By Ayo Yusuf
As Nigerians continue to complain over the paltry foodstuffs recently distributed by state governors as palliatives, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has given the 36 state governors one week ultimatum to disclose details of how they each spent the N2 billion given by the Federal Government or face court action.
Last month, the federal government had announced a N5 billion palliative package for each state of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to cushion the effect of the removal of the fuel subsidy.
Later, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, said the Federal Government had released only N2 billion from the N5 billion loan it offered to each state as a palliative to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.
Since then there have been a series of complaints over how the governors have gone about spending these loans which most Nigerians say have had little effect on their suffering.
The social media is awash with postings of a few spaghetti packs and bowls of rice which many said were all they got as their share of the N2bn. Many complained that nothing was even shared in their states or if anything was, nothing had reached them.
In a statement on Sunday, SERAP asked the Nigerian governors to reveal details of the spending of the palliative received from Abuja.
The group’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged the respective states to “disclose details on spending of the N2 billion palliative recently disbursed to each state by the federal government, including the names of beneficiaries and details of the reliefs so far provided with the money.”
The statement added that,
“It is in the public interest to publish the details on spending of the N2 billion palliative and any subsequent disbursement of funds to your government.
“Nigerians have the right to know how their states are spending the fuel subsidy relief funds. It is part of their legally enforceable human rights.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you and your state to comply with our request in the public interest.”
Earlier, the Assistant General-Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Onyeka, warned that NLC was opposed to the N5bn palliative package given to states, alleging that it was ‘’a form of settlement to state governors.’’
Mr. Onyeka who said Labour officials in the states were not part of the committees involved in the sharing of the palliatives concluded that, “That money was a dash for the boys. We believe the government has used that money to settle the state governors. It is not for ordinary Nigerians or workers.
“So the possibility that such money will get to Nigerians is very slim and that is the truth. We made it clear that we don’t want any palliative for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people to be handled by state governors.
“We made this very clear to the Federal Government on several occasions. So any money they are giving to them (governors), we are not in support of it,” the NLC official stated.
Though five billion naira was earmarked for each state government to provide palliatives, only two billion was eventually released because as the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, explained, the idea was to prevent spiral inflation as a result of too much cash in the system.
He added: “Although the sum of five billion is earmarked, you will agree with me that to release such funds across all the states, all at once, will be self-defeating because it will lead to an inflationary spiral, it will lead to the cost of the goods being sold going up, it will lead to the exchange rate moving. This explains the two billion naira that has been released as an initial intervention.”
Mr. Edun stated that the amount of Nigerian money outside the country is huge while cash outside of the banking system is also substantial and there was an urgent need to mobilise the money back to the system to shore up the value of the naira.
“There is a lot of cash outside the system, which, if brought into the system, will increase the money supply of dollars and increase the reserves. There are funds in domiciliary accounts, which if you give people the incentive, they will utilise for investment in Nigeria. Nigerians in Nigeria have huge holdings of foreign currency in banks abroad and financial institutions abroad.
“We need to provide the environment that brings those funds home to choose to invest in the Nigerian economy rather than foreign economies, which is what they are doing now. If you place money in a bank abroad, they’re investing in a foreign economy,” he added.
