Buhari to End Fuel Subsidy, Rationalise MDAs

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari

•  Says power transmission to be decentralised
•  To announce cabinet one week after swearing in

Gboyega Akinsanmi

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday  said he would end fuel subsidies and the oil and gas sector would be reformed as a matter of priority in order to attract new investments.

Unveiling his economic policies at a Lagos Business School breakfast meeting, he added that he would run a very lean government, which would involve rationalising overlapping and redundant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in line with the Steve Oronsaye presidential committee report.

Buhari, who was represented by former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, at the meeting however disclosed that there would be very little action from his administration until October, partly due to what he ascribed to the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan is the author of the 2015 budget.

He said the federal government under the All Progressives Congress (APC) would seek “to align the electoral and fiscal calendars to avoid this type of problem in future”.
He informed his audience that the cardinal agenda of the government and their over-arching themes would be security, fighting corruption and unemployment.

“We believe that corruption has a very strong negative link to both security and unemployment,” he said.

He said there would be no real action until October partly because the 2015 budget “is Jonathan’s and may be fully approved in April. A very lean government is the focus, largely in line with the Steve Oronsaye presidential committee report. This report was available to the Jonathan government, but the will to implement it was absent”.

He promised that a cabinet would be announced very quickly within one week of inauguration.
“Anyone with a whiff of corruption or any kind of taint will not be in the cabinet. Our manifesto will reflect zero tolerance for corruption,” he said.

He acknowledged that the APC “is not a conclave of cardinals, as it includes the good, the bad and the ugly,” noting that in Nigeria, the bad and the ugly could be the biggest electoral assets, though the new government “will not interfere with law enforcement agencies or the judiciary even if APC members are involved in corrupt practises”.

He added that the Vice-President-elect, Prof. Oluyemi Osinbajo, did a lot of work as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, assuring Nigerians that he would bring his experience to revamp and strengthen the judiciary to complement the anti-corruption drive and the rule of law. “He will also anchor the economic committee,” he said.

He promised that his government would continue with some of the programmes in the Jonathan administration, which were successful.
“For example, agriculture, though there would be a stronger collaboration between the federal and state governments,” he said.

He also spoke on his plan to consolidate such anti-corruption agencies as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), among others.

According to him, rather than strengthen key anti-corruption agencies like EFCC, ICPC and SFI, they are likely to be consolidated and a single entity would be made more effective.

“We believe Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is getting over-burdened by developmental finance issues at the expense of its core objectives; this will be changed,” he said.
He said the subsidy on petroleum products would certainly go and the industry would be reformed as a matter of priority in order to attract new investments.

“While power reform has been commendable and will continue, the approach will change,” Buhari said.
He explained that power transmission would be deregulated, regionalised and privatised in order “to break down centralised transmission, while the issues of gas supply to Gencos will be addressed.

“But the new government believes that Discos are the biggest bottlenecks presently. The government plans to add on 4,000 MW of power every year and expect that output will reach a minimum of 12,000 MW at the end of his tenure”.
He said the party’s groundwork showed that N3 trillion in savings could come out of plugged leakages, noting that the employment drive would be private sector led.

“The government will allow market forces to prevail, including in the foreign exchange regime,” he said.
The president-elect debunked speculations that he would use fiat to fix the  foreign exchange, adding, however, that the government would keenly seek to protect the more economically vulnerable segments of the society.

He added that there would be a tightening of the tax noose, though there would be no tax increase.
“The Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) will be strengthened and the LASG IGR template will be adopted at the national level,” he stated.

Buhari acknowledged that the country’s infrastructure gap required huge capital outlay, which the government does not have, but promised to develop a master plan for infrastructure development.

AON Congratulates Buhari, Seeks Improved Aviation Sector

General Muhammadu Buhari

Chinedu Eze

The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has congratulated the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan for the peaceful atmosphere that reigned supreme during the just concluded presidential elections.

The body has also charged the in-coming government to introduce urgent policies that would help to improve the aviation industry.

In a congratulatory letter, the association said the task to rebuild the aviation/airline sector must remain on course in the light of many issues that domestic operators have consistently put on the front burner for government's attention.

“Against this background the AON wish to draw government's attention to issues agitating the minds of operators which are not limited to the following: the need for aircraft maintenance hangar in the country, the exclusion of domestic airlines by the Central Bank of Nigeria window for credit facility, the skyrocketing price of aviation fuel and the multiple tax regime by aviation authorities to domestic carriers,” AON said in the letter signed by its executive chairman, Captain Nogie Meggison.

The operators also called for the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on air transportation as other modes of transportation, including foreign airline operating in and out of Nigeria are not paying VAT; improvement of service delivery by aeronautical agencies; access to single digit loan by financial institutions and engagement of more Nigerian pilots / engineers by foreign carriers (over 500 pilots and engineers youths unemployed).

AON condemned the multiple entry points granted foreign carriers, the inadequate airport facilities and day time only operation of most of our airports in the country and urged for stimulus package / intervention for domestic airlines.

They said they are opposed to the 1940 -50th  model and idea of  national carrier quest in the electric age of 2015 when the world has move far from national carrier as employment bureau, which didn’t work in NEPA , NITEL and others.

“We hope that as the incoming administration settles down in office will put a strong aviation policy in place , it would engage AON on how to move the strategic air transport sector forward to a place where we should be, which is one, as a major contributor to Nigeria  economic and GDP .(from 0.4% to 10% in 2 years ) and two, as a source of employment of  teaming youths  and skilled pilots and engineers  (create 5000 skilled and 50,000 indirect and indirect jobs  in two years.) Nigeria must wake up and take the God-given natural/geographical position as the aviation hub for Africa i.e. Dubai, Atlanta, etc.

The AON expressed the hope that the in coming administration would leverage the aviation sector to national development, economic contributor and creating of jobs for Nigerian youths.

"Special commendation must also go the incumbent President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for his statesmanly acceptance of the outcome of the election. The AON wishes to express its gratitude to Mr. President for his strides in the aviation sector in many ways that impacted on airline operations,” AON also said.

For APC, Winning Was the Easy Part

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari

•  Managing power blocs and egos may prove more challenging for Buhari 

• Onu: No zone will be shut out from our govt

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja  

Ahead of the May 29 handover date from the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, leaders and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have started underground moves to secure plum political offices in the emerging dispensation.

THISDAY gathered that the jostling for political posts has led to some realignment of interests within the party. Signs are that even though the party may have operated as one united force and had run a close-knit campaign, the situation is proving to be a big challenge for the party as it moves to manage the expectations of its key leaders.

Political gladiators in APC are crisscrossing the country trying to win support for certain critical positions while the president-elect has been inundated with many requests from lobbyists hoping to cash in on the new political dispensation to penetrate government and win juicy government contracts.

A source, who confirmed the emerging undercurrents and intrigues between the various powerful political gladiators within the APC, said the issue of who gets what within the top hierarchy of government has become a matter of secret meetings and consultations among the leaders of the party.

In this regard, three major blocs within the party with varied interests are beginning to emerge. They are the Northern bloc led by Buhari and the northern establishment; the South-west led by the National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu; and the five former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors who defected to APC in 2013 led by Rivers Governor, Chibike Amaechi, and Senator Bukola Saraki.

According to THISDAY findings, while powerful lobbies are springing up to canvass the interests of the various blocs, some kinsmen of the president-elect have become apprehensive over the possibility of his administration being hijacked by the South-west if nothing is done to arrest the situation.

It was learnt that in order to forestall undue dominance and lofty expectations of especially Tinubu and others from the South-west, some politicians from the North have constituted themselves into a strategic think-tank to tactfully manage untoward demands from Buhari's incoming administration.

Another source, who volunteered information on the current state of things, said those around the president-elect are increasingly shielding some people from having access to him the way they used to before the presidential election.

“It is no longer going to be like before. Access has to be curtailed, especially from those who think they can always direct the state of affairs or have a sense of entitlement. Buhari is now president-elect and he has to be given the chance to make certain decisions on his own without undue interference,” the source said.

He added that whilst the core North is extremely appreciative of the votes they got from the South-west, he explained that had Buhari not won the zone, he would not have won the presidential election owing to the 25 per cent constitutional requirement in two-thirds of the states of the federation, but would have won by popular vote.

“The main contribution of the North-central and South-west zones which Buhari never won in his three past attempts at the presidency was the 25 per cent in two thirds of the federation as required by the constitution which they contributed.

“So even if you knock off some 500,000 votes by which he won in the South-west from his lead of 2.5 million votes against President Goodluck Jonathan, he would still have won the popular vote,” he explained.

He said other than the South-west and Edo, other zones also contributed.

Going into details, he said: “The problem is that the Yoruba shopping list submitted by Tinubu is proving to be a major challenge for Buhari and his followers. They already have the vice-presidency, which is the biggest catch after the Office of the President.

“Yet, they still want the Senate presidency through Bukola Saraki; they want the Office of Chief of Staff in the person of Babatunde Fashola; they want Ministry of FINANCE in the person of Wale Edu (Tinubu’s personal nominee); they want the post of GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the person of Mofe Boyo (Tinubu’s personal nominee); and even want the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, even though the person there has not even done one year of his five-year tenure; among other key parastatals.

“If we have to accede to all their demands, so what will the North-central Christians get, which the core North has to bring back on board having lost them to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, what will the North-east and North-west get, what will Buhari’s followers who have been with him for 12 years get, even if they were on the sidelines but did not disappear?

“Also important, what will the South-east and South-south get, so we do not make the mistakes of the past of sidelining any group which has the capacity to foment trouble in the future.”

He said given the demands from the South-west, the APC has to manage Tinubu’s expectations so that he is not disappointed with the outcome too early in the regime.

The emerging undercurrents in the incoming government has led to concerns among the leaders over the need to have a wholistic approach to the sharing formula which will reduce the tension the issue is bound to create, otherwise, the South-west zone may start to feel that they have been used by the North to get power at the centre.

The recent decision of the party leadership to step down the constitution of the transition committee until after Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections was meant to calm frayed nerves and to have time to reassure those who may feel that their influence and relevance was being undermined.

It was also intended to give the party the opportunity to prosecute the final stage of the governorship and state assembly elections as one united house, the party source explained.
“Besides, there are concerns about the Lagos governorship race, which we only won by a slim margin in the presidential election. That is why Tinubu met with Atiku (Abubakar) recently TO RAISE MONEY for the governorship election in Lagos and other states.

“So the primary focus is the election first before we iron out the transition committee and who should get what in the incoming government,” he said.

One of the APC top leaders who tried to underplay the emerging scenario in the APC told THISDAY yesterday that the party would not allow any zone to dominate others or to have undue advantage in the sharing of political offices at the centre.

“I think it is important to point out that the APC believes in a united, stable and strong Nigeria. We want to build a nation where all Nigerians will be able to live and also have their rights. I want to assure you that when this matter of sharing positions comes up, no zone will be left out,” he said.

Also speaking on the same note, a leader in the APC, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, yesterday expressed optimism that the incoming administration would strive to ensure an all-inclusive government by carrying along people from all the zones in the country.

Onu also tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the need to guard against the manipulation of electoral process and rigging in Saturday's governorship and House of Assembly elections.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the former governor of old Abia State, said that the change APC had been preaching about would be reflected in the style of its administration, beginning with its approach in the sharing of political appointments.

He said the president-elect is determined to change the nation, adding that he is determined to make a change.

Onu, who was particularly worried about the incidents that led to the discarding of card reader machines for the accreditation of voters in some areas in the South-east and South-south during the last presidential election, advised the commission to ensure that the governorship and state assembly elections are free and fair.

Onu said he was not happy with what happened in South-east and South-south where the card readers failed to work, adding: “They made the card readers not to work, because if the card readers had worked, there would have been be no room for rigging.”

He said that with the new innovations introduced by INEC in the conduct of elections through the use of card readers, Nigerians can now elect their leaders.

He said the coming of APC has helped to introduce healthy competition in the political arena, stressing that power now belongs to Nigerians to choose whom their leaders would be.

“We are very happy that there is change in our country. The formation of APC has changed the way politics is played in Nigeria. Our constitution allows us to have a multi-party system. What APC has done is to now give Nigeria, our dear country, two dominant political parties out of many.

“What that means is that we will have competition. Also, we will now return power to the people.

“We believe we should improve in our politics. We are very unhappy with what happened in South-east and South-south. We had instances where the card readers were manipulated. Also, we had instances where result sheet were not supplied.

“In the end, elections results were written in the homes of some Nigerians. This is not acceptable. We hope that all the abuse, harassment and manipulations will not repeat themselves in the elections that will take place on Saturday,” he said.

On some of the reforms APC would like to push through in the electoral process, Onu said the party would want to see all elections conducted simultaneously.

“Again, we have reached the level where the five elections ought to be conducted on the same day. It will reduce cost and encourage participation.

“The APC is determined to change our country because for too long, Nigeria as a nation, we have not earned the respect that we should earn. But the time has come for this. This is what the APC is determined to achieve. As soon as the president is sworn in,” he said.

Asked what his reaction was to the mass defection of politicians from the PDP to APC, Onu stated that it was a welcome development, adding that it would not derail the ideology of the party.

“It is difficult in political parties to exclude any person once you are qualified. We are guided by a constitution. APC has an ideology. It is a party that is committed to the welfare of Nigerians.

“We are so concerned about those Nigerians that cannot fend for themselves. We welcome those who are coming into the party. We expect that they will help to enrich the party,” he said.