By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
The current fight against corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government will only outlive his administration if the 1999 constitution and the Electoral Act are amended to provide the relevant legal framework for it to succeed.
Past administration could not save part of income it generated for the rainy day because the government was handicapped by the same 1999 constitution, which is silent on how governments should spend incomes and expenditures it generated.
These were the views of Babangida Aliyu during the second edition of the NDEDI annual lecture series in Minna, Niger State capital, where he served as the chairman.
He also hinted that allegations of corruption against previous administration would also outlive the President Muhamadu Buhari’s administration.
His words: “Fight against corruption will always outlive the President Muhammadu Buhari administration because the entire process is hinged on the 1999 constitution and what the common man on the streets is made to believe to be corruption goes beyond what the government is telling us.”
The former governor argued that the constitution would not terminate with any administration, it will still continue with successive governments as it would be bound by law by any in-coming government to carry out same corruption campaign.
Defending the inability of the last administration to save part of its income during the boom era for the rainy day, the former Niger state governor said that the government which he was part of was handicapped by the 1999 constitution.
According to Aliyu, “The Constitution did not say we should save anything. But the constitution says that we should generate and share it. It will be illegal for us to say we want to save; the law does not allow it”.
The lecture is with the theme, ‘‘The Emergence of the Current Economic Realities: Expectations on the part of government and the private sector’’.
Aliyu however said, himself and some of his fellow governors were convinced at the time of the need to keep some money aside for any eventualities, and this; he said; brought about the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).
Though one of the then governors opposed the idea and even went to court to challenge the SWF, Aliyu said that they were still able to reserve over N2.56 billion as at the time they left government on May 29, 2015.
Aliyu pointed out that “Such a constitutional provision to be guaranteed after the amendment of the 1999 constitution will take care of the type of situation we have on our hands whereby most states in the country can conveniently pay workers salaries.
“The fight against corruption will only succeed if the constitution and electoral act are amended to provide the needed legal framework for the war against corruption.”
On the current economic hardship and recession, the former governor said that more efforts should be put into agricultural production but was emphatic that the present policy is not making desired impact but encourage only subsistence farming.
The Executive Director of Newgate College of Technology organizers of the inaugural lecture, Alhaji Hassan Nuhu, had in an address stressed the need for the private sector to be encouraged to lead Nigeria out of recession.
