Instigating a constitutional crisis

Late December last year, the government announced that the National Economic Council has approved $1 billion to be spent by the federal government from the Excess Crude Account to fight Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region – the same Boko Haram the government and the army repeatedly assured it had defeated technically, had been dislodged from their stronghold of Sambisa forest and which no longer controls an inch of Nigeria’s territory but whose remnant and fleeing members could only attack soft targets. For added measure, the Chairman of the governor’s forum, Abdulaziz Yari, told the media the governors of the 36 states of Nigeria approved the withdrawal even though Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose denied ever agreeing to such plan.

We queried the decision on the following grounds: First, the money in the Excess Crude Account belongs to the three tiers of government (the federal, state and local governments) and by extension the entire citizenry. The federal and state governments or more appropriately, their executives alone cannot decide on what to do with it to the exclusion of the local governments and especially the representatives of the people. It is not some personal money; therefore the governors have no right to grant permission to the federal government to use it for whatever purpose without due process. Secondly, when have the National Economic Council and the Governor’s forum become a legislative institution with the power of the purse when there is a legitimate National Assembly in place and constitutionally assigned to perform that function? Three, the government has already proposed to spend another N422 billion (the second highest in the proposed budget) for Defence in the 2018 budget. Why another $1 billion for fighting an already defeated enemy? Fourth, if the government’s decision is to rebuild the region affected by the insurgency, there already exist several interventions being undertaken in the Northeast both by government and the private sector including the Presidential Initiative in the North East (PINE), whose money the sacked Secretary to the Federal Government helped himself and his associates generously to, the Northeast Development Agency, private sector led Northeast fund, interventions by national and international Non-Governmental Organisations, the dedicated focus by the World Bank as requested by the president; all targeted at rebuilding the region.

We concluded that the decision was fraught with many irregularities and impunity and the National Assembly must not allow it to pass. We were therefore taken aback when, last week, the Minister of Defence informed the nation at the end of a meeting the president had with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa that the president has approved the release of $1 billion for the procurement of security equipment to fight insurgency in the country without recourse to the National Assembly. That unilateral action would have meant officially, Nigeria is no longer a democracy. Although the presidency initially denounced the news insisting that the president could not have unilaterally approved the sum, for spending, without appropriation by the National Assembly, it later emerged that the executive had indeed spent about $469 million to purchase 12 super Tucano aircrafts from the United States. The president merely wrote the National Assembly seeking an approval for the money already spent. More annoying is the fact that the payment was made for aircrafts that will be delivered not in the nearest future to aid the war against terror but in 2020.

This is clearly an impeachable offence and many have been calling for the impeachment of the president. Whether that is possible or even desirable at this point in time is a debate for another day.

But like we have argued before, the lack of clarity and accountability in the release and utilisation of funds to prosecute the war on insurgency is beginning to expose the farce that is the war on terror. It appears, like many informed analysts and watchers of events in Nigeria have been insinuating, that there’s a huge industry sustaining the war on Boko Haram and ensuring the war never ends.

The National Assembly has its work well cut out for it. It must be able to discharge its responsibility of acting as an effective oversight to the government else Nigeria will officially become a dictatorship.