LAGOS:Falana Tasks FG To Substantiate Change Mantra, Recover Loots, Debts

Femi Falana (SAN)

SENIOR Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana has decried the state of the nation, reiterating his position that the change mantra of the present administration of President Mohammadu Buhari is yet to have direct positive impact on the people after spending nine months in office.

Falana who spoke extensively registered these remarks at the 2016 National Conference Meeting of CDHR with the theme ‘Challenges of Protecting the Human Rights of Nigerians in a Democracy’ in Lagos yesterday dispassionately called on the Federal Government to assiduously work towards recovering a sum of $66.5 billion it is being owed by the banks, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and others.

Emphatically, he frowned over the recent hike in the electricity tariffs by forty-five per cent which he said is already resulting to a general hike on prices of goods and services across the country stressing that electricity affects the common man in the society and concluded that any hike in the tariffs would certainly have adverse effects in the society.

The human rights lawyer also regretted that the nation had over the years adopted a mono-economic system which was regrettably dependent on importation adding that virtually everything in Nigerian market is imported. On this note, he hailed the present administration on its policy aimed at devaluation of the currency. 

“I’m happy that the president Buhari has said they are not going to devalue the naira, but devaluation has already taken place”, Falana said.

 

However, Falana called on the leadership of CDHR to team up with all civil society organisations to checkmate the economic crises, adding that any policies of the federal government which would add to the present woes on the citizenry would be resisted in full force.

“The NLC president informed me that what happened during the week was just a warning and until the government reverses that decision to increase tariffs, in the midst of darkness, the struggle will continue.

“Last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) went to the street to send a note of warning that there is no way you can justify increase in tariff by 45 per cent; the battle is not over yet”.

“While that is going on and I want to sent a copy of my letter to the Minister of Finance during the week because they say they want to take a loan of $3.5 billion from the World Bank and Africa Development Bank. The loan from the World Bank will get the endorsement of the IMF and what IMF will do is to say sack more workers, so that the running of government can be manageable. Withdraw any service at all, any money given to the education and health other sectors. You know those are the usual conditionalities.

“What I did during the week was to write to the Minister of Finance stressing that there is no basis for taking a loan, because this government is owed $66.5 billion by the banks, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and others. In 2006, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo, went to the foreign reserves and collected $7 billion which he gave to 14 banks and $500 million per bank. Till now, nobody has asked them (banks) to pay back the money.

“Secondly, in 2008, the CBN Governor then Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, gave the same banks $4billion for bailout which brings the total to $11 billion since then nobody has asked the banks to pay back. Business persons took a loan of N5.7 trillion from the government. They have only paid back about N300 billion. So what is owned the government today N5.4 trillion that is $25 billion. The government national extractive transparency initiative (NEITI) wrote to me on the bases of enquiry that NNPC and oil companies are owing the country N21.1 billion which bring the total to N66.5 trillion. Then I asked the government, why do they want to punish the public, when they are being owed this amount?”

“I want CDHR to help the government to collect the money, so that they will not continue to oppress the public. Since the minister has not acknowledged the letter, these figures are from them so there is no way they can challenge your figure. As at today, Nigeria owns $64 billion. Yet when we paid $12 billion to the London Parish Club in 2005, Prof. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, said we should rejoice because we will never borrow again. Between then and now, we have taken as much as $64 billion; under President Goodluck Jonathan administration the country took a loan of $21 billion; the economy was then managed by Iweala.”