insists On Fuel Subsidy Removal One.org - FAQ: The Fuel Subsidy Protests In Nigeria Nigeria Politico - Fuel Subsidy $6.8 Billion Scam: Nigeria’s Biggest Corruption Scandal Ever The News - Appraising The Gains Of SURE-P African Arguments - Nigeria: Any Chance Of Progress On The Petroleum Industry Bill? Mondaq - Nigeria: An Overview Of The Petroleum Industry Bill, 2012 Point Blank News - President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration’s War On Corruption 7. EFCC Has Prosecuted 427 Cases In 3 Years The Jonathan led federal government strengthened the EFCC and allowed them do their job. As a result, 427 cases were prosecuted between 2012 – 2014. The Result? Fraud in Nigeria reduced from N495 billion to N300 billion. Hence, EFCC saved the country N195 billion. Sadly, most of the successfully concluded cases are… - Advanced fee frauds - Internet frauds - Commercial cases Cases involving top government officials have dragged on for years. The EFCC has blamed this on the Judiciary. These officers (and politicians) frustrate the process. They manipulate the judiciary with the wealth and influence they’ve acquired. Unfortunately, the federal government (A.k.a the executive) has very limited power over the judiciary (the 3rd arm of government). Despite that, President Jonathan has continued to use “advocacy” to push for the sanitization of the judiciary. When he finally succeeds, then every Nigerian – including the very high and mighty – will become truly subject to the law, irrespective of who is president. Sources: Vanguard - Why EFCC Can’t Convict Big Thieves – Lamorde Daily Trust - EFCC Records 110 Convictions This Year In Conclusion President Jonathan’s approach to fighting corruption looks radically different. He has focused on strengthening institutions and blocking loopholes in the system. Where possible, he used technology. Funny enough, this is how Denmark, New Zealand and Finland (the 3 most transparent countries in the world) rooted out corruption from their country. Please share this article on Facebook and Re-Tweet. Your action may just open the eyes of one more Nigerian. CREDIT: exploreanthonyobuegbe.blogspot/2015/01/7-little-known-ways-president-jonathan.html
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 07:08:44 +0000
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