Subsidy crisis:Col Umar calls for ‘strong, vigorous and credible anti -corruption war’ ,urges Jonathan to adopt Buhari's austerity measures  
By Danlami Nmodu   Newsdiaryonline      Fri Jan 6,2012

Col Umar

Colonel Abubakar  D. Umar (retd) has suggested that the federal government should launch a  "strong, vigorous and credible anti -corruption war capable of eliminating or at least drastically curtailing graft, waste and profligacy in the three tiers of government across the country" as one of the measures to convince Nigerians about its sincerity and seriousness about reforms.

He also urged government to "permit independent monitors and civil society groups access to and inspection of income and expenditure records within ministries, departments and agencies of government and if need be, make their findings available to anti -corruption agencies for possible prosecution."

Umar, a former governor of  Kaduna state  who is  presently chairman , Movement for Unity and progress,MUP also urged Jonathan to implement the cost-cutting measures General Muhammadu Buhari suggested recently. He urged Jonathan to "adopt and apply without equivocation, General Muhammadu Buhari’s advice given when the Supreme Court threw out his suit thus 'immediate steps should be taken to drastically reduce the cost of governance in the three tiers of government. Salaries and especially allowances should be drastically reduced; security votes should be abolished; not increased as the 2012 budget has done. Votes for the armed forces, the police and the security agencies should be transparent and accountable. Foreign travels and estacode should be stopped for at least six months other than for the presidency, ministry of foreign affairs and medical emergencies.Government house expenses in all states should be drastically reduced, foreign travel suspended for a while. The National Assembly should give a lead in reducing their allowances substantially and stop their foreign trips.'

Read the full text of Umar's statement below:

Way out of subsidy crisis By Col  Abubakar  D. Umar 

It is a matter of deep regret that street protests, strikes and clashes have taken over from civil debate, consultations and dialogue being used to find a consensus on whether to keep or scrap subsidy scheme in Nigeria. As things have turned out, it seems all that dialogue and discussions took place between deaf parties. But it also shows how important winning the argument is for the government on the one hand and by organized labour which claimed to speak for the masses, on the other.

And yet this is not a contest between opponents, or, as incorrectly portrayed in the media, a fight between right and wrong, good and evil. Rid of the emotions and the unwarranted infusion of political and other interests, which unfortunately seem to have crept in and contaminated the process, an acceptable framework for the withdrawal of fuel subsidy or the management of what may be left of it would have been found with minimal disruption to public peace and order.

It must be said that both sides of the argument have advanced fundamental truth which may form a basis for a more rapid social and economic development of Nigeria. Historically, government subsidies on certain commodities or activities have proved critical to achieving social justice and security in many countries. Organized labour and other social groups do therefore have good reasons for their agitation for continuation of government subsidies on petrol, a commodity critical in determining the general cost of living and doing business in Nigeria.

Desirable as subsidies are, however, especially on fuel in a world that runs on energy, its application must be weighed against other things desirable. This appears to be the basic argument of the government. Firstly, it has said that paying for the cost of subsidy on petrol alone takes over a third of all revenue that government collects. In 2011, fuel subsidies gulped N1.4 trillion out of the total budget of some N4.4 trillion. Secondly apart from taking a disproportionate part of the budget, selling petrol at subsidized  prices  forecloses the chance that private sector investment would build private refineries, a reason we have not seen any all these years. Thirdly, and because fuel consumption is increasing rapidly, the cost

of subsidizing it is also growing, bringing us ever closer to the day when government may be unable to pay even if channels to it all of its revenue. That is the sense in which the subsidy scheme may be said to be unsustainable and in  need of reform

So, what do we do?

It is our humble view that government needs to do a great deal more to convince the public about the seriousness with which it wants the fuel subsidy problem to be tackled. It has to respond in concrete terms to the critics and to all those on the streets protesting its plans by immediately embarking upon these measures, among others:

1.      Launching a strong, vigorous and credible anti -corruption war capable of eliminating or at least drastically curtailing graft, waste and profligacy in the three tiers of government across the country.

2.      Permitting independent monitors and civil society groups access to and inspection of income and expenditure records within ministries, departments and agencies of government and if need be, make their findings available to anti -corruption agencies for possible prosecution.

3.      In the meantime, adopt and apply without equivocation, General Muhammadu Buhari’s advice given when the Supreme Court threw out his suit thus “immediate steps should be taken to drastically reduce the cost of governance in the three tiers of government. Salaries and especially allowances should be drastically reduced; security votes should be abolished; not increased as the 2012 budget has done. Votes for the armed forces, the police and the security agencies should be transparent and accountable. Foreign travels and estacode should be stopped for at least six months other than for the presidency, ministry of foreign affairs and medical emergencies.Government house expenses in all states should be drastically reduced, foreign travel suspended for a while. The National Assembly should give a lead in reducing their allowances substantially and stop their foreign trips.”

Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar

Chairman, Movement for Unity and progress.