BUHARI DISCLOSES JONATHAN'S ROLE IN FUEL SCARCITY, ARMS PROCUREMENT

More revelations have emerged as regard the roles played by the former president Goodluck Jonathan in arms procurement and the lingering fuel scarcity in the country. President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday December 21, disclosed how former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration sought to procure arms to fight Boko Haram by simply stuffing dollars in suitcases, Daily Sun reports.

At a meeting with the British secretary of state for defense, Michael Fallon, the president lamented that the procurement of equipment for Nigeria’s Armed Forces did not follow due process and as a result, became a shady deal during the last administration.

They just put foreign ex- change in a briefcase and traveled to procure equipment for the military. That is why we have found ourselves in the crisis we are now facing,

 the president lamented.

Terrorism has become very sophisticated now. If developed nations can be attacked, and hundreds of lives lost, how much more developing countries? In the West African sub- region, Nigeria is the main battleground of the Boko Haram insurgency. We have made a lot of progress against the terrorists, but we will welcome more assistance from our friends and the international community,

 he said.

Banking on the collaboration of the British government to assist Nigeria in defense procurement, intelligence gathering and training, Buhari  is bent on combating  terrorism in the country.

In September and October 2015, not less than $15million belonging to Nigeria was seized in two installments by South African government

Monies meant for arms procurement were taken illegally into that country. On September 5, 2014, when border authorities seized $9.3 million allegedly meant for the procurement of arms from two Nigerians and an Israeli who arrived the country in a private jet linked to the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, The Nation reports.

The money stashed in three suitcases was discovered by customs officers according to South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

The NPA said it found an invoice for a helicopter and armaments meant for Nigeria with the suspects.
A month later in October, South African authorities seized another $5.7 million transferred by Societe D’Equipments Internationale of Nigeria to South African arms company, Cerberus Risk Solutions, for the procurement of arms, 

the report reads.

Meanwhile, the federal government has vowed to recover a total sum of N350.33bn said to have been misappropriated in the public sector as part of its revenue drive in the 2016 fiscal year.

The Punch reports that the details of the amount to be recovered, which had already been captured in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for 2016-2018, are expected to be unveiled on Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari during the presentation of the 2016 budget to the National Assembly. Similarly, the document stated that the sum of N162.43bn would be recovered through the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation while the balance of N50bn would come from what the document described as ”Recovery of other misappropriated funds”.

Out of the reconciled amount, the sum of $277m had been recovered in lieu of products and the recovery efforts are still ongoing,

 Shehu,the presidential spokesman had said.

Findings revealed that the N350.33bn to be recovered next year would form part of the expected revenue that would accrue to the Federal Government for the funding of its N6.07tn budget for 2016.

Apart from receipts from oil and taxes, the document also listed other sources of government revenue for next year to include privatisation proceeds, where the sum of N10bn is expected to be realised; sale of government property, N25bn; and FG’s share of signature bonus, N740m.

As fuel scarcity lingers across the country, the federal government has blamed Jonathan’s administration for its inability to make adequate provision for fuel subsidy in the 2015 budget, Vangard reports.

Speaking to state house correspondents on Monday, after the rescheduled emergency Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by president, minister of information, Lai Mohammed, alongside minister of budget and planning, Udoma Udo - Udoma, also confirmed it.

One of the reasons for the fuel scarcity was the inability of the last government to make adequate provision for fuel subsidy, 

they said.

As Nigerians battle with the effect of the ongoing scarcity, Nigerians might need to brace up to pay more for electricity.
Despite last week’s call by the House of Representatives asking the federal government to stay action on any review, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Monday unveiled a new tariff regime for consumers. An analysis of the tariffs showed that consumers would witness different levels of increase across the country but would no longer pay the monthly fixed charge, Guardian reports.