PART 2 58,000 Nigerians Killed Outside The Law Since 1999 - International Society For Civil Liberties & The Rule Of Law International Public Statement By International Society For Civil Liberties & The Rule Of Law (Intersociety) Failed Economy & Governance: Nigeria’s public governance and state of economy has been in a sorry state since 1999 despite the abundance of her human and material resources. Over 33 solid minerals abound in the country. With the exception of oil and gas, others have remained at subsistence levels. Our beloved country continues to perform abysmally in every regional and international social indicator; from regional and international universities’ ratings to infant mortality; from high cost of governance to highly indebted poor countries’ status, etc. The incidence of corruption and bad governance has remained alarmingly high in our beloved country and the state of infrastructures including key ones like air and seaports, energy, health facilities, schools, roads, etc, is in steady decay, with the exception of few States like Anambra and Edo where the reverse is substantially the case courtesies of their legitimate State Governments. Nigeria runs one of the costliest public governances in the world. In 2002, barely three years after the return to civil rule, Nigeria enacted a law called “Salaries & Allowances Of Top Public Office Holders Act of 2002”. The Law allocated N755.8billion (about $5billion) for the servicing of her 17,500 top public office holders annually. In 2008, the law was revised and the said salaries and allowances increased to N1.13trillion (approximately $7.5billion). Yet, to date, the spirit and letters of the law are not strictly adhered to. In other words, the law is totally observed in breach. This is because pieces of annual federal and states’ appropriation legislation are used to allocate and pocket hundreds of billions of naira in the form of “allowances and jumbo pay”, which are in gross violation of the subsisting pay Act, revised in 2008. The shocking part of it all is that almost half of these monies are borrowed locally and internationally with prohibitive interests and penalties. Nigeria borrows to consume and not to produce. Nigeria, to date, has 17,500 top public office holders; out of which, 13,500 occupy elective offices and 4,000 others occupy appointive offices. According to the revised pay Act of 2008 under reference, N592billion( approximately $3.9billion using N155.00 for $1) is spent annually in servicing the 12,788 top Local Government Areas’ officials; out of this, allowances take N550billion or over 90%, while salaries account for only N41.8billion or less than 10%. There are 774 constitutionally recognized LGAs in Nigeria as of date. The sum of N300.5billion is spent on about 2,664 States’ executives of Nigeria’s 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory. The sum of N40.9billion is spent on 1,152 States’ lawmakers; N98.3billion is spent on 472 federal executives; N60.4billion is spent on 469 federal lawmakers; N18.5billion is spent on 792 State High Court Judges; and N14.8billion is spent on 142 federal judges. In summary, two sets of allowances abound for Nigeria’s top public office holders; one is contained in the revised pay Act of 2008 and the other is criminally smuggled into the Federal and States’ annual budgets. Out of N80trillion ($500billion) shared among the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT (federal capital territory) and the 774 Local Government Areas from the Federation Accounts since June 1999, up to 70% of same went into payment of salaries & allowances and debts servicing, while only 30% went into execution of public-interest projects. Also, out of the total budgets of N37, 665trillion ($240billion) made by the Federal Government of Nigeria between June 1999 and 2013, N21, 7trillion (about $145billion) was spent on consumption (recurrent expenditures), while only N11.3trillion (about $70 billion) went into production (capital expenditures). The remaining sum of N4.5trillion ($28billion) was used for local and foreign debts servicing. These explain why Nigeria runs one of the costliest public governances on earth to date. Our beloved country has also returned to the “Highly Indebted Poor Country” status with total public debts of over $100billion. This debts figure includes Federal Government’s court judgment of N188.5billion as of 2012; government ministries and parastatals ‘debts; States’ foreign and domestic debts; as well as Federal Government’s foreign and domestic debts. According to official records of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the current total public debts stand at $52billion including its 2013-2015 foreign borrowing proposals of $7.9billion; domestic debts of N6.15trillion ($40billion) and foreign debts of $6,035billion. This account did not include the Federal Government and States’ government incurred court judgment debts; their ministries and parastatals’ debts and huge local debts incurred by the 36 States, the FCT and some Local Government Areas, which are on steady increase. Nigeria’s foreign debts increased from $970million in 1970 to $36billion in 2006. It came down to about $6billion in 2006 as a result of debts forgiveness and rose again to over $15billion in 2012/2013. As at December 2001, Nigeria borrowed a total of $13.5billion from the Paris Club and spent a total of $41.2billion in its servicing. Nigeria’s journey to huge local indebtedness began in 1986 with a total local debt of N28.44billion ($1.3billion then using N22.00 for one USD), by 2006; it spirally rose to N1.8trillion (about $13billion then) and by 2012/2013, it alarmingly increased to over N9trillion (about $60billion) possibly excluding huge local debts of various States’ government. For fuller details, please visit our website atintersociety-ng.org for our two reports, dated 03-09-2012 and 01-10-2012 and captioned: “How Nigeria’s Trillion & $44Billion Debts Are Pocketed By 17,500 Politically Privileged Nigerians and “Nigeria In Desperate Need Of Another Iweala Debts’ Exit Magic”. While China; Nigeria’s economic peer in the 60s, 70s and 80s, has increased her foreign exchange reserves from $700 billion in 2006; $2.3 trillion in 2010; to $3 trillion in 2012, Nigeria’s fell from $60 billion in 2006 to $50 billion in 2013. Our beloved country has also depleted her excess crude oil sales reserves from $20 billion in 2006 to almost zero USD in 2013. Archaic Body of Laws: Nigeria’s criminal and civil justice systems are in dire need of reforms. Apart from deformities inherent in her Constitution of 1999, most of the pieces of her criminal legislation are outdated. The country has also refused to accede to numerous international rights and humanitarian treaties by way of ratification and “domestication”, in accordance with Section 12 of her Constitution. These have earned her a pariah status internationally. Section 6, sub 6(c) of her Constitution has continued to deny citizens and courts rights of judicial justice and judicial review with respect to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights, contained in the Chapter Two of her Constitution. Nigeria’s outdated pieces of criminal legislation and court rules have continued to encourage extra-judicial killings, torture and massive corrupt practices in public establishments. Her judiciary organ is one of the most corrupt judicial institutions in the world as of date and a leading corrupt public institution in the country. For fuller details on Nigeria’s failed justice system, please visit our website (intersociety-ng.org). Specifically, see the following: 1. Letter submitted to the Clerk of the Nigeria’s House of Reps Committee on Constitution Review, dated 12th day of November, 2012. 2. Second letter to the same House on the same issue; dated 18th day of November, 2012 and captioned: “Ousting The Ouster Clauses In The Chapter Four Of The Constitution”.3. Letter to the Attorney General of Nigeria on need to drastically reform Nigeria’s criminal and civil justice systems, dated 13-12-2012. 4. Public statement, captioned: “Return of Anambra’s killing Fields- part two”, dated 11-03-2013. 5. Public statement, captioned: “Oyerinde’s Murder Investigation In Edo State: Saving The Nigeria Police Force From Media & Political Cruxifion,” dated 05-04-2013. From the foregoing, therefore, our beloved country’s 14 years of civilian rule since 1999 has been tortuous and challenging. This has enlivened the event marking the murder on June 12, 1993 of the historic electoral free speech by the Ibrahim Babangida’s military epoch. It is unreservedly correct to say that most of Nigeria’s social problems of today are caused by tainted and criminal political class, which hijacked the political power from the military in 1999 on account of the refusal of the social saints who fought and won our hand-earned democracy to step in and nurse-maid the political governance. In-spite of these man-made woes, bright hopes still abound in our beloved country. It requires congregation of forces of the social saints with positive international supports for things to be turned around for the good of every Nigerian in no distance future. About Intersocity-Nigeria: We were incorporated in Nigeria in April 2008 and launched in July 2008. We operate from Onitsha, Anambra State, Southeast, Nigeria, with a mission to: protecting the civil liberties and other human rights of the Igbo-Southeast citizens of Nigeria, Nigerian citizens and world citizens at all times, in accordance with the UDHR provisions; standing at all times on the side of the abused and the victimized; standing at all times against human rights abusers and enemies of the rule of law be they State actors or non-State actors; campaigning vigorously for the enthronement and sustenance of the rule of law and judicial accountability including periodic reforms in civil and criminal justice systems; and seeking for an end or reducing to the barest minimum of official misconducts in Nigeria and the Continent of Africa including sit-tight political leadership, State murder, bad governance and corruption. Our vision is to: become a successful, fiery and leading civil liberties and the rule of law advocacy movement in the Igbo-Southeast Nigeria as well as at national, regional and international levels; and see our beloved country quitting her inglorious killing field and economically impoverished self-initiated club. Since the inception of our Organization in 2008, we have carried out over 150 advocacy activities covering reports, public petitions, public statements, articles, researches, publications and documentaries (see our website-intersociety-ng.org for more). These we have done with small local assistance only. We humbly seek to be supported internationally to do more and improve upon what we have done. Our motto is: taking civil liberties (human rights) and the rule of law campaigns to the grassroots. For: International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety), Nigeria
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 02:02:48 +0000
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