Senate committee rejects N1.2bn (m) budget for Nigeria's ex-presidents and vice-presidents

I am in support of this.....

Nigeria's senate committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental-Governmental Affairs has rejected a N1.2bn ($8m) request, from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, for allowances and benefits for former Heads of State (and presidents) and Vice-presidents in 2011.

A representative of the Secretary to the Federal Government, speaking before the comittee, said that the N1.2bn, which is already in arrears, is required to fulfil allowances and benefits due to seven living former Heads of State, five former Vice-Presidents, six families of deceased Heads of State, two families of deceased Vice-Presidents and five ex-chiefs of staff to the presidents.

He also stated that the allowances and benefits met the guidelines stipulated in an Act recently passed by the National Assembly for allowances for ex-Heads of State in Nigeria which calls for a five bedroom house to be built for each ex-Head of State in any location of their choice, three vehicles, to be replaced every three years, for each ex-Head of State, and the salaries of their personal staff to be paid by the Federal government.

The new law provides benefits and allowances for former presidents, including military heads of states, their wards and spouses until the death of the last surviving relatives. They are also entitled to medical treatment overseas, VIP treatment whenever they are in Abuja an annual allowance for the spouse(s) and education of his children up to university level. These entitlements are in addition to the pension entitlement that they are due under the 1999 constitution.

The SGF representative also pointed out that N2.2 billion ($15m) had been proposed for allowances and benefits for former Heads of State and Vice-presidents in 2010 but this was removed when the 2010 budget was being finalized.

Reacting to the request, the chairman of the committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, said he would not present the report to the Senate for approval and "I will not be able to defend this before the appropriation committee. My conscience will not permit me to do that. I think that these retired Heads of State should be able to take care of their needs, but we are still paying so much in the face of people not being able to eat three square meals a day. It is unfair.

“I cannot understand why we are going to be spending so much money on former Heads of State who presided over the affairs of this country rightly and wrongly when we are growing an army of unemployed youths who are now capable of staging a revolution.

“It is unfair to set aside N2bn for a few people who were part of those who mismanaged this country when there are no jobs, when there are no drugs in the hospitals and there is so much poverty in the land. Tell them to sacrifice, the hospitals have no drugs, the roads are bad, there is no electricity, and most graduates are unemployed,”

Senator Adeyemi added that he continues to oppose the implementation of the Act since it does not represent the interest of Nigerians and he hopes that the Act will be revisited for a possible repeal or amendment soon. During the debate on the recently passed bill, Senator Adeyemi had expressed strong criticism, arguing that the past presidents “do not deserve to get all that because they are very comfortable and have mismanaged Nigeria.”

For how long shall this issue be debated?.

Nigerian State is a country sufferng frm a corruptn chronic ailment..All d officials @ d Aso Rock are bunch of financial thefts..GOD BLESS 9IJA.

OUR LEADER WHEN DID OUR OIL REVENUE BECOME MENTHOLATED SPIRIT DOES THE MONEY ACCRUED FROM OIL EVAPORATING TOO?

It was reveled yesterday that we now make 4.2 Billion Dollar from oil. which interpret to the fact that plus or minus 12 trillion naira yearly is generated from oil alone. Based on the estimate that the output for up to twelve month now is between 2.2 Million barrel to 2.6 million barrel. juxtaposing this to the conclusion of our rulers that we can not afford to have more than a budget of 4.2 trillion naira, based on oil benchmark of 65 dollar with above 3 trillion placed on money expected from oil and other exports while others is projected on internal revenue. can the be justified by the following calculations:

USING THE BENCHMARK:

65 DOLLAR X 2,300,000 BARRELS (PREVIOUS DAILY PRODUCTION) = 149,500,000.00 MILLION DOLLARS AT N153 PER DOLLAR = APROX 22,425,000,000 BILLION NAIRA X 365 DAYS = 8,185,125,000,000.00 TRILLION NAIRA

MIND YOU, SINCE THESE BENCHMARK HAS BEEN PEGGED, THE OIL HAS BEEN BETWEEN 70 DOLLARS AND NOW 100 DOLLARS PER BARREL. NOW THE COUNTRY EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT IS AS LOW AS 300 MILLION DOLLARS INSTEAD OF IT INCREASING IT KEPT REDUCING.

CALCULATING USING THE PRESENT REALITY ON GROUND BECAUSE OIL IS BEING SOLD ABOVE THE BENCHMARK ALL THESE WHILE USISNG 80 DOLLAR PER BARREL AS MID POINT

80 DOLLAR X 2,600,000 BARRELS (PRESENT DAILY PRODUCTION) = 208,000,000.00 MILLION DOLLARS AT N153 PER DOLLAR = APROX 31,824,000,000 BILLION NAIRA (DAILY SALES) X 365 DAYS = 11,615,760,000,000.00 TRILLION NAIRA YEARLY

AFTER SPENDING 4.2 TRILLION OUT OF + - 10 TRILLION WHERE IS THE REMAINING 5.8 TRILLION NAIRA?