“Sometimes when we talk about our economy, we say that we have relied on a single commodity, and that is one of the reasons why we are where we are. Yes, that is true but it is the fact that the proceeds of that single commodity were regularly hijacked consistently by a few. That is really the problem. If we spend the proceeds of that single commodity the way we ought to spend it, we won’t be where we are today. That most of the proceeds go to rent seekers, who invest little in industry and production.”
Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has blamed the country’s woes on grand corruption in the public space.
Justifying his claim, Osinbajo identified the so-called strategic alliance contracts with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and NDPC which the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke and her business partners Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko used to fleece the country of $3 billion.
Osinbajo stated this in his remarks at the 7th Presidential Business Forum in Abuja on Monday.
Although he admitted that over-dependence on single commodity as source of national economy was problem of the nation’s woes, the Vice President however put the record straight by adding that even at that, the hijack of the proceeds of that single commodity by a few was the major factor responsible for the country’s underdevelopment.
He said, ”So for example, I’m sure many of us are familiar with the so called strategic alliance contracts with the NNPC and NDPC. The promoters of the companies made away with close to 3 billion US dollars, almost a tenth of our reserves at one point! There is no way if someone made away with that amount, a tenth of your reserves, that there won’t be a major economic shock! If we don’t deal with it and talk about it, how do we really discuss our economy in any real honest way with a view to ensuring that these things do not happen again,” the Vice President said.
He continued, ”Sometimes when we talk about our economy, we say that we have relied on a single commodity, and that is one of the reasons why we are where we are. Yes, that is true but it is the fact that the proceeds of that single commodity were regularly hijacked consistently by a few. That is really the problem. If we spend the proceeds of that single commodity the way we ought to spend it, we won’t be where we are today.
”That most of the proceeds go to rent seekers, who invest little in industry and production.
”So for example, I’m sure many of us are familiar with the so called strategic alliance contracts with the NNPC and NDPC. The promoters of the companies made away with close to 3billion US dollars, almost a tenth of our reserves at one point! There is no way if someone made away with that amount, a tenth of your reserves, that there won’t be a major economic shock! If we don’t deal with it and talk about it, how do we really discuss our economy in any real honest way with a view to ensuring that these things do not happen again?
”In one single transaction, a few weeks to the elections in 2015, the sum of N100billion and $289million in cash were embezzled by a few. When you consider that in 2014, when oil prices were an average of $110 per barrel, only N99billion was spent on Power, Works and Housing, and in one day, N100billion was issued and people essentially shared it and N99billion was spent on Power, Works and Housing. When we talk about our economy, we talk about it like it is normal but it is abnormal by every standard, completely abnormal. Nobody should talk about the economy when you have these huge leakages and corruption; corruption that makes what you allocate to capital and infrastructure nonsense.
”From the presentation of Minister of Finance, N14billion was spent on agriculture in 2014, transportation N15billion. The total spend on capital in those critical areas was N153billion and in two weeks to the 2015 election, N150billion was shared and essentially shared! So if your total capital spend is N150billion and you can share N153billion, let’s face it, that is completely incredible! It is the sort of thing that doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. When we talk about the economy, we absolutely must understand that is the problem
”Today with less revenue, we have increased capital funding by 400% in Power, Works and Housing, Defence, Transportation and Agriculture. Economic analysis in Nigeria is either fraudulent or ignorant if we do not bring the money lost to corruption into the maths.
”This is what distinguishes this administration from any other. It is the fight against corruption especially in public finance. And I can say that will all sense of responsibility, if you have a President who is not corrupt, at least 50% of your financial problems, especially in public finance, is over. This is what I have seen, and I can prove it with facts and figures.
”If the President is corrupt, the entire financial system of the country is compromised, that is what we have seen from the figures. That is an absolute important point that we must take into account.
”I am not saying that corruption under this administration has been completely dealt, certainly not. Where corruption has become systematic, you can’t deal with it all in one fell swoop. In any event you still have to deal with corruption fighting back, the system fights back, it is both an internal and external fight, and you have to be steadfast and strategic to win the battle. There is no way you have a system that has consistently thrived on corruption and proceeds of corruption and public finance in particular that will just roll over, no! It is a system that had actively dealt on corruption and the system affects all aspects of governance. So clearly trying to deal with it is not a walk in the park.
”I want to say that the task has already begun and being done consistently, I believe that going forward in the next few years, no matter how we slice it, if we stick to policies especially in controlling excesses and corruption in public finance, this country will make the kind of progress it deserves to make with all of the resources at our disposal. If we stick to a policy that ensures that as far as public finance is concerned, there is no impunity, and we hold people to account, I am absolutely confident this country has everything it takes to make the sort of progress that we deserve to make as a nation,” Osinbajo said.
