Jonathan’s $1bn loan request suspicious — Ojudu The representative of the Ekiti Central Senatorial District and a member of the Senate Committee on Defence and Army, Sen. Babafemi Ojudu, tells TOBI AWORINDE there are suspicions over the $1bn loan requested by President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle insurgency What is your position on the $1bn external loan request, which President Goodluck Jonathan presented before the National Assembly? Let me say our soldiers who are fighting this insurgency need all the help they can get, whether financially or in terms of equipment and support. But on this issue of the Federal Government asking for a $1bn loan, and asking for the approval of the Senate, I am opposed to it. I will vote against it, not because I do not know that the soldiers need all the support they can get, but I believe that this is not right. But some of your colleagues have said the objective of the loan should outweigh the amount… What is the objective? I am a member for the Senate Committee on Defence and Army, and I know that since Jonathan came to power, we have voted billions of naira for the military on a yearly basis. Most often, their budgetary requests are not touched like we do most of that of other government agencies. Ministry of Finance also ensured that money voted for the military was released as at when due. We want to know how these monies have been spent, on what they have been spent and what calls for this particular demand for a $1bn loan. They should be able to tell us what they have done with all the money that have been budgeted for the military since 2011. If they cannot do that, then the Federal Government does not have the right to ask us to approve a $1bn loan, particularly when it is just a few months to an election. Can you break down how the past budgets for defence have been allocated? It is not something I can do off the curve like that. I’ll need to consult my papers. All I can tell you is that since 2011, huge sums of money have been voted for the military. They (Federal Government) need to come back to us (National Assembly); and tell us, “The monies we have voted over the years; this and this are the ways we have used them. This is what we have purchased with them. These are the barracks we have built. These are the things we bought with the money.” It is then we can be satisfied; we can then say, “Fine, there is a shortfall in the equipment required by the military. So take this money, go and buy those pieces of equipment.” Even on this issue of taking a loan, they need to itemise for us what and what they want to do with the money. Do they want to buy uniforms? Is it for feeding? Is it for acquiring equipment? What do they want to use it for? You can’t just come and say, “I want to take a $1bn loan to fight insurgency. Approve it for me.” And then it will be approved. No, that is not right. Only a rubber stamp legislature will do that. But those on the other side of the argument are saying it is like putting a price value on the lives of Nigerians who are affected by the insurgency. No, it’s not that. It’s about accountability; it’s about transparency. If money has been approved in the past and it has not been judiciously spent, what is the assurance that, if this money is approved, it will also be judiciously spent? That is what we are saying. It is to ensure that whatever money is budgeted for the military is spent on the military and for the right equipment. Given the urgency of the situation, some argue that the delay to be caused by the Federal Government breaking down the budget may lead to negative results. Would it not be better, therefore, to give them the funds and let them account later? What does it take to explain to people how the money budgeted in the past has been spent, to allow for a new sum of money to be voted? It doesn’t take time. If the authorities are serious about it, within a period of days, the figures can be ready and you pass it round to the National Assembly members to take a look at it. Then you can justify the need to take a loan. Let me tell you this: some months ago, our committee on defence and army had a tour of the areas affected by insurgency. And talking to the governors, they told us categorically more than 50 per cent of their monthly allocation was being expended on providing logistics for the soldiers fighting insurgency. So, you now wonder, if Borno and Yobe states are spending 60 per cent of their monthly allocation on logistics for the military, what is the budget of the military being expended on. A lawmaker on the opposing side said soldiers were not expected to confront Boko Haram with inadequate equipment. They view their situation as a suicide mission. We’re very sympathetic to the soldiers and to the Nigerian military and we support them 100 per cent. We support them wholeheartedly; we feel for them for putting their lives on the line. In fact, this argument of ours is in their favour. When there is transparency and accountability, they will be able to do their jobs much more effectively. If the government says, “We need N1 to buy equipment,” and we know that that N1 equipment will help our soldiers fight in such a way that their lives will not be endangered, we shall do so (approve). But if they say, “We need N1,” and that N1 is not spent on our soldiers, and then they are put them in harm’s way, we are not going to be happy about that. What we’re saying is let us know exactly what you want to purchase; let us know what you want to do with the money, so that in the course of getting the money, we can have an oversight function over what you have purchased, so that we can ensure that our soldiers are being adequately equipped to fight this insurgency. Some of your colleagues have agreed that there are areas of governance that are over-budgeted for. What are some of the things you believe government should cut costs on? There are so many. Early this year, when the budget came for examination by the Senate, it was observed that a lot of money was expended on a lot of things that are absolutely unnecessary. Why can’t such monies be put where they are going to be most needed? There is so much waste in the system that you begin to wonder whether we are really getting our priorities right. So, why don’t you look inward first? Look at those things that you can do away with and then put the money that you have saved from those areas in equipping our soldiers. So, what we are saying, therefore, is that there is the need for the legislative arm to know exactly what is available now; what is not available; what you intend to purchase; for how much you want to purchase them, where you are purchasing them from so that we can be sure that you are not using this excuse of insurgency to look for money that will be spent on other things. A number of your colleagues have alleged that the President is planning to divert the funds into campaigning for next year’s election. How would you react to this? The fears which people have expressed is : why is it coming now? When you come and play on our empathy for our soldiers, and you say we should approve a loan of $1bn so that they can fight insurgency, people become suspicious of you. Could it be that this money is needed for elections? Could it be that this money is needed so that you can then have more money to pay legislators to impeach more governors? For the sake of the soldiers and those whose lives are threatened as a result of this security crisis, and as a member of the Senate defence committee, what do you expect of the Federal Government as a matter of urgency? They cannot convince anybody that until and unless they take a $1bn loan, they will not provide the necessary equipment to fight this insurgency. No, nobody can convince me about that. Suppose there is no opportunity for us to take that loan, are we saying we’re going to hand over the country to the insurgents? Don’t we still have income from our oil? Don’t we have income from all of the taxes we collect? If the government is sincere, our earnings can take care of our military hardware needs. It can take care of what we need to feed our soldiers, to kit them, make them happy and confident to fight on behalf of this country, and to save us from the frequent attacks by the insurgents. Copyright PUNCH.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 16:36:39 +0000