By Sufuyan Ojeifo<\/p>\n
The Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the
\nleadership of the State Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, for all of eight
\nyears that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was in the saddle as governor,
\nharangued him over security votes and their deployment in dealing with
\nflashpoints and other security issues in the state.<\/p>\n
The purport of PDP\u2019s relentless exertion in putting the Oshiomhole
\nadministration on its toes on security votes was to hold him accountable
\nto the people. To be sure, security votes are usually spent at the
\ndiscretion of state governors, who are chief security officers of their
\nrespective states, to promote security and peace among the people.<\/p>\n
At the federal level, the office of the President has its security
\nbudget separate from the votes that are earmarked for countrywide
\nsecurity espionage and domiciled in the Office of the National Security
\nAdviser (NSA). There are components of such votes at the critical
\noperational levels of the Department of State Security (DSS), the
\nNigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Defence Intelligence Agency
\n(DIA), which are coordinates of the superintending office of the NSA.<\/p>\n
The expenditures of these votes are conventionally not subject to
\nlegislative probe; and, therefore, the president, the office of the NSA
\nand security agencies are not obligated to provide _comptes rendus_ for
\nretirement and audit purposes. The same applies to state governors who
\nwork in concert with the Police and other security agencies at that
\nlevel to keep the peace in the states.<\/p>\n
As much as this is good for promotion of genuine peace in the nation,
\nthe real issue has been the unconscionable diversion of the votes by
\nsome governors for private ends, knowing that security votes are
\ncomponents of the annual budgets whose expenditures are not open to
\ninvestigation. In Edo State, under the administration of Oshiomhole, the
\nOrbih-led PDP adverted attention to the issue.<\/p>\n
The PDP was, perhaps, unsettled at the speed at which Oshiomhole was
\nreaching out to critical stakeholders across the state and getting their
\nsupport. Oshiomhole funded the critical engagements of stakeholders and
\nthe security infrastructure in the state from the security votes.
\nOperational vehicles were, for instance, reportedly bought for the
\nNigeria Police amid allegations by the opposition that the gesture was
\nto compromise the police and the other security agencies that benefitted
\nfrom the gestures during elections.<\/p>\n
Such criticisms are justifiable in the democratic space in which the
\ngoverning party and the main opposition party always lock horns in a
\nbattle of wits and grits. It did not matter then that Oshiomhole and
\nOrbih were brothers from the same Etsako area of the State; what was at
\nissue was the administration of the state\u2019s political economy.
\nHowever, in a fit of frenzy and in a desperate bid to demonise the
\nadministration, propaganda became a tool which was freely used.<\/p>\n
PDP\u2019s claim was that Oshiomhole was cornering a whopping N500 million
\nper month as security votes. Imagining the humongous amount to which the
\nvotes cumulatively tantamount was and is still enough to give the
\nopposition goose pimples. A huge war-chest is easily created thereby,
\nusually for personal empowerment and to prosecute re-election.\u00a0 So it
\nwas with all former governors in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
But recent media reports in which a group called the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC) Grassroots Youth for Change tasked Governor Godwin
\nObaseki to ensure peace and security in Edo state with the N6 billion
\nannual security votes in the 2019 budget and the claim that the amount
\nrepresented an increment of N1 billion over the N5 billion earmarked as
\nsecurity votes for the governor in the 2018 budget were quite
\ninstructive.<\/p>\n
The crux of the report was that the regime of security votes that
\nObaseki inherited from Oshiomhole\u2019s administration was about N330
\nmillion per month (about N4 billion per annum). The group in a statement
\nissued by its National Coordinator, Orlu Henry Manuchimso, said that Edo
\nstate was the only APC-controlled state in the South-south region and
\nappealed to Obaseki\u2019s sensibilities not to act in ways that would
\ncause the APC\u2019s defeat in the 2020 governorship election.<\/p>\n
The group contended that the security votes should not be deployed in
\ncausing feuds in the State House of Assembly where the governor had
\nostensibly promoted a divisive inauguration of the State Legislature
\nwhere nine out of the 24 APC members that comprise the Legislature
\nconvened at night to elect the Speaker, Frank Okiye, and the leadership
\nof the House.<\/p>\n
The point that I advert attention to really is the curious yearly
\nincrement of the security votes by Governor Obaseki, allegedly in
\ncahoots with the former Speaker, Kabiru Adjoto, to quietly insert the
\nsingle-line item of N5 billion in the 2018 and N6 billion in the 2019
\nbudget.\u00a0 These are significant claims that cannot just be overlooked. If
\nthe governor has made these increments, they must be for some reasons
\nand purposes. What are these reasons and purposes? The people deserve to
\nknow since what is discernible is a festering crisis in the party
\nallegedly sponsored by the governor to preserve his position.<\/p>\n
Whereas, before the deliberate creation of the crisis in the State House
\nof Assembly, did the state security architecture benefit from the
\nhumongous security budgets solely managed by the governor? Since he has
\ndeclared to the world that he would not share the state\u2019s funds to the
\npoliticians in the APC that helped him to power, the question is where
\nhad he spent the security votes before the executive-induced crisis in
\nthe legislature?<\/p>\n
It is clear that Governor Obaseki\u2019s plan to drive a series of negative
\nnarratives that discount positive public perception of the other camp,
\nallegedly enjoying the support of Comrade Oshiomhole, has failed to fly
\nin the face of historical facts that continue to echo the mantra and the
\npraxis of political accommodation as well as fidelity to
\nleadership-followership\u2019s rules of engagement. Political leaders and
\nmembers who had worked to ensure the election of Obaseki in 2016 are
\ndeserving of recognition and empowerment for their effort and
\ninvestments, not needless vilification and demonization.<\/p>\n
Sans hedonism or greed, Governor Obaseki\u2019s access to N5 billion in
\n2018 and N6 billion in 2019 was enough to mute his complaints about
\npoliticians who want to share the state resources when there have
\nneither been structured funding measures to contain insecurity nor
\nreinforcement of equipment to assist security agencies in dealing with
\ncrimes and criminalities in the state.<\/p>\n
Beside this, the question has been: if Obaseki is not giving money to
\npoliticians, who then is he giving the money- the security votes? Does
\nit mean he does not care about the security situation as well as the
\nwellbeing of political leadership cum membership in the APC? Is it not,
\nperhaps, safe to surmise that Obaseki is concerned only about himself?
\nIf the answer is yes, then that disposition will continue to spawn
\ncontempt for him, more especially within his political family-the APC.<\/p>\n
Fighting those who assisted him to power is symptomatic of bad politics
\nand a divided house. Obaseki\u2019s brand of politics defies logic and
\nvalidation.\u00a0 Why has he chosen not to give to APC leaders and their
\nfollowers who are believed to be in the other camp the things that
\nbelong to them? Deliberate alienation from government, as typified by
\nthe narcissistic inauguration of the State Assembly, followed by the
\ncabinet reshuffle, exemplifies his ill-advised resolve to fight the
\nother camp to a standstill instead of working without cessation to
\nreconcile with the other camp by way of compromises.<\/p>\n
Obaseki has the wherewithal to accomplish this.\u00a0 If he claims he does
\nnot, he should be ambiguously told that this is the kind of exertions
\nfor which security votes are deployed and not for existential indulgence
\nof diverting the funds to allegedly bolster private investments. Again,
\nObaseki\u2019s threat through his media aide, Crusoe Osagie, to probe an
\nadministration in which he (Obaseki) played a strategic role stemmed
\nfrom self-delusion. True!<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ojeifo contributed this piece via\u00a0ojwonderngr@yahoo.com<\/a><\/p>\n Sufuyan Ojeifo Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android [1]<\/p>\n
\nEditor- in- Chief
\nThe Congresswatch Magazine
\n+234 8034727013\u00a0 \u00a0 +234 8023024800<\/p>\n