The question on the lips of many keen observers of the economy would be, since the budget was just signed into law, and the Presidency has been habitual in saying that it met an ‘empty treasury’ what on earth did they use to keep the country afloat?
The Goodluck Jonathan-led administration has been painted as crooks and thieves who plundered the country’s economy leaving it in a comatose state.
Asking some pertinent questions will proffer answers to this debate as to whether former president Jonathan left an empty treasury.
But is the insinuation really true? Did Jonathan strip Nigeria to shreds as declared by President Buhari and his team?
Where did the Buhari-led government get funds to bail out states? Where did it get funds to embark on its over 20 foreign trips, while also receiving estacodes for each trip?
It’s a known fact that the Jonathan-led government had obvious plans to save which was truncated by the greedy governors and members of the Sharing Governors’ Forum despite the advice by the former Minister of Finance; Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that the nation should save for the future. The governors refused, portraying their insatiable appetite to consume and not produce. They go cap in hand to Abuja like beggars all in a bid to share the nation’s resources.
The question we should ask the governors is: why can’t they pay their workers? Did Jonathan make them inept in making good business decisions? Why did some of them take bad loans from banks? What are they doing with their security votes? After all they are not in charge of security within their states, as the Federal Government still handles this, due to the absence of state policing.
With all these questions and more, not only do the governors’ have a case to answer, the Buhari-led government also have to prove that it met an empty treasury.
In the early days of his administration when the President said he met an empty treasury, it did not take long for his statement to be debunked in strong terms by one of the immediate past Minister/Deputy Chairman National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman. Suleiman said the former administration as at May 29 left behind the sum of US$2billion, adding that the sum would have been higher if not the governors insistence on sharing the fund.
He said, “Government can’t tell us that there is no Excess Crude Account (ECA), Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) or are we saying the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and related agencies had not in the last one month been generating revenue?
“Until they are able to prove they had no receipts from these government agencies in the last one month before Nigerians can now buy into Mr. President’s claims of an empty treasury.”
Before the governors received bail out from the Federal Government, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, had announced that President Muhammadu Buhari and the 36 states had agreed to share $1.7bn (N391bn) from the balance of $2.078 billion in the Excess Crude Account (ECA).
“The position is very clear. What we met on ground is what we are going to distribute,” Mr. Idris said. “What we met on ground is hovering between $1.6 bn and $1.7 bn, and that is what we are going to distribute among all the three tiers of governments based on the approved formula.”
With this coming from the Accountant General of the Federation, someone who is supposed to know the nation’s account details, how on earth then did the Jonathan-led government leave an empty treasury? I believe this is just an attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
It’s obvious that this administration is clueless and wants to blame its inadequacies on Jonathan and his economic team led by Dr Iweala.
Femi Hassan is a social commentator and writes from Lagos State. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Hard Truth
ReplyDeleteAPC know they met sufficient money on taking over. They should just stop this devilish propaganda.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the enlightenment lest their lies and propaganda becloud the truth. APC government is a political 419 on Nigeria. Nigerians really entered a political one chance vehicle and they have now fully stuck. Nigeria sorry ooo! This change don turn to shame starvation hardship and misery.
ReplyDeleteThe money they looted is real efcc is recovering them, Nigerian are the witness. If not they left empty account how come their governors cannot pay salary till Buhari govt came and bailed them out? Who do you think will trust Jonathan and PDP again who believed that corruption is just a mere stealing
ReplyDeleteOga read the article very well...must you always comment based on ethnocentrism..haba,we were all alive when pmb said he met an empty Treasury,the question now is what has this govt been using all this while...which money did they use as bail out funds...those are the pertinent questions begging for answers and analysis..if u can't contribute effectively to the analysis on ground,then you gerrara here...
DeleteRecovering what? Have they given you account of any recovery?
DeleteSo you agreed the Buhari administration bailed out some states of which many of them are APC states with the governors on second term.
Please well before you write. If he met empty treasury, where did he get the bail out fund from?
Clueless and , therefore adds no value to this discussion.
DeleteBail out money came from NLNG payment that was paid when the new govt came in. Of course the treasury wasn't empty. It was near empty. If 60 billion dollars in foreign reserves becomes 28 billion. What do you call that?
ReplyDeleteIt's not looting it's ordinary stealing and stealing is not corruption... Useless writeup.. PDP bunch of thieves
DeleteIt's not looting it's ordinary stealing and stealing is not corruption... Useless writeup.. PDP bunch of thieves
DeleteEmpty??? No, empty brain.
DeleteAPC is talking rubbish. If they had been in power all along, they would never have left $30 billion in reserves. They are spendthrift and corrupt. Most of the state's that have not been able to pay salaries are APC states like Osun. It's true they went to court to declare the Excess Crude Account set up by Okonjo Ezeala illegal and forced her to share the 20 billion dollars saved for the future. Oshiomole and Aregbesola were the arrow heads of the protest. How come they could not pay salaries? They should be probed and the campaign source of APC should also be probed!
DeleteBros, when they say the treasury is empty, it doesn't mean there is no kobo in it. But what is in it is not significant to run the country. How much is $1.7 billion for a country with population of abt 170 million ppl.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your reply. I couldn't have said better. Some people just come into this forum and started vomiting rubbish. When Buhari said the treasury was empty, does that means until Nigeria account is 0 then you can believe then that we don't have any money in our account. Nearly empty is tantamount to empty. This writer has also added salt upon injury that Jonathan left $2 billion dollars. Are you with your right mind? Do you think this Country can be run on $2 billion dollars for a whole fiscal year? Common sense is not common.
DeleteCan APC leave $30 billion US in any reserves for anybody?
ReplyDeleteEvidence of ignorance in Nigeria. PDP has destroyed Nigeria and repair is hard.
ReplyDeleteYea...just as your brain has been destroyed,and repair is hard...you hide under the guise of anonymous to talk rubbish,why not show your real identity,then we can take you seriously...
DeleteTHE DESTRUCTING/STEALING GOVERMENT OF PDP IS FANTASTICALLY BETTER TO NIGERIA MASSES/COMMON MAN THAN THE REPAIR/CHANGE OF APC
DeleteWhat a "fantastic evidence of ignorance & bias". It's a pity for someone to have come out & easly tell Nigerians that he doesn't know the meaning of empty treasury as it relates to a country, especially the giant of Africa.
ReplyDeleteWell! The first class looting under the past administration despite all the security agencies, was supposed to be controlled by who?
Is it the state governors that keep reserve including foreign for a country or the Federal government itself?
If absence of police at state levels was what made states to squander & left empty treasuries, why was the Federal government's treasury that was supervised by different groups of security agencies was, permit me to say "left empty".
Please!, gone were the days when people will be using their religious, regional or tribalistic sentiments & hatred to seduce the minds of patriotic Nigerians.
Long live a better & positive change for the good people of Nigeria! Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!
Group of unrepentant liars.
ReplyDeleteAPC(All Promises Cancelled)
Gradually, the truth and reality behind all this drama will be revealed and, "whatever a man soweth, he shall surely reap".
Dr Okonjo is undoubtedly a great woman of priceless virtues. She is not like YOU people, who only run your rotten-brain into your foul-mouth after eating a big bowl of Fufu. She helped the Nigerian economy a great deal. Haters should bath on the electric Transformer! Saboteurs pervading the Nigerian politics at the top and below her, were the key frustrating Herods, Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzars and the Jezebels. Dr Iweala played her part and STRONGLY STOOD FOR WISE SPENDING AS WELL AS CONSERVATION OF INCOME. Jonathan has a case to answer. Even you senseless Writer! Jobless people like this Writer should blatantly cease mentioning Okonjo's name in such aspersion Articles like this again. It is base! This Article is a wash! This writer is obviously a nitwit and nomard! God bless Madam Iweala!
ReplyDelete