Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to stop financial leakages, end capital flight and illegal diversion of public funds.
Falana spoke at a lecture organised by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Lagos State Chapter.
The lawyer noted that since the inauguration of the present administration, President Muhammadu Buhari has been under pressure to remove fuel subsidy, end further devaluation of the naira and complete take-over of the economy by market forces.
He said the call for subsidy removal was an indirect call for increase in the official pump prices of petroleum products.
Saying that the over N900 billion earmarked for fuel subsidy yearly should be saved for development, he noted that the importation of petroleum products was caused by the failure to maintain the four refineries.
He noted that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has called for fresh bids for the setting up of modular refineries.
“If the policy is genuinely pursued, the Federal Government can establish many of such refineries within the next 12 months. According to the DPR, each of the refineries is estimated to cost between $1 million and $15 million. African countries such as Senegal, Zambia, Niger, Chad, Gabon and Cameroon operate similar refineries with capacity to refine between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“If such refineries are established in the country, the importation of fuel and the fraud associated with it will stop,” he said.
Falana alleged that in 2011, without any amended appropriation, former Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala paid N2.5 trillion to marketers as against the N245 billion appropriated for fuel subsidy by the National Assembly.
He said: “The illegal payment should be reviewed while the companies, which never imported or supplied any fuel should be made to refund the fund obtained from the Federal Government under false pretences”.
The rights activist lamented that the government, following the agitation against subsidy removal in 2012, jettisoned its decision to set up 30 green field refineries because of the pressure from importers.
He claimed that the $1.6 billion loan obtained in 2013 for the maintenance of refineries was diverted, leading to a reduction in the volume of barrels earmarked for domestic consumption from 445,000 to 80,000.
Falana urged the government to recover the billions of dollars set aside for the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries since 1999 and to stop the monopoly in the importation and sale of diesel.
There is no basis for the monopolistic control of goods and services under a free market economy, the lawyer argued.
Instead, he advised government to consider the suggestion of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to import refined fuel into the country without the payment of subsidy.
On the “bailout” for states, he described the $2.1 billion shared by the federal, states and local governments from the Federation Account for payment of salaries as a tip of the iceberg compared to the “over N7 trillion provided for the members of the comprador bourgeoisie since 2008 in view of the number of workers involved in about 20 states”.
He also noted that not less than N2.1 trillion was committed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in collaboration with the government, into key economic schemes.
To prevent the states from running to Abuja for “bailout” in the near future, he suggested that the CBN should assist the non oil-producing states to develop solid minerals and agriculture.
Falana advocated cooperation between the government and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the investigation and prosecution of those who diverted public funds.
The EFCC, he added, should leave no stone unturned in the recovery of looted funds.
The lawyer said instead of liquidating the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), “those who are critical of the huge fund unilaterally deducted from the revenue generated by the NNPC before remitting the remainder to the Federation Account should demand that the corporation’s budget be appropriated by the National Assembly”.
“Another agency of the Federal Government which approves its own budget is the CBN. The CBN believes rather erroneously that its autonomy granted by the Act setting it up does not allow the National Assembly to appropriate its budget,” he added.
Citing the Supreme Court decision in the case of Dr. Uzor Ikebudu V. Central Bank of Nigeria, he said the CBN was expected to submit its budget to the National Assembly through the Minister of Finance for appropriation.
Falana noted that since the Buhari administration embarked on the war against graft, “corruption” has decided to fight back in a vicious way.
He said those opposed to the renewed fight against corruption were beginning to accuse Buhari of waging a persecution agenda.
He urged anti-graft agencies to ignore such campaign.
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