By Chukwudi Nweje
Debo Adeniran is the Executive Chairman of Centre for Anti Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) and President of National Observatory (NO), a civic engagement body. In this interview, he speaks on some national issues.
President Bola Tinubu recently inaugurated the ministers with a charge to serve the interest of Nigeria irrespective of the state of the country they were selected from, what is your take on that?
We can only encourage the ministers to listen to the public concerns, live above board and optimally perform their duties to meet the expectations of the people and their respective ministries. They need to justify their appointment with performance that is expected to be at par with the level of campaign promises made by the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in tune with the general cooperation the party is currently receiving from the people. We know the state the economy is, is not favourable to individual and business sustenance right now; it is the duty of government to fix it. Most infrastructural facilities are in various state of decay and people are looking up to these ministers to put them in the right form, format and shape. We, the people want to see significant improvements in governmental efficiency in the next few months. People want to see positive changes in official attitude and performance by the time this administration is celebrating one hundred days in office in terms of effective development of public communication, economic and social infrastructure.
Do you think the ministers were adequately placed in terms of the ministry each is assigned to, are there any that you think would perform better in another ministry other than the one he or she is assigned to?
I believe any minister that is worth his or her intellectual onions can successfully perform in any ministry. What is required is administration and meticulous supervisory skills. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a lawyer and we were told that he performed creditably well as a Minister of Finance in the First Republic; even during the Civil War. It is the same with late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who was a journalist before becoming the governor of Lagos and Federal Minister of Works; he also performed wonders in meeting the needs of the populace in the performance of his duties. The ministers only need dedicated staff and quality pieces of advice from competent professionals and technocrats to succeed in office.
Are you concerned by the large cabinet, particularly at this time of economic downturn and agitations by civil society organisations (CSOs), like you on the need to reduce the cost of governance?
The current cabinet is deemed the largest since the return to democracy in 1999. I think the government will be able to justify the large number of the cabinet members by their performance. If we can create ministries that are capable of generating public service and revenues to augment our over reliance on oil money and create employment opportunities for our teeming youth, I don’t think it is bad. The only thing is that the government should avoid unnecessary waste and shun corrupt tendencies which have been the bane of public service over the years. The more the number of ministries, the easier it is for dividends of governance getting to the bottom of the socio-economic strata of the society. We should only be careful not to allow redundancy and profligacy in public services. There should be reductions in the recurrent expenditures of the ministries to the extent that the public will be satisfied that government agencies are exemplary in the observation of austerity measures that the current economic situation requires. No government official should earn more salary, allowances and other emoluments than what their qualifications, skills and experiences would fetch them in civil service.
The South East geopolitical zone complain that it is short-changed in terms of number of slots the zone was awarded, what do you say to the complainants?
We cannot rule out the interplay of party politics and ethnic representation in the selection of these Ministers. The choice of who to work with lies with President Tinubu though the governor of each state and political party’s executives at the state level will have considerable inputs in the selection. What the constitution prescribes is that each state in the country should be represented in the federal cabinet. That minimum constitutional condition has been fulfilled. But the president has prerogative to choose additional members that he thinks will make him more efficient and achieve more effective ends; he seems to be on the right track by choosing more ministers in some areas than others. He could also be spared if he suspects threats from some areas where most hostile campaigns against his emergence as president came from. He would be wary of potentiality of sabotage from such areas and repose less confidence in them by reducing the number of aides he chooses from such areas. That might account for the seeming lopsided effect on the constitution of his cabinet.
The Federal Government has approved N5billion for each of the 36 states and FCT to cushion the effects of subsidy removal, is it that Tinubu did not think through this subsidy issue before declaring on May 29 that subsidy is gone?
The truth of the matter is that the government did not seem truly prepared for the after effects of fuel subsidy removal. The hardship and high cost of living as a result of high cost of goods and services in the land is so high that the government cannot but intervene in a way to assuage the sufferings of the people. We must commend the government for at least listening to the plight of the people by giving palliatives to the states to be distributed to the people. Our major concern now is that the government should ensure that the palliatives get to the people it was intended. It should not be cornered by greedy politicians and other influential people in the states.
Nonetheless, the gains of the removal should not be distributed as palliatives; it should rather be pumped into social sector and macro-economic products and utilities like power, potable water, health care services, education, provision of infrastructural facilities among others to avoid the fund going to the wrong hands.
What are some measures that could be put in place to ensure that the palliative get to the most vulnerable, and not end up like COVID-19 interventions such as the School Feeding Programme during the lock-down?
We have said it earlier that we do not trust the ability and capacity of some state governments to deliver these palliatives to the grassroots people. It would have been better if there had been collaboration between the state governments and civil society organisations who will monitor and ensure that the palliatives get to the grassroots.
NNPC Limited recently obtained a $3billion loan from Afremix Bank of Egypt, what do you say to that?
The process means that the procedure used by NNPCL to obtain $3 billion loan from Afremix Bank is still shrouded in secrecy. How NNPC can go and obtain loan without approval from necessary quarters shows the level of impunity in the country. We have said it earlier that the loan should be probed. The intent behind the loan is unclear to many of us, so the management of NNPC should be probed for this loan and the general public should be made to know no all the details pertaining to the loan.
Do you think ECOWAS should use the military option to restore the democratic government in Niger Republic, and what would be the fall out of an armed conflict on Nigeria?
It will be very unwise to go to war with a neighbouring country like Niger Republic. We believe diplomacy can still do the magic. ECOWAS should not be pushed into fighting a senseless proxy war by the West. We know that the intervention of military in governance is a major setback predicated on prevalence of bad governance policies, maladministration and corruption in some cases under democratic dispensation. The Niger experience is a call to all serving leaders in West Africa in particular and Africa in general to step up their level of participatory governance in order to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people. However, the military leadership should not be allowed to stay longer than necessary as it may have spiraling effects on the morale of other military personnel in the sub region and beyond. The bandwagon effects may drive West Africa several years backwards.
Nigeria is likely to receive the backlash from other countries and refugees who would be forced to relocate by the effects of the war. Already, Nigeria has her own fair share of refugees who are residing in Niger Republic, they would be forced back while insurgents and bandits would become more brazen in attacking hapless civilians in rural villages and other vulnerable communities.
Your group, National Observatory had raised questions why the government filed illegal possession of firearm charge against suspended CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele instead of the economic allegations for which he was removed from office. Now the substituted 20 count charge has been stalled in court severally due to repeated absence of his co-accused, Saadat Yaro. What is your concern on that?
Justice delayed is Justice denied. The government should prosecute Godwin Emefiele based on facts of his misdeeds while in office as Central Bank governor. Unconfirmed reports say he is trying to strike a plea bargaining with the Federal Government, that may be the reason why the case is being stalled in the court. We have no objection if his sentence is discounted based on illegality involved in his award of contracts. We knew that the initial firearms charge against him was just a tactics by the Department of State Services (DSS) to hold on to him. There are a number of other allegations against him that we have not even heard of. That he attempted to contest for president of the country without resigning as the CBN governor and spending millions on the futile political expedition is tantamount to abuse of office and possible financial crimes. He should be summarily tried and sentenced for money laundering, illicit financial flows, financing terrorism, other crimes against humanity and economic sabotage.