AFTER a two-day screening, the Senate yesterday
confirmed 18 ministerial nominees, among them former
Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) and Kayode
Fayemi (Ekiti).
The other ministers-designate are Senator Udoma Udo
Udoma (Akwa Ibom), Chief Audu Ogbeh (Benue), Dr.
Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi), Dr. Osagie Ehanire (Edo), Alhaji
Lai Mohammed (Kwara), Lt. Gen. Adulrahman
Danbazzau (Kano), Amina Ibrahim Mohammed (Gombe),
Mr. Suleiman Hussaini Adamu, Mr. Ibrahim Usman
Jibrin, Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigeria
National Corporation (NNPC) Dr. Emmanuel Ibe
Kachikwu, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) , Senator Chris
Ngige, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, Mr. Solomon
Dalong, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and Senator Hadi Sirika.
The confirmation of Mohammed, the All Progressives
Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary, was as
dramatic as his screening on Tuesday.
Mohammed’s screening on Tuesday was an exchange
of banters between him and the senators. But
yesterday, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party,
(PDP) senators shouted ‘nay’ when Senate President
Bukola Saraki called out his name for confirmation. But
APC senators rose stoutly in his defence with their ‘yes’
shout.
Eight of the ministersl-designate were yesterday
screened. The Oyo State nominee, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu,
was not screened apparently for lack of time. He is likely
to be screened today.
Former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s
screening was deferred because the petition against him
had not been considered by the Senate Committee on
Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. Amaechi is also
likely to be screened today.
Musa Ibeto’s nomination was withdrawn by the
President. He replaced the Niger State nominee with
Bawa Bwari, a former House of Representatives
member.
Ministers-designate such as Ngige, Sirika and Alhassan
were asked to introduce themselves, make some
remarks and “take a bow and go” being former senators.
They spoke on a number of issues.
Kachikwu
The NNPC GMD told the senators that President
Muhammadu Buhari is insisting on putting necessary
palliatives in place before considering oil subsidy
removal.
If any person from the private sector is asked whether
subsidy should be removed, the categorical answer, he
said, would be yes.
He said the President was particularly concerned about
the provision of necessary palliatives especially in the
areas of transport, health and education, when the issue
came up before him.
Kachikwu said he agreed with the President that unless
necessary palliatives were in place “you cannot just
remove subsidy.”
“The NNPC is working to establish the actual volume of
PMS the country consumes monthly and the actual
amount the country spends on subsidy to determine the
direction to go”, he said, adding:
“If you don’t handle it with palliatives, you create
problem.”
To encourage the use of domestic gas in the country, the
Federal Government, he said, would begin the
distribution of free gas cylinder next year.
The NNPC GMD said the country loses about $15 billion
yearly because of the non-passage of the Petroleum
Industry Bill (PIB).
The minister-designate noted that the NNPC is perfecting
the policy of free gas cylinder distribution to encourage
the use of gas and also reduce the use of kerosene.
Kachikwu said he has been in the oil industry for 30
years covering all sectors.
On the perennial scarcity of petrol and high cost of
kerosene, he said NNPC was working to ensure that fuel
scarcity becomes a thing of the past.
He said there was no plan to reduce the pump price of
petrol as being speculated by some people.
Kachikwu said: “We have come out very clearly that
there is no such plan. In the next one, two days, you will
find that individuals will open their stations and products
are there. We have enough storage in this country that
will last us for the next 40, 50 days”.
On production level of refineries, he said: “Refineries are
operating today at about 25, 27 per cent capacity. I
know that there had been this whole number bandie
around to the fact that we are at 65 per cent
performance level; that is not true and I have advised His
Excellency as such. “
He insisted that if the country can’t run the refineries
“then we need to get out, make adequate arrangement to
privatise them and take them out.”
On why refineries are not producing at optimal capacity,
he said: “Over the last 10 years, we have not really done
a serious shut down routine maintenance.”
Most of the refineries, he said, were 30 years old and
above when refineries have a lifespan of 50 to 60 years
if maintained constantly.
“Kerosene is a different ball game. You will notice that
only NNPC for now, imports kerosene. And that is
because the sale prices are such that nobody can bring
in kerosene and make money.
“As a matter of fact, 50 per cent of NNPC’s subsidy
charges come from importation of kerosene. So, the first
thing is how do you make kerosene easily available?
“If the refineries work and produce more kerosene. If you
begin a good deforestation and afforestation
programme, you can begin to take our people away from
kerosene”, the NNPC GMD said.
On the PIB, he said he promised himself not to be
constrained by the lack of PIB in finding holistic solutions
to the industry’s problems.
“So, using existing laws, we have continued to make
changes. Because at the end of the day, whether or not
PIB is available and passed, it really doesn’t lie within the
umbrella of the executive, it lies with this revered
Assembly. But I also do not think that the problem with
PIB has been the facts of the versions. By the time the
last Senate was rounding off, it had got a version that
was clearly the version that both houses were looking at.
Am I going to create a new version? Not really. What I
will need to do is take the version that you have, look at
it again and make changes”, Kachikwu said.
He described corruption as a major issue in NNPC,
saying: “We are working very hard to try and wipe that
out. Since I joined, we have literally cut every contract
that we found suspicious.”
Over nearly 40 per cent of the revenue that NNPC
generates, he said, is utilised by NNPC for its own needs,
adding: “ If you look at the numbers for NNPC, NNPC
spends more than a lot of three or four, five states
gathered together in terms of their annual budget.“
NNPC, he said, had downsized at the upper level, moving
from nine directorates to four or five.
“We have removed from the system about 150 Deputy
General Managers (DGMs) and cut that down to about
100 DGMs. We have moved General Managers from a
total of about 180 to about 90,” he said.
Fashola
The former Lagos State governor denied corruptly
enriching himself in the controversial N78 million
personal website deal executed under his administration.
Asked to define loyalty, the former governor described it
as a strange concept, saying: “I have always prayed that
may our loyalty never be tested.
“I pray that my loyalty should not be tested. In my public
life, I have had cause to be loyal to causes I believe in”.
Fashola, the first to be screened yesterday said he could
not take credit for his work in Lagos, saying it was a
team effort. “It was a team work, a pioneering work by
all those who served before me and it is a continuing
effort.
“So, it will be extremely inappropriate and immodest of
me and indeed, they would not let me if I had attempted
to take personal responsibility for all that happened,” he
said.
On the alleged deportation of some Nigerians from Lagos
during his tenure, Fashola apologised to those offended
by the action, adding that people were rehabilitated and
taken to where they called home instead of being kept
continuously against their wish.
Malami
Malami spoke on the administration of justice, saying
whatever responsibility he is given he would be true to
his God, the country and President Buhari.
He noted that justice administration would be incomplete
without financial independence of the judiciary.
No person should be detained in criminal matter beyond
three months before being brought to court, Malami
said, noting that under the Justice administration,
criminal cases should be determined within 180 days.
For a proper justice administration, there must be
collaboration among the three arms of government, he
said, adding that prisoners should be made to acquire
vocational skills while serving their terms.
Malami urged the National Assembly to hasten the
passage of the bills that would assist the administration
of justice.
Hajia Alhassan
She told the Senate that contrary to insinuations, she is
still pursuing her governorship election petition at a
tribunal in Taraba State
She contested the last governorship election on APC
platform against PDP’s Ishaku Darius.
She said: “My nomination by President Muhammadu
Buhari has nothing to do with my ongoing election
petition. President Buhari will not prevent me from going
ahead with the case”.
On corruption in the judiciary, Alhassan said the problem
is not only about money. “When a judge exercises his
discretional powers injudiciously, it is corruption.
“Corruption is perpetrated by judges and lawyers in
many ways. Lawyers ingratiate themselves with judges
and make friends with them. They then lobby to have
their cases assigned to such judges.
“We all know that judges are also human beings capable
of being influenced by their friendship with their lawyer-
friends”, he said.
Mrs Adeosun
To avoid economic recession, she said, the country must
increase its revenue base by expanding its Internally
Generated Revenue (IGR).
“There is need to pursue an aggressive cashless system
to plug leakages and to explore additional revenue
options to augment dwindling oil earnings”, Mrs Adeosun
said, adding:
“The economy is slowed down but not in recession. We
can avoid recession by creating more jobs, particularly in
the private sector”.
She added: “Investing in infrastructure will also help in
stimulating the economy for job creation and expanding
the frontiers of entrepreneurship.
“The Treasury Single Account (TSA) will reduce
borrowing by government and if government is not
borrowing, private businesses will be able to access
loans for investment. The policy may appear harsh in
the short run, but it will be beneficial in the long run.
“The country must develop its infrastructure to attract
foreign investment while interest rate must be brought
down to enable legal businesses to access loans.
“Governments at all levels must cut down on recurrent
expenditure and increase capital spending in annual
budgets. The present situation where government runs
budget on 78 per cent recurrent cannot grow the
economy.
“To avoid revenue leakage, there must be transparency
in the waiver regime, while the exchange rate cannot be
entirely left to market forces alone to determine.
More importantly, we must encourage local industries by
patronising made in Nigeria goods. “We should buy
made in Nigeria, eat made in Nigeria and drink made in
Nigeria products”,
Ngige
Ngige called for peace in the country “because we are
through with the elections”.
He said there was the need to pay attention to the
economy because of the dwindling oil revenue.
The former Anambra state gtovernor said the country is
in the era of change, adding that the change must be
holistic.
Dalong
He spoke on how to decongest prisons.
The country, he said, should pay more attention to solid
minerals, which he noted had been neglected for long.
He said the history of the crises in some states, including
Plateau, Benue, Kaduna and the Northeast should be
considered in finding lasting solution to them.
Sirika
He spoke about the need to revive the national carrier.
The country, he said, should work quickly to revive its
national carrier for reasons of national interest.
Sirika said most of the bilateral agreements the country
signed were lopsided because of lack of national carrier.
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