SHOCKING:”FG SQUANDERED N4.17TN ILLEGALLY IN 9 YEARS” – REPS

 

According to a shocking report released by the House Committee on Public Accounts (PAC), the Federal Government ‘illegally’ spent over N4 trillion from 2004 to 2012 without the approval of the National Assembly.

The report not only revealed a gross misuse of the Service-wide Vote, which is provided annually to cover 

emergencies that crop up during the year, but also alleged that the Obasanjo government squandered N250 million for the upkeep of the family of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who sought asylum in the country between 2004 and 2006

At a briefing of journalists during the weekend, the Chairman of PAC, Adeola Olamilekan, termed the expenditure incurred as an ‘abuse’ of the Service-wide Vote, explaining that PAC’s investigation revealed that the vote was converted to a recurrent fund by the government, instead of an infrastructure vote.

After cross examination of the Auditor-General’s reports on the accounts of MDAs, the report indicated the following:

1.       An expenditure of N162m from the 2011 Service-wide Vote was tagged “Closing Accounts” incurred by both the Budget and Accountant General’s Office of the Federation.

2.       N1.2bn was spent on the overseas trips of government officials to seek medical attention.

3.       N250m was used for the upkeep of former Liberian President, Mr. Charles Taylor when he sought asylum in the country between 2004 and 2006.

4.       A pattern of increases in releases from the SWV from 2007 to 2012 was also noticed, N1.7tn being the highest spending from 2010 to 2012.

5.       Two security challenges (Niger Delta militancy and the Boko Haram insurgency) were the only “real emergency spending” from the vote that was justified, which cost the government N144.4bn between 2009 & 2012.

Including other “unexplained” expenses incurred, the government spent over N4.17tn contrary to the N1.8tn approved by the National Assembly, implying that an extra-budgetary expenditure of N2.2tn was incurred in the process.

“Such extra-budgetary expenditures constitute a breach of Section 81 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and an illegality, Olamilekan explained.”

He added, “These releases were mainly used to finance recurrent expenses not targeted at critical and strategic sectors of the economy and the releases were random and did not follow any clear pattern.”

The Committee urged the House of Reps to scrap the vote if it was poorly implemented, and that the extra-budgetary expenditure during the period “should be investigated and those found culpable should be sanctioned.”

Report Unearths Fresh Evidence of Myanmar’s Implication in Rohingya Muslims’ Persecution

A Report released today by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization in the United States, has unearthed fresh evidence that implicates Myanmar officials, community leaders and Buddhist Monks in the subjection of Myanmar’s minority Muslim group to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

According to the report entitled ‘All You Can Do is Pray’, interviews with more than 100 people on both sides and visits to all major refugee camps were carried out and the results indicate that the Burmese government engaged in a systematic campaign of violence and ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya (ethnic cleansing is a policy by one ethnic or religious group to remove another similar group from specific areas through violent and terrifying means).

It said that during the attacks by Buddhists, a soldier allegedly told a Rohingya man who pleaded for protection, ‘the only thing you can do is pray to save your lives’.

The report also uncovered evidence of mass-grave sites in Rakhine, accusing the security forces of trying to bury evidence of the crimes committed. It points out that over 125,000 ethnic Rohingya have been forcibly displayed since the waves of violence began in May last year, with satellite images showing thousands of destroyed land structures owned by mostly the Muslim Rohingya.

In an email, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch for Asia, Phil Robertson, had the following to say: “What this report reveals is that in October, just weeks before President Obama’s visit to Burma, the Burmese authorities were engaged in ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in Arakan state. This should make it abundantly clear that the U.S. cannot just reply on fine words from Burma’s leaders but they need to insist on clear actions to hold accountable those involved with these crimes.”

The worst attack occurred on October 23, when about 70 Rohingya (including 28 children) were brutally maimed in Mrauk-U township, according to witnesses.

So far, the Myanmar government has turned a blind eye to the violence, assisted some of the attacks on the Rohingya, and even denied citizenship to those living in Rakhine state while claiming they are ‘illegal immigrants’ from Bangladesh, according to the report.

In response to the email of Human Rights Watch, the Myanmar government claimed that ‘the security forces and police handled conflicts between the two communities in accordance with the existing laws, rules and regulations, taking care of providing security in order to restore law and order and tranquility’.

Allegations of the use of excessive force by its police to handle the conflict in June ‘were unfounded’ and untrue information’, adding that authorities faced ’unfounded bias’ from both media within and outside the country.

While hostilities between Muslims and Buddhists have been closely monitored and reduced by the military rule over the last 5 decades, the coming of civilian rule which incites freedom of expression has given Buddhists the green light to express their rage against the Muslims openly.