Another shocking picture of the economic recession was painted yesterday.
Former
leaders – Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and
Shehu Shagari have not been paid their salaries and allowances since
January.
Members of the Senate
Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, who
visited the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
(OSGF), were shocked by the news.
Paucity of funds due
to non approvals by President Muhammadu Buhari was blamed for the
inability to pay the entitlements of the former leaders.
Payment
schedules were said to have been sent to President Buhari for approval
to access funds from the Service Wide Vote to pay the outstanding
allowances.
The SGF, Mr. David Lawal Babachir, attributed the failure
to pay to lack of funds in Service Wide Votes for salaries of former
presidents.
Babachir told the
committee members: “There is a department responsible for payment of
former Presidents. At present, funds are not available in Service Wide
Votes to do that. We are aware that there was a protest in Bayelsa State
that former President Goodluck Jonathan was not paid, but we have
explained that he is not the only one affected.
“Others affected are
Inter Religious Council, traditional rulers council and so on. For some
reason, we have been writing and writing, but there has been no
response. And there is presently no money to pay them.
“The budget for this
year’s Democracy Day was N33 million and we had to do it on credit; we
are yet to pay. There are lots of retreats which ought to be organised
but there is no money to do any. The last time we got any release was in
August.”
The Senator Tijjani Kaura (APC, Zamfara North)-led
committee members frowned at the non-payment of the former presidents’
entitlements.
They canvassed a joint action by the Office of the SGF and the committee to resolve the “most unfortunate” problem.”
The lawmakers also emphasised the need to draw the attention of the Budget Office and Ministry of Finance to the development.
Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, described the non-payment of former presidents as abnormal.
Hunkuyi
said: “What we have seen here is an abnormality. Before referring any
matter to the National Assembly, it is a function of the executive to
appropriate funds. Therefore, the SGF should understand that there is
something wrong in this office that must be addressed.
“There is no way you
can run the expenses of this office without cash backing. We definitely
have to draw the attention of the Budget Office and Ministry of Finance
to the problems.”
Former Sokoto State Governor Senator Aliyu
Wamakko, a member of the committee also criticized the non-payment of
former presidents by the office of the SGF.
Wamakko said:
“We
can understand if former President Goodluck Jonathan has not been paid
because he just left office. But for someone like Shagari, who lives
from hand to mouth, it’s something I can’t understand. This development
is really unfortunate; it doesn’t indicate seriousness, and it doesn’t
indicate fairness.”
The SGF who laboured
to calm the lawmakers, said: “When I got into this office, there was a
lot of money in this account, but there was no Treasury Single Account.
“Before
the government left office, they jacked up salaries. We told former
Presidents Jonathan and Obasanjo that they cannot earn twice what the
others were earning. So we told them we wanted to review it, and we did.
So they now earn what the others earn as well.
“When I came into
office, there was N1.5b in the account. We had payment of all
liabilities which came to 700 million. Then we wrote to the President to
return what was left to the TSA. That was how we came back to a zero
balance.
“It is painful to me because as a person I know all of them
(ex-presidents) personally. Now, why have we not been able to get the
money? We requested for a budget of N700 million, complaining, but the
President has his way of doing things.
“Look around, you’ll
see government vehicles breaking down every now and then. Really, I
know the challenges the Budget Office is facing, but the truth is, the
funds are not just there. In any government, there are certain agencies
that must be served first before others. So we have agreed on that.
However, we will lean harder on the finance ministry to see that the
situation is turned around.
“As SGF, I’m getting embarrassed and
demeaned by chasing money coming from demands. All MDAS come to me for
things to be done, and it is not quite easy, but we will try our best.
“Last year, these
political appointees had nothing. As to assistance, we really need
assistance, if not but to retain all what we have budgeted for.”
Babachir
urged the National Assembly to intervene by approving funds proposed by
his office in the 2017 budget to be submitted soon.
“What is in our
budget, we need your help to defend it. This is part of the change
agenda, so we must learn to sew our cloth according to the material,” he
said.
The committee faulted the office of the SGF over replication of 2016 budget details in its 2017 budget proposal.
from The Nation