First signs of cracks in Nigeria’s accord with Niger Delta militants

Delay in paying the stipends the Federal government agreed with former Niger Delta militants may derail the peace accord agreed with the militants.

Last week, in Yenogoa, Bayelsa state capital, some former militants threatened to stage a protest which raises fears of a possible resurgence of hostilities. They called for the immediate release of the balance sum of the 2016 supplementary budgetary allocation to avert any situation that will warrant beneficiaries of the programme going to the streets to protest and barricade roads.

Nigeria appropriated N65 billion for the amnesty programme in 2017 but three months into the fiscal year, Nigeria’s lawmakers, are yet to pass the budget.

While the country’s revenue have taken a hit in recent times due to militancy which cut over 40 percent in oil income last year, lull in militancy in the last two months have led to increased production but funds approval process is slow.

The main challenge the Presidential Amnesty Office has faced is inadequate funds. Due to this, tuition fees of some students both in local and international universities have not been paid says the office of the national adviser to the President on Niger Delta headed by Paul Boroh.

This situation has affected payments for vocational training programme as most of the centres have not received enough funding to support over 1,770 delegates. This will make it difficult for about 4,770, persons to exit the training in 2017.

By the terms of the amnesty, each former militant is entitled to N65,000 every month including an opportunity for job training.  Former militants were paid their last stipends in January which covered arrears for the months of August and September 2016.

Piriye Kiyaramo, an officer in the government’s Amnesty Office said the rest of their stipends will be paid later in batches by the Central Bank, when the payments were made in January yet no further payments have been made.

There are concerns that a resumption of militancy will derail Nigeria’s plans to shore up production to 2.2 million barrels per day to meet its budget benchmark

Worse still oil prices are approaching too close to Nigeria’s $44.5 oil benchmark as they currently hover below $50 raising fresh concerns for funding the budget.

National Assembly members on March 22 approved the request of the Federal Government to raise additional $500 million Eurobond from the international capital market to support the 2017 fiscal plan.

However this is predicated on the naira trading strongly against the dollar beyond recent interventions that analysts fear is unsustainable.

Razia Khan, head of African research at Standard Chartered Bank, London, told BusinessDay that Nigeria’s current foreign exchange regime leaves it vulnerable to any sharp decline in oil earnings.

ISAAC ANYAOGU