OUTRAGEOUS OR JUSTIFIED SPENDING BY SENATORS AND STATE GOVERNORS? ~ Gbenga Akinmoyo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will be conducting elections in September and November 2024 to elect State Governors in Edo and Ondo State respectively. I recently heard the INEC Chairman saying that sufficient funding has not been released for the logistical arrangements. Since this is a responsibility of the National Assembly and those elections must be conducted as scheduled, I have no doubt that they will make money available.
It is presently uncertain who will emerge as the winners during these elections, but the various candidates of each political party are aspiring to join an Elite Group of Governors renowned for a culture of “Reckless Spending”. I apologize to the very few previous and existing Governors who are victims of my generic whiplash, but it is long overdue to call a spade a spade. Since 1999 when the fourth republic commenced, each of the 36 states of the federation have elected a state governor every four years, which over the 25-year period has cumulatively produced approximately 252 (two hundred and fifty-two) post-holders on the average of 7 elections in each state, although some have served two terms. In each of those 7 general elections, 109 senators have been elected making a total of 763 (seven hundred and sixty-three) post-holders, but again some have served more than more term and indulged in humongous expenditure habits, either deliberately or by coincidence, which shall examine further.
The revelation rising from the recent nationwide “End Bad Governance Protest” is not really a fresh agitation, but it has hovered the searchlight over the sad state of our national public finance portfolio which is not unique to the federal government; indeed the state and local governments are more culpable, either directly or indirectly. Today in Nigeria, there is no constitutional provision for independent candidates at general elections. Therefore, all of our elected governors and senators were sponsored by at least one of the defunct or existing political parties. As at August 2024 we have the following roll call for the Chief Executives in each of the federating units of Nigeria’s federation –
APC – Benue; Borno; Cross Rivers; Ebonyi; Ekiti; Gombe; Imo; Jigawa; Kaduna; Katsina; Kebbi; Kogi; Kwara; Lagos; Nasarawa; Niger; Ogun; Ondo; Sokoto and Yobe States (20);

PDP – Adamawa; Akwa Ibom; Delta; Edo; Enugu; Bauchi; Bayelsa; Oshun; Oyo; Plateau; Rivers; Taraba; Zamfara States (13) and the FCT;

APGA – Anambra State; LP – Abia State; and NNPP –Kano State.

Each state of the federation is divided into 3 senatorial districts with each one providing a single senator. So as far as state profile is concerned, there is equality of arms. However, the popularity of a political party at the polls dictates the total number of senators each party has in the red chambers of the National Assembly. As at August 2024, this is the composition of the Senate by political parties:
APC (59); PDP (36); LP (8); NNPP (2) SDP (2); APGA (1); and YPP (1). Although the SDP and YPP do not presently have any state governor, they managed to win 2 and 1 senatorial seats, respectively in the 10th Senate.
EXERCISING THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL PROTEST
The organisers of the “End Bad Governance” crusade gave notice of their intentions to hold a nationwide peaceful protest targeted the government as the one to be held responsible for the incessant rate of poverty and endemic penury amongst Nigerians characterised by the astronomical cost of living and prices of essential goods and services, central to human subsistence. They identified the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange markets as two policies that aggravated the pain and sufferings of the masses, particularly in the last one year. The protests were directed mainly at the federal government.
In its own defence, the President Bola Ahmed-led administration admits that they met a federal government whose economic pillars were fundamentally flawed and required a radical overhaul. To that effect on his installation on 29th May 2023, he boldly announced that the regime of subsidy on petroleum products had finally gone and that announcement was promptly followed by the unification of the two tier foreign exchange markets that were in existence. The combined effect of these two policies spiralled the price of goods and services resulting in alarming rates of inflation. However, President argued that the removal of subsidies on fuel has resulted in significant savings in the expenditure of the federation and a corresponding increased in the amount of funds available each month to be shared amongst the three tiers of government – federal, state and local – in accordance with the constitutionally approved sharing formula.
PARTIAL X-RAY OF THE PUBLIC FINANCE
From figures available in the public domain we can confirm that in the first six months of 2024 the total amount disbursed by the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the federal, states and local governments amounted to N6, 368.33 billion (approximately N6.37 trillion). This does not include further disbursements made to the oil-producing states from the 13% derivation fund. Out of this sum the allocation to the three tiers of government were as follows:
Federal Government with a total of N2,245.66 billion;
36 State Governments with a total of N2,423.56 billion; and
Local Governments with a total of N1, 699.11 billion, of which most of the states have been under the strict custody of the State Governors, either because they operate nominated Interim Council administrators or they tightly, control the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC) in their respective states.
The Table below shows the monthly breakdown for each of the tiers of government during the period under review. In general, these figures are comparably greater than the disbursements that were made by FAAC during the same period in 2023 and President Tinubu has attributed this to the positive effects of removing subsidies from fuel. It could therefore be argued persuasively that, all things being equal, there is a reasonable expectation that the masses ought to benefit from these huge increased monthly receipts by the State Governors and Local Government administrators to offset the economic hardship associated with increased pump price of fuel. In addition to these disbursements, the federal government revealed that various palliatives have been ordered and distributed to the 36 states to further ameliorate the recognised high cost of living standards across the country. There are many questions to be answered, particularly by State Governors, but it is regrettable that the organisers of the recent protest let the Governors off the hook regarding accountability for funds released into the state treasuries.
FAAC DISTRIBUTION TO FEDERAL, STATE &
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SO FAR IN 2024

DISBURSED
FEDERAL
STATE
LOCAL
TOTAL

JAN 2024: Income generated in Dec 2023 and disbursed in Jan. 2024

N383.87b

N396.69b

N288.93b

N1,069.49b

FEB 2024: Income generated in Jan 2023 and disbursed in Feb. 2024

N407.27b

N379.41b

N278.04b

N1,064.72b

MAR 2024: Income generated in Feb 2023 and disbursed in Mar. 2024

N352.41b

N366.95b

N267.15b

N986.51b

APR 2024:
Income generated in Mar. 2023 and disbursed in Apr. 2024

N345.89b

N398.69b

N288.69b

N1,033.27b

MAY 2024: Income generated in Apr. 2023 and disbursed in May 2024

N390.41b

N493.40b

N293.82b

N1,177.63b

JUN 2024: Income generated in May 2023 and disbursed in Jun. 2024

N365.81b

N388.42b

N282.48b

N1,036.71b

TOTALS

N2,245.66b

N2,423.56b

N1,699.11b

N6,368.33b

The Supreme Court of Nigeria recently affirmed the financial autonomy of the local governments meaning that they are to receive their FAAC allocations directly, thereby strengthening the independence of local governments in the country. The implications of the judgement should be that development will reach the grassroots faster because they are considered to be closer to the people. However, there is growing concern that given historical precedence of our elected representatives, the system may have generated another class of Kingpins, some of whom have other matters on their minds which are distant from development of the local communities. The fact that State Governments continue to orchestrate the electoral process that ushers in elected local government officials into the 774 local government councils may defeat the intent of the legally granted financial autonomy.

Whilst we await response from the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) where they are likely to be united in their robust defence of the less than frugal spending, we are also watching the dust settle on the raging debate about the cost of purchase of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for members of the 10th National Assembly, said to be valued at N160 million each and in case of the senate that is a total outlay of N17.44 billion (N160m multiplied by 109). In addition, there has been a ravaging debate about how much a senator gets in his monthly pay-packet as salaries, allowances and running costs.

The clouded mirrors are becoming a bit clearer following recent exchanges between past and serving senators. We have now been informed that the monthly take home of a Nigerian Senator is in the region of N1, 063,860 (N1.06 million) comprising his basis salary and other allowances as confirmed by Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC).This federal agency oversees the revenues accruing to and disbursement of such funds from the Federal Account and also ensures that there is conformity and equity in the nation’s revenue allocation formulae. Aside from basic salary, senators are stated to receive regular allowances for the following – Vehicle Fuelling and Maintenance; Personal Assistant; Domestic Staff; Entertainment; Utilities; Newspapers/Periodicals; Wardrobe; House Maintenance and Constituency Allowance – paid monthly and amounts to just over N1million. According to RMFAC they are also entitled to and receive a non-regular allowance, which is calculated and paid to them in bulk covering the 4 years in the senate, which includes – Furniture Allowance (N6,079,200); Severance Gratuity (N6,079,200); Vehicle Allowance (N8,105,600) and an optional loan to be repaid before leaving office. That is another N20 million as non-regular allowances.

It is hard to say that RMFAC have not thought of everything required to keep a member of the red chambers cosy and well-equipped to carry out their herculean tasks in due consideration of “conformity and equity”. But the discovery that each senator receives a further payment of N20 million per month, tagged as “Running Cost for the Office”, appears heartless and it is hard to fathom what else needs to be provided to wrap our senators in cotton wool. This means that the “Running Cost for the Office” of our 109 senators runs into N2.18 billion per month or N104.64 billion for a 4-year term (48 months). Is there any wonder why there is agitation for the scrapping of the bicameral legislature and converting these legislative functions into part-time duties?

How can our Governors and Senators justify these expenditures in a country where the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index survey of 2022 revealed that: 63% of persons living in Nigeria (133 million people) are multi-dimensionally poor? If some radically-drastic measures are not taken to arrest the situation, it is hard to see how peaceful protests will not be sustained becoming a permanent fixture throughout the country. The imbalance between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is already wide and the gulf is expanding even further as we practice more years of democratic government. Is this really a government of the people, for the people and by the people? Who will bite the bullet and arrest this evolving ugly situation?

A few days ago President Tinubu received a Vote of Confidence from the Council of States – a statutory body recognized by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which comprise mainly of former Presidents and Heads of State; all former Chief Justices of the Federation; President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives; all Nigerian Governors; and the Attorney General of the Federation. But surely the real Vote of Confidence will ultimately come from the teeming masses of Nigeria, if and when they see him call the Governors, Council Administrators and Legislators to order with resultant effect of bringing an end to bad governance at all tiers of government, within the country.

Whilst we watch as events unfold, I invite you to respond to this article, with your comments and views.

This article was written by Gbenga Akinmoyo (Hon GaRo), who is a legal practitioner, political & public affairs analyst, Executive Director of Rebuild Nigeria 360°(Ondo2024) and Co-Founder/CEO of LeadIFollow Limited (+234 803 660 9090; +44 7481 306 823; or garointer@gmail.com).

16th August 2024